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Finding one's Focus in life....

Renegade

By Renegade,
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Renegade

Renegade

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(edited)

How much fun can one find in a 1.4-litre hatch these days, one would ask.

 

Quite a bit, apparently, if it's the much talked-about 3-door Focus - pleasantly sharp handling, taut body control in and out of the corners and decent ride on the straights coupled to quite a bit of useable space behind (both in the rear seat and boot) the driver. Braking late into downhill corners hardly upset its composure (probably would have upset yours truly's lunch before the car showed any discomfort) and sudden lane changes (not very recommended too often but great shortcut way to check out roll in crowded roads) reveal a nice, firm set up with roll well in check. Only an overly light (for a conti) clutch (my one of two gripes) dents the otherwise lovely first-drive experience. And all this fun on stock 15"ers.... [thumbsup]

 

The dash upfront is feels half-a-notch up on quality from the Mk1 but, to my personal opinion, despite the presence of the factory fit head unit, the design takes a step back from the new edge to (new ?) conservative. Even the gearknob feels better tho' the look is debatable. The exterior looks like what I'd imagine a baby Mondeo would have. The lights, the flanks....even the steering wheel looks like it came from the Mondeo. A case of a maturing Focus, perhaps ?

 

Access to the rear, with the doors slightly larger than the 5-door hatch, is decent but that also opens up to the second of the two could-be-better gripes I have - the headroom was surprisingly decent given it's a 3-door hatch and seeing how poorly its s40 brethren fared a couple of months back. However, the side armrests, wich double up as cubby hole covers could do better in the fit and materials department.

 

Cliched as it may seem, one of the better handling cars in this end of the market may just have gotten better (and thank goodness it's a maunal, too, I should add) and, even with 3 adults and aircon blasting upfront, there was hardly a hint of any struggle for breath from the car throughout the drive. Personally, the last time I had so much fun in a out-of-the-showroom 1.4 hatch was with the Leon (for the uninitiated - it's the Seat Leon 1.4, of which only 20 or so units were brought in to S'pore), and this, I'd say, even beats that experience in some ways.

 

So, again, with gusto, repeat after me - lovely handling, terrific ride, conservative inside, could-be-better rear....or, in short, I'd put it down as a most worthy consideration for this market segment.

 

Now, if only the 1.6's came with manuals (but we've all been there before, haven't we ?) [:|]

Edited by Renegade
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Renegade

Renegade

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Underpowered ? Hardly...in stock form, minus the addon's like the body kit and darkened lights (both of which I'd consider), larger rims (maybe yes, maybe no....tho' 17"ers would fill those arches much better), it's around $66k.

 

Which, imho, is a pretty decent deal for the fun that comes along with it.

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W210k

W210k

1st Gear

Regent Motors brought in a number of 1.6 manuals during their launch of the Mk II Focus a few months ago. But they got rid of all (not sure in SG or outside), focusing only on the autos now.

 

I asked the SE why (at the launch) they wanted to discontinue bringing in the manual. He told me that the RM boss found out only after the cars came in, that the autos have a Tiptronic-work-alike speed selector ... so no point having the manual model for sale.

 

I told the SE that they are not in the same league ... but I guess my feedback has fallen onto deaf ears.

 

The 1.6 auto IMHO, is underpowered. Only if RM were to bring in the 116 BHP 1.6L variant. Why does Ford limit that to UK/Aus/NZ sales only for their RHD models?

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Renegade

Renegade

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Yeah, I was told the same thing and really had to fight very hard the urge to pounce on that "....but the tiptronic is same as manual wat, some more easier to drive....." type of statement so let's not get started on something similar that I'm supposed to have walked away from 3 years ago, shall we ? [laugh]

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Renegade

Renegade

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It's got ABS with a similar 2-disc 2-drum setup as the Mk1 but I seriously can't recall the ESP bit.

 

Would that be a problem ?

 

No, wait, don't answer that..... [laugh]

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Acemundo

Acemundo

Supercharged

laugh.giflaugh.gifi asked because the marketing ad for the 1.6focus boasts of having ESP, which they claimed to be only available in high end carslaugh.giflaugh.gif

 

well heard the 1.4polo has got esptongue.gif

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Renegade

Renegade

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Yes, incidentally, the Polo does come with ESP tho' what's the point ? With a sluggish gearbox like that, I'll probably want to leave it off all the time.... [laugh]

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Acemundo

Acemundo

Supercharged

hehe....the polo got manual set anot?

 

yup i expected the polo to be sluggish....alto i expected the 1.4focus to be not much better. then again, i might be wrong.

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Renegade

Renegade

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(edited)

Of course there is - in the Polo, the manual comes in this neat folder that sits in the glovebox, along with the maintenance logbook, as with most other VAG-based cars on this end of the market. On the Phaeton it probably comes in a DVD-ROM or something.... [:p]

 

[laugh]

 

And, no, the Focus 1.4 is, surprisingly, far from sluggish as a fellow tester's wheelspin showed early in the test run.... [thumbsup]

 

Now, if only the clutch had more weight to it.... [inlove]

Edited by Renegade
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Renegade

Renegade

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(edited)

Seriously, if some of us drove it I think it'll end up being much worse than the 1.6....all the time [laugh]

Edited by Renegade
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Acemundo

Acemundo

Supercharged

Of course there is - in the Polo, the manual comes in this neat folder that sits in the glovebox, along with the maintenance logbook, as with most other VAG-based cars on this end of the market. On the Phaeton it probably comes in a DVD-ROM or something....

smash.gifsmash.gif

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