It's gone too feminine. Headlights are too small. Window line at the side is too high, and it's too small to pull that design off.
It's still nice enough to buy though.
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It looks a bit conservative and like they are trying not to offend. What has happened to the wacky edge designs which shocked people?
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Looks like an Astra/Megane - ie bland.
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I don't think the paint scheme will catch on. VW tried it once with the Harlequin, and more recently Audi with the A1.
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Never liked them, they lost the "pure" design of the original in the MK2. As a drive I always found them lifeless, especially the weighty steering around the centre. Not for me.
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>> just another car
>>
Yes, another eurobox hatchback, all similar but with different badges.
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yes thats bland, I wouldnt call the Astra / megane bland tho, very sharp cars in some models..
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>> What has
>> happened to the wacky edge designs which shocked people?
>>
It hasn't shocked me.
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It looks like an Astra that's been driven too close to an exploding paint factory.
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Looks like Astra, Megane, Kia, blah blah zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
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Ford seem to have gone for a homogenised look, with the Focus, Fiesta and Ka all looking like progressively smaller versions of the Mondeo. The MkII feels and drives like a smaller Mondeo too, unlike the go-cart handling of the MkI (which I still have). I'm an incurable Ford fan, all the same.
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I quite like it actually, I owned a Silver Mrk 1 Zetec but I find the current model boring, boring, boring.
Most of the main stream cars look similar (to me) but then I find the New Astra ok + the Megane.
Perhaps we secretly desire an Allegro with a funny steering wheel :)
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>> then I find the New Astra ok + the Megane.
Both good looking cars IMO, and I think the new Megane in 3dr form almost goes as far as beautiful. The bigger Laguna coupe certainly does. Renault's styling at the moment is the opposite of, say BMW's (the new 5 series GT is just cack - who signed it off?). It makes me actually want to own one.
From what I can see of the Focus III, it's inoffensive and a bit bland, but not ugly.
I think they should just re-launch the mk1 with half decent seats, a better interior, the latest PSA/Ford diesels, and better soundproofing. I would struggle to think of a single way to improve on that, personally.
Last edited by: DP on Tue 3 Aug 10 at 17:53
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>>and I think the new Megane in 3dr form almost goes as far as beautiful<<
Yep! it gets the juices flowing for me as well - nice car.
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Never mind what it looks like. I'm interested in what the specification choices will be.
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Why is it in camoflague? Obviously not worked someone got a photo of it.!! lol.............
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Can't say I'm interested enough in Focuses to distinguish one from another really. I've noticed them becoming more obese though, like their owners and most other cars come to think of it. Wouldn't give this one a second glance despite the conservative tie-pattern all over it.
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>>Can't say I'm interested enough in Focuses to distinguish one from another really<<
I'll wager this is more to your liking Lud ~
www.metro.co.uk/news/836894-diana-dors-car-set-to-sell-for-4million
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I was just about to post that, the Delahay is simply stunning.
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>>the Delahay is simply stunning.<<
'The other' model ain't half bad either :)
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Ah yes, the Saoutchik Delahaye... same colour as the clamped supercars outside Harrods, just to make it topical. Must have seen that car for sale in Motor Sport half a dozen times over the years.
It is a lush looking thing, and its uniqueness gives it something extra. But to tell the truth I don't really go for lush, and even when I was a whippersnapper I thought there was much too much chrome on that car. I don't like late-thirties curvaceous Lagondas as much as the earlier, starker ones.
Actually the Americans used to do lush - and chrome - in a better, more hairy-chested way than Saoutchik's dress designer types. And I have graven on my memory the image of Diana Dors in an open Cadillac, about five years after that photo of the Delahaye was taken. Only thing is I can't remember what colour it was, but I think it was pink.
Got a lift at night in a Delahaye in France in 1960. It was black, shabby and had been converted into a pickup truck, but went like the wind and made a really classy noise.
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>>But to tell the truth I don't really go for lush<<
Me neither, although if I get to play lead guitar on Pink Floyd's come-back tour, I wouldn't mind parking it up on on my mid-west Ranch, just to look at, like.
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There's no secret about this car. It will be on sale here next year. If you trawl the net you will see proper shots of it inside and out. The photo above isn't an exclusive.
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>> >>But to tell the truth I don't really go for lush<<
>>
>> Me neither, although if I get to play lead guitar on Pink Floyd's come-back tour,
>> I wouldn't mind parking it up on on my mid-west Ranch, just to look at,
>> like.
I have heard about your guitar playing, you'll be lucky to make the pink panther comeback tour.
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The Floyd were the house band in my buddy Hoppy's UFO Club, first in the Irish Club in Tottenham Court Road and later in the more spacious but less comfortable Roundhouse. My ears are still ringing from what they regarded as correct volume. I met them then but don't know them now.
Later they made some film music and the rest is history. I don't really rate them as a band and one of their lyrics (Leave us kids alone) was a pile of mischievous excrement, although I don't suppose it did any harm - the teachers themselves were seeing to that. Of course one can only approve of Nick Mason for his taste in cars and the fact that he drives them.
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>>he Floyd were the house band in my buddy Hoppy's UFO Club<<
I've followed Pink Floyd since the late 60's and have every single one of their albums,
I used to see them at the Middle Earth in Covent Garden and then The Round House,
I just luv the 'progressive/psychedelic' rock thing and I even have an album from about 67 by a group called "Hapshash and the coloured coat featuring the human host and the heavy metal kids", its kinda like 'different'
Nick Mason wrote an excellent book about The Pink Floyd years ~
www.pinkfloyd.co.uk/insideOut/
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Tastes differ Dog. I didn't mean to sound snooty or diss your taste. The Floyd did have something all right and I am quite proud of them really. Just not totally my thing. No offence though tovarich.
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>>No offence though tovarich.<<
None taken comrade :)
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>>
I have heard about your guitar playing, you'll be lucky to make the pink panther comeback tour.<<
Hehe! That just about sums it up I'm afraid to say, although I can knock out an half decent House of the Rising Sun :}
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Ford's own pre-release pics here:
www.topgear.com/uk/photos/new-ford-focus?imageNo=0
Pics six to nine are the most interesting, showing the notchback saloon and the interior.
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I'm not a fan of the Focus as a private ownership prospect. I reckon Ford have managed to hoodwink many people into buying an average product at inflated prices - but - that looks rather nice to me. And it'll look even better in so-called 'sportier' versions, something Ford are very good at. Like 'em or loathe 'em but fast Fords do look good.
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>> Ford's own pre-release pics here:
>>
>> www.topgear.com/uk/photos/new-ford-focus?imageNo=0
>>
>> Pics six to nine are the most interesting, showing the notchback saloon and the interior.
I was too bored and had lost the will to live by the time I reached photo number 2!
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>> Ford's own pre-release pics here:
>>
>> www.topgear.com/uk/photos/new-ford-focus?imageNo=0
Looks like the front of a Mark 6 Golf tacked onto the back of a C'eed.
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That colour brings it to life a bit more, but based solely on aesthetics, I'd still want a Megane.
tinyurl.com/374r25q
Last edited by: DP on Wed 4 Aug 10 at 11:09
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>> www.metro.co.uk/news/836894-diana-dors-car-set-to-sell-for-4million
>>
Its nice bright colour will make it easily visible to other road users. If it had been a standard colour for the Focus range when I bought mine, then I would have specified it.
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...Looks like the front of a Mark 6 Golf tacked onto the back of a C'eed...
And a C'eed looks like the back of an Astra tacked onto the frontk of a 308, which in turn looks like the front of an Auris tacked onto the back of an i30, which oddly enough looks like....
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>> ...Looks like the front of a Mark 6 Golf tacked onto the back of a
>> C'eed...
>>
>> And a C'eed looks like the back of an Astra tacked onto the frontk of
>> a 308, which in turn looks like the front of an Auris tacked onto the
>> back of an i30, which oddly enough looks like....
>>
>>
Thats why they are all called Euroboxes.
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Bought September's What Car mag. today and the Focus looks a bit over stylised to me and the inside looks a bit tacky but might look better in the flesh. By contrast my Golf MK6 looks classy, especially the interior. To my mind, less is more but Ford don't seem to follow this adage as exemplified by the interior of the latest Fiesta - yuk!
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I was a bit disappointed to read in the What Car article that the PAS will be electric rather than proper hydraulic.
Let's hope that Ford engineers have done their usual magic. I've yet to drive an electric system that gives the same 'feel' as a hydraulic set-up.
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>> I was a bit disappointed to read in the What Car article that the PAS
>> will be electric rather than proper hydraulic.
Get used to it. More electric steering systems will be used as the manufacturers try to improve fuel economy.
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Yes, proper hydraulic steering will go the same way as proper distributors with points, proper drum brakes, and proper cart springs, along with other obsolete bits and pieces.
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>> I was a bit disappointed to read in the What Car article that the PAS
>> will be electric rather than proper hydraulic.
>>
>> Let's hope that Ford engineers have done their usual magic. I've yet to drive an
>> electric system that gives the same 'feel' as a hydraulic set-up.
>>
You're entitled to that opinion, of course, but I have never heard such nonsense, frankly.
PROPER hydraulic systems sap power from smaller engines and consequently use more fuel.
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My last two cars have both had electronic steering, even my 99 Corsa B had a motor instead of a pump. The only problem with them really is they don't seem to be realiable as the old system. One of the reasons I got rid of the Corsa is I thought even if I get the head gasket done the steering motor would go next (it had started to clonk).
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>>PROPER hydraulic systems sap power from smaller engines and consequently use more fuel.<<
So, are the electric systems Solar powered then, comrade Oldgit?
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>> Let's hope that Ford engineers have done their usual magic. I've yet to drive an
>> electric system that gives the same 'feel' as a hydraulic set-up.
I have a hydraulic power steering system. It has no feel, certainly less than my last electic power steered VAG car.
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>> I have a hydraulic power steering system. It has no feel, certainly less than my
>> last electic power steered VAG car.
I have two hydraulically assisted VWs with systems that were only rated as so-so in their day, but they both feel kart-like in their weight and feel compared with most electric systems.
I still don't understand the technical reason for electrically assisted systems feeling so numb.
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>> >> I have a hydraulic power steering system. It has no feel, certainly less than
>> my
>> >> last electic power steered VAG car.
>>
>> I have two hydraulically assisted VWs with systems that were only rated as so-so in
>> their day, but they both feel kart-like in their weight and feel compared with most
>> electric systems.
>>
>> I still don't understand the technical reason for electrically assisted systems feeling so numb.
In this case its because the Lancer has a very simple, but over powered, non variable, hydraulic power steering.
Just making the point, that you can make hydraulic power steering systems with no feel, ask any amercan.
Even with little feel, I can still feel, through the seat and feet, what the front wheels are doing, albeit a bit delayed.
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"And a C'eed looks like the back of an Astra tacked onto the frontk of a 308, which in turn looks like the front of an Auris tacked onto the back of an i30, which oddly enough looks like...."
....a Mazda 3.
The Golf might be conservatively styled, but at least it doesn't look like anything else (apart from its polo stablemate).
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>> The Golf might be conservatively styled, but at least it doesn't look like anything else>>
Yes, apart the Polo ... ... and the previous Golf though not quite as nice looking.
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I hate the trend to the high waistline, low roof. A pain in the neck (literally, in the back of the current Civic).
A car that follows the herd, and will appeal to the herd. I can't get on with the whole 'kinetic styling' thing.
Last edited by: Manatee on Sat 7 Aug 10 at 22:37
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New Ford Focus spied - Skoda
