Bought the Wife a new set of Wheels!!

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dgc333

dgc333

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My wife has been wanting a new car and we have been checking out various different brands. I really wanted to decide that a mopar was the right choice but she wanted something small like her current PT Cruiser and we were both luke warm about the Caliber. So this is her new ride.

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A 2012 Ford Focus. This little buggy blows all the other compacts out of the water in regards to performance, mileage, ride and technology. How's a 12:1 compression, direct injected 2.0l 4cyl with variable valve timing and a 6 speed electronically shifted manual transmission? The car has louvers on the front grill that will close at hiway speeds to maximize mileage. Its rated for 40mpg hiway and 28 mpg city compared to the Caliber, Mazda3, Impreza Outback all around 28/23. The color in the pictures is what we ordered with a dark charcoal interior. Got the Ford Sync system that gives you hands free cell phone and voice activated radio, cell and navigation.

Through work I was able to get it for 1% below invoice, a rebate and low financing which saved us about $3k over the Mazda3 and Outback that were also in the hunt. I kind of like the looks of the Caliber and it would have cost less with the same bells and whistles but the interior was very bland compared to the Focus which turned my wife off and I just found the CVT transmission to be unsettling. We would have liked the Focus ST (turbo version), Mazadaspeed3 or WRX but those only come with manual trannies and the wife didn't want that even if it meant sacrificing some power. As much as she likes the turbo PT, I was the only one that made use of the power it has.

We are keeping the 03 PT Cruiser GT turbo which will become my daily driver and the Dakota will be a part time vehicle. Now I will get to do a little performance upgrading on that 2.4 turbo! :)
 
Its nice, but you know i read they were finally bringing over the focus ST soon. The one w/ the turbo and like 230-240hp.

But i do love the new bodystyle. i keep hoping i can trade up for one when my car is due in.
 
I dont mid the new Fords. I've been drooling over a 300 h.p Edge,lol. It cant happen unless God himself intervenes but it is nice to dream.
 
I really like the looks of the 2012 Focus and as the owner of a 2007 Caliber you made the right choice picking the Focus! The best mileage I have been able to get out of mine is 29 on the interstate. My buddy has a 2008 Focus and we drove from Indy to Chicago to pick up a Dakota truck he bought on ebay. I drove the Focus back from Chicago and it got 41 mpg and it rides,drives and out performs the Caliber on every front and it looks like it has a much better fit and finish to boot. I have always bought Mopars but I like his Focus much more than my Caliber.](*,)
 
needsaresto said:
I dont mid the new Fords. I've been drooling over a 300 h.p Edge,lol. It cant happen unless God himself intervenes but it is nice to dream.
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Psst,I seen a 2012 Edge in our Proto-type room with a 4 cyl turbo.should haul butt and be awesome on gas.The twinturbo vehicles we produce now have a whopping 375hp V6 and are good on gas too.FYI.I like the sporty look of the new 2 door focus.
 
Wow thats pretty cool Scott! I do like the Edge,it's got some pretty cool lines and doesnt look like a mini van. I guess Chrysler and GM are following Ford for now,until they get thier direct injection motors going. Wait a minute,isnt the new pentastar engine direct injected and almost 300 h.p? 276 or something like that.

Ford does make some nice cars,allthough Im not a fan of the Ford p/u. More to do with how it rides than anything as I felt fairly motion sick. I spent some time in the back bench seat of a Ford during a hunting trip and must say my azz was not happy about it. Those rear bench seats are pretty hard!
 
magnumdust said:
Its nice, but you know i read they were finally bringing over the focus ST soon. The one w/ the turbo and like 230-240hp.

But i do love the new bodystyle. i keep hoping i can trade up for one when my car is due in.
Click to expand...

Yea we looked at pictures of the ST and sure is going to be something BUT it's only going to be available with a manual tranny and that won't work for the wife. It was the same issue with the Subaru WRX, manual only.
 
Technology sure has moved forward!! closing the air passage and keeping the air clean around the car.
The Ford Focus has been a big hit in my area here in Arkansas, I see allot of them around the collage and it's parking lot's.
Congratulations on the new wheels dgc333 :icon_smi:
 
I like this Focus alot better than the first model that came out. Much nicer looking. It's really hard to turn away from the mileage aspect. For what it is, it does really well on the Hwy and still, around town it doesn't have a mileage drop of like a rock falling. The Performance numbers I have compare to a few before and it does really well.

For the money, it's hard to knock it and not to hard to undrstand why there popping up all over the place.
 
i like this car but my only concern would be engine overheating when the front opening closes. is there something done to prevent that?
 
I am not sure if it's vacuum or electrically operated but in either case the computer controls it and I can't imagine that temperature is not one of the control inputs. I would also imagine that the Ford engineers are smart enough to make the default position open so if the control mechanism fails they just stay open.
 
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