Still Eating Babies: The 2008 Ford Focus

[YSSMAN]

Autoblog has written a full-review of the car, and it was exactly what I feared. You can read the full review by clicking here, but I think the last paragraph sums it up well.

While we may lambast the 2008 Focus for its questionable styling and continue to hassle Ford to bring over the Euro Focus, the fact remains that the average buyer may not share our wavelength. While running our Focus SES Coupe through a car wash, our ears were shocked to overhear the staff comment positively on the car's looks during the towel drying process. The fact is, Ford has succeeded in making the 2008 Focus look like an altogether different car than the one it replaces, so the average consumer doesn't see a redesigned Focus, they see a new Focus. Enthusiasts and those in the know may see an awkward front end and faux fender vents that bring a tear to their eyes, but beauty is in the eye of the key holder. That is, those who do plunk down anywhere from $14,000 to $20,000 for a 2008 Ford Focus (our loaded tester came in at $20,105 with dest. and delivery charges) will find plenty to like about their new car, and that may include how it looks.

A few more photos:

Much like these guys, I have a really hard time completely writing this car off altogether. There still is a good car beneath the generally hideous exterior, but with mistep after mistep on Ford's behalf, you almost want to take it around back to put it out of it's misery.

Not offering the 2.3L I4 is a mistake. Making the suspension too soft is a mistake. The "Flyin' F" (for failure?) on the side is a huge mistake. The lack of color in the interior is a huge mistake.

...And yet, I kinda like it. They offer the new Sync program in the Focus (allowing your car to easily connect to USB and Bluetooth devices for $350), which is a monstrously attractive feature if you're a tech-geek. They've kept the prices way, way down (fully-loaded, you'd be hard pressed to go much over $20K), and they still offer a manual transmission... Not to mention having someone finally bring back an affordable coupe at Ford.

Love it, hate it, you decide. You can vote on it too.

 

[forza2.0]

What is Ford USA doing?

 

[Flerbizky]

That front end gave me a serious WTF moment...

That b d ugliness of the day...

 

[Famine]

What is Ford USA doing?

*universe ends*

Agreed.

European Mk2 Focus FTW, guys.

 

[YSSMAN]

We're dyin' over here!

I keep reading stores here on the Internet and in automotive magazines that we may not see the alignment for Ford USA and Ford Europe brands until 2015, and that is bad news indeed.

 

[forza2.0]

We're dyin' over here!

I keep reading stores here on the Internet and in automotive magazines that we may not see the alignment for Ford USA and Ford Europe brands until 2015, and that is bad news indeed.

Or good news for europeans incase anything ford america tries to make its way over the pond

 

[Famine]

We're dyin' over here!

I keep reading stores here on the Internet and in automotive magazines that we may not see the alignment for Ford USA and Ford Europe brands until 2015, and that is bad news indeed.

For everyone if Ford Europe aligns itself with Ford USA...

 

[Philly]

Is this still a MK1 or are we starting to move up in the world?

And it looks like they got their inspiration for designing the shape of the front from this guy:

If you ask me, the interior leaves a lot to be desired. That HUGE silver surface with few buttons far and between looks a little awkward, and it looks like the seats are that same cheap pleather stuff that was in the Volvo S40 we rented a little while ago. And money says that the gear selector has the same "not connected to anything but made to feel like it is" feel too.

On the brighter side, I might say that I like that I like that vent way off in the corner on the passenger side and the rear doesn't really look all that bad. And that USB/Bluetooth thing looks interesting as well.

For that $20k, I would rather take a stripper GTI or a Jetta. And $14k can get you some good rides like VWs or probably something from GM.

 

[Hugo Boss]

Pff, I thought the MKII European Focus was already a step backwards regarding the design, but this!!! I feel for you guys

The back reminds me of a Kia Shuma. "Hugo, what do you say?" Correct...

 

[V1P3R]

Wow...

 

[Kent]

I would preffer the Euro line of Ford as well.

This new model, in my opinion, is inferior to the old model simply because I'm sure the feel and performance of the car is very similar but the appearance is worse in this new version (in my opinion ).

 

[95GTIVR6]

"Play Song: Killing me Softly"

Ehh, I don't know. The interior is downright awful but I would say that I am fairly impartial to the overall looks of the car. Really, all I am saying is that hopefully an SVT upgrade will bring some better overall looks and performance.

 

[Bram Turismo]

European Mk2 Focus FTW, guys.

Amen.

 

[Gil]

I'm a dyed in the wool Ford guy, but I really ain't into the Focus.
I take all my cars to the Ford dealer for oil changes, as they bought the "quick lube joint across the street from the dealership and use it to keep the real service bays empty for real fix-it issues.

Never heard any Focus owners say much nice about them.
One girl I overheard says they go thru tires like crazy. 20K miles being a long lived set.
Another complained that it used oil.
I will stick with the bigger duller Fords, thank you.

 

[Dave A]

Pff, I thought the MKII European Focus was already a step backwards regarding the design, but this!!! I feel for you guys

The back reminds me of a Kia Shuma. "Hugo, what do you say?" Correct...

Nah, I much prefer the MKII, it just looks alot cleaner in appearence. The details are more subtle but when I look at the MKI and MKII the MKII just looks better imo.

That said I've just bought a MKI Focus, my 306 cracked a cylinder head, don't know how but it did, so I had to buy a replacment car quick and I saw a great deal on one.

 

[TsukubaTrueno]

Much more pretty than the 2009 Jaguar XF.

Just kidding. Although the Jaguar XF is horrid.​

 

[Sharky.]

Why is it every time a manufacturer tries to give a model a facelift, they always end up making it look like it fell out of the ugly tree, hit every branch on the way down then got ugly rocks thrown at it?

Taillights are a blatant ripoff of the BF Falcon as well...

 

[JCE]

I would preffer the Euro line of Ford as well.

This new model, in my opinion, is inferior to the old model simply because I'm sure the feel and performance of the car is very similar but the appearance is worse in this new version (in my opinion ).

As a former Focus (x2) owner and an employee at Ford I am officially not in love with this new *cough*old* Focus. The interior is lightyears better--but it was beaten with the slow performing ugly stick. No 2.3L option? Bad move Ford.

"Play Song: Killing me Softly"

Ehh, I don't know. The interior is downright awful but I would say that I am fairly impartial to the overall looks of the car. Really, all I am saying is that hopefully an SVT upgrade will bring some better overall looks and performance.

An SVT and or Roush option would be this Focus' ONLY appeal. The 2.0L D20 engine is crap for performance...period.

Never heard any Focus owners say much nice about them.

Well then here is your first person who does. I loved my '05 ZX5 SES, it had everything I wanted except huge amounts of power. One of the best cars I've ever owned.

One girl I overheard says they go thru tires like crazy. 20K miles being a long lived set.

Maybe because the drivers are "driving the **** out of them" because they are very fun to drive and chuck into corners. I easily replaced 3 sets of tires in the 14 months I had my '05.

Another complained that it used oil.

Never heard this at our service department. Also, I ran my '05 over 7000 miles twice between oil changes and still had the same amount of oil each time.

 

[Philly]

IAnother complained that it used oil.

Last time I checked (so this may have changed in time), most cars used oil.

 

[Keef]

I like the tail lights.

 

[Wolfe]

I voted "indifferent" because I don't hate this car like I hate, say, the RX-8. But I don't see a single thing here that appeals to me.

 

[a6m5]

RX-8? Huh? That is a beautiful car, in & out. It was beautiful to drive as well. I wouldn't necessarily want one, but......

I want to like the "new" Focus, I work at a Ford dealer. It is a no-can-do, I'm afraid. I was going to answer "indifferent", then I saw the photos.

I think the interior might be the best yet, for American Focus(can't remember what MkII looked like inside). But the car is so ugly, good luck actually making it to the cockpit. Because I liked the old Focus' reputation as a great handling car, I don't mind so much that the new Focus is still based on the original platform. They should've kept the original sheet metal while they were at it.

Sync is a really cool feature, especially for iPod and other MP3 players(I'm supposed to go in for demo, tomorrow). Last I checked the Ford website, there weren't that many phones that were fully compatible with Sync yet though. Too bad. Ford is really pushing this thing.

Why is it every time a manufacturer tries to give a model a facelift, they always end up making it look like it fell out of the ugly tree, hit every branch on the way down then got ugly rocks thrown at it?

Isn't that the case, nearly everytime? First version of the Focus was a beauty. Second one looked like it wasn't getting enough sleep and was smoking way too much. Latest one look like it got hit by a bus. One of the few exceptions off the top of my head, '92(I think) Taurus.

 

[JCE]

*post withdrawn because of hypocrisy*

 

[Wolfe]

RX-8? Huh? That is a beautiful car, in & out. It was beautiful to drive as well. I wouldn't necessarily want one, but......

Personally, I think it's one of the ugliest cars sold today. Furthermore, the rear suicide doors are the automotive equivalent of a fanny pack, the RENESIS isn't exactly more reliable or more fuel efficient than a 13B and is excessively gutless (the RX-8 has about the same peak-torque-output-to-weight ratio as a naturally-aspirated FC RX-7, but 3000RPM higher), and although I'm sure the handling is sublime, the car itself is way too underpowered to be an RX-7 replacement (Top Gear and Car and Driver both found that the new base model FWD Audi TT is quicker around a track). The fact that many owners and aspiring would-be owners praise it as the best car on the planet is what cements it as a car I hate.

If Mazda had given it a 3-rotor with some midrange punch and called it the Cosmo, it would make a lot more sense, suicide doors and all. But as-is, the only way they could have made the car more disappointing is if they had kept the RX-7 name.

I don't want to derail this thread so I'll leave it at that.

 

[Turbo Lag]

I like the tail lights.

They look like they're straight off a BA Falcon.

 

[Touring Mars]

I like it

I like it because it is proof that you clearly don't need to be massively talented to design a car these days, and there is still hope for the child inside of me that still secretly wants to be a car designer...

 

[Muzaffar]

I like it

I like it because it is proof that you clearly don't need to be massively talented to design a car these days, and there is still hope for the child inside of me that still secretly wants to be a car designer...

Yes yes, i like the enthusiasm there. Seems like people these days can come up with anything! 👍 But still, its 🤬 ugly!!! Especially the front. But then again, its up to the tuners to unuglified this car and yeah, i feel grateful we only got the international model of the Ford Focus

 

[Pupik]

You wanna buya Euro Focus, goa buya Volvo C30. The American Focus is the new Fox body.

I saw an '08 Focus pop out of the local Ford store the other day, and the tail lights are seriously tiny. I think the total square area of both lamps were smaller than an F1 car's "rain lamp".

 

[Joey D]

The picture that were posted are awesome, the car is totally parked in front of a "no parking sign", but that's ok it's so bad ass it will probably just eat any police office that questions it.

In all seriousness though I do not really care for the car, seeing it in person just makes it look down right goofy. I'll pass on it since it's still on the old platform, really does look like it eats people (apparently it's already eaten one UAW employee), and I'm guessing isn't as good as some of it's competitors.

 

[Tornado]

From what I've read this car is actually has a very nicely done redesigned interior, and the overall quality is roughly top 5 worthy. No, it isn't the Mk II Focus. But it is far better than the old car was, and is better than some of its considerably newer competitors (Corolla, Caliber), and may even be better than its Focus Mk II based brother (remember, the Focus was always a great handler, and lightweight, so the improved interior makes it much better than its age suggests). Besides, the previous Focus (remember, the Mondeo front end job) wasn't a beauty queen either.