Personal preferences aside... One thing we can all agree on is that this focus will bring fun to the everyday guy. It just seems like a well thought out, well built car. I still stand by my test drive and the SE model, which is not fast by any means was a great handler for a FWD. I expect the ST to be even better.

I mean, image is only one factor in a car-buying decision. I know people who are turned off by the WRX's boy racer image or the Mustang's redneck image. I mean, it's part of the equation, fair enough, but you shouldn't let stereotypes ruin your opinion of an otherwise brilliant car.

Agreed, I have high hopes for it.

GTi, civic, bmw and scion have basically the same stigma. Wannabe douchebag types... I would still consider an FRS/ 1/3series and a R32. I don't really care what stigmas people put on cars.

Whenever I see a GTI around here its got at least two douchey looking dudes in it. And there's a 58% chance they are on their way to dance lessons. :p

At least with Z/Mustang/WRX/etc there is a balance of douches, rednecks, old people, chicks, etc.















*Places an order for a new GTI* I WANT TO GO DANCING BABY!!!

:yum:

GTI owner -->:happydance: :ughdance: <-- Steve

I'm from the Mid Ay, bro. We are all pretty :superghey:

I just prefer to mask it in the shell of a masculine auto like the Honda S2000.

:bowrofl:

Why not? That's 90% of what this forum does....talks down every other car as having a bad image...from bimmers to porsches to mustangs and wrx's....

I think that applies to most car forums.

Well this isn't a fanboy thread so we are the other 10%. :icon17:

:iagree: plus we were just commenting on how impressive the new ford looks :tup:

:iagree:

And if its anything like an MS3, a simple tune + cai will get that thing to 300hp. :eek:

I guess you've never been to a NASA or SCCA event, or FF Battle/Super Lap Battle/Honda Challenge/various rally events/tons of other series and events. There's PLENTY of enthusiasm for FWD.







If there was no enthusiasm for these cars, automakers wouldn't be producing them.

:iagree:

Most of us look forward to seeing the outcome of this car in a positive way. Only a couple of posts mocked or down this car.

Most events I seen where civics, eclipse and TC's and suh compete. I noticed guys spent crazy money putting power to the rearI've only seen FWD at the dragstrip.

Fords are well known for their shitty quality, overall with most ford vehicles, you can usually get 30k-60k trouble free miles, but after that they start to have all types of problems engine, tranny, broken welds on rear ends, rotting out oil pans and electrical issues.

With Fords you can get some that will go to about 125k -150k on the motors, but they are usually ready for the grave at that point. My brother owned ford trucks from rangers to f150 and f350 deisels, he drives them mostly highway and puts on about 50k per year. Most of the fords he has owned over the last 10yrs, have had major issues

The longest he got was from a ranger pick up run on mobile one and oil changed every 4k miles, after about 120k the truck started loosing power and he did a compression test and most of the cylinders only had 110-120 psi, and the truck would only do 75mph top speed.

Comparing this to his nissan pick up that got 275k miles on castrol gtx and still did 100mph on the high way, he gave it to his girl friend that drove it for another 5 yrs.

The only reason he still buys rangers is that they are cheap and get employee pricing and sells them off every 3 yrs.

I also had a friend that was a fleet manager for a communications company that used ford vans, rangers, taurus, LTD, areostars, f150, escorts and he often told me how many problems they had with the ford vehicles and they were always in for multiple repairs under waranty that even the dealers could not fix them.

The only reason they stayed with fords, was because to vice president's brother inlaw was a sales manager at a local ford dealership and there was nothing they could do till. the VP retired or quit.

There policy was to keep the vehicles for 60k then sell them off to employees or whoesale them back to the dealership.

:icon14:

I think its a good looking car for the buck your paying. I was always a die hard Honda fan for years on end till the 2000s when they started going down hill in looks and quality. Id be open to look at one of these if I was in a need for a fun 4 door DD. My attention has definitely been caught by Hyundai in the last few years though but for a fun 4 door hatch, id go swing by and look at this. Then again, id look at the Mazda 3 speed as well but I think the ford looks better.

LOVE MY GTI!! :) :driving: :hello: 2012 with GTI-35 wheels "Watkins Glen"

Looks good. :tup:

Its a fun machine! Nice compliment to the Z. I guess Im a 49 yr old 'douche bag' :)

Take me dancing. :bowrofl:

I'll bet it is. I like hot hatches.

LOL! Ok but I lead LOL :)

:icon17: repped for being a good sport :tup:

Danke :)! You dance well!! LOL

Audi, VW, Seat, Bentley Tuning - MTM Motoren-Technik-Mayer

Check this tuner. They did the ECU upgrade on the S model A4 I used to have. They do amazing work. Price's are well......pricey LOL!

They will see the GTI next summer. Might get the 4 pipe exhaust for sure an ECU upgrade. Jump from 200 to 270hp.

MTM is 1 mile from the Audi factory in Ingolstadt. One of the best if not the best in Germany.

They been changing this little by little since 2004. First the focus, then the fusion, and now many cars are fairly reliable. Yes there are still quirks in some fords, but not enough to call it unreliable to the same degree as once before. Although the v6 mustang is the anti-tuner car. The GT has proven to be up there in quality. By 2015. I expect all models to meet the standards of germany and japan. Ford is doing better in quality than GM and chrysler thus far.

The new V6 Mustang is actually pretty sweet as far as the aftermarket goes.

I agree that Ford has turned things around. Ford started improving their small car lineup and were starting to head in the right direction before everything went to crap unlike GM who was forced to change things because everything went to hell. I think the Focus is a great car in it's segment now and the Mustang Gt is a great performance value as well. Don't know much about the rest of their lineup, but the Fusion and Edge seem to be headed in the right direction as well. Ford is actually making cars people want now.

you just love to :stirthepot: don'tcha? :icon17:

PS--I do really like the new taurus SHO. :yum:

I like that car too. Huge though.

The new V6 mustang is stout though. Nice aftermarket and they boost pretty well.

You say huge, I say, looks like I'd fit nicely in it and be comfy. :)

Yeah, it's lighter than the GT so I'd imagine with some boost and proper suspension setup, perhaps quite the little track monster. (v6 stang). Sh!t, now i'm :stirthepot:

on and inbefore someone mentions how the v6 stang is as fast as a 370z around VIR...

I like the commercial where Carl Edwards drifts the SHO around Sears Point taking engineers for a ride.

x2!

I'd actually forgotten about this car till I saw that. :driving:

I wish they made a 400hp rwd turbo Fusion!!!

ooh, first thing that came to mind when I read that were those old mid 90's impala SS's. I loved those cars back then, very cool. this would be like a modern reinvention of that car. :tup:

Haha those cars are so cool. Big boats but mad fun.

I tell you... some of the best driving fun I've had is hitting the twisties in a '97 Buick LeSabre. You really have to wheel that car. So suspect in the corners that its great fun.

Ford has improved it's overall line up. i will give them that....

But no way sorry and the end of the day it's still a Ford...........

And they made fun of the 370 catfish grill when it first came out....

That thing looked like a large mouth bass.............

and at the end of the day a Nissan is still a Nissan. Big deal. None of these brands carry any prestige.