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First Drive: 2012 Ford Focus, A European Car Meant For The World

Posted: 31 Jan 2011 04:24 AM PST

If you were asked to say the first thing that came to mind when saying the word Focus, you might respond, "camera," or "cheap car," or "concentration," not, "fun, technological," or "practical." Likely this will change. Let's go over some of the new terms.

We got a chance to drive the new 2012 Ford Focus last week in LA. Those in the area know the hills overtop the city house some of the most entertaining roads in the country. Though you wouldn't want to take just anything to enjoy the drive of Mulholland, the Focus was our only choice.

More Americans are ditching their gas-guzzling SUVs and heading straight for the small car market. From a marketing standpoint, Ford's approach to selling a small car to people is by offering all the features found in their larger vehicles, but in a smaller package. No longer do people have to feel ashamed for "cheaping out" and getting a Focus, instead, it's simply a lifestyle choice. Why should the choice take out all the fun of owning a car?

The first thing you do at these press events is peddle-to-the-metal right out of the parking lot. You gotta see what the thing is made of after all. Getting on the gas you notice something very apparent about the Focus: it's dead quiet. Sure there's a welcome rumble from the 160 hp 2-liter four banger, and a smooth sensation of speed; but we couldn't believe how amicable the noise levels were, even with windows down on the PCH. A right turn was made off the PCH and into more "suitable" driving conditions. This is where we learn the word fun.

Fun, Fun, Fun 'til her daddy takes the t-bird away

Driving canyon roads isn't exactly the best way to learn a new car. It's best to know a few of its limits before making sharp turns around high cliffs sans guardrail. We just had to trust Ford on that one. One of those heart-sinking quick left-right "S" curves, similar to the corkscrew at Laguna Seca, was calm and collected. It felt tight and firm with just the slightest amount of tire chirp. The Focus has some pretty darn good grip. Engineers claim that in those situations, the Focus' software aids the driver in keeping grip and direction. The newest software feature added is called torque vectoring and is Ford's way of keeping traction at the front wheels by applying brake pressure to the outside wheel in excessively thrilling turns.

Another feature that keeps the adrenaline levels high is the dual-clutch transmission. Dual clutches are neat because the offer really fast shift times and better fuel economy than a manual. In sport mode, the transmission kept to the lower gear very well, keeping max power within close reach. It worked perfectly in the hills. We also drive the manual version, and while it was just a budget manual, it still offered better a feel than others, just not enough. One disconcerting issue with the sported hills driving were the brakes. While we actually had no issue stopping, the overall feel was just a bit mushy and didn't aid confidence. The electronically assisted steering was also a touch light for our tastes, but we can imagine people will like how effortless it is. Other than the weight, the steering is pretty damn good for electric.

MyFord Touch is the focal point

MyFord Touch is making its way into more of the Ford lineup with the addition of the Focus. But, gone are the wings around the gauges. Instead there is a single display in the cluster with analog gauges on either side and you still get the steering wheel control. Other than that the system is identical to those in the Edge and Explorer. Thanks to free updates, the system seems to be moving more swift these days, but we’re still longing for more. And, even though the voice command recognizes over 10,000 commands, we found it hard to figure out any one of them. Music from an iPhone or MP3 player is still simple and can connect either over Bluetooth or USB. Make sure to get the 10-speaker Sony system, it sounds surprising; great bass, loudness and even treble. The loudness was really tight, with no rattling of plastics or other embarrassing sounds. Easily besting most, if not all, Bose sound systems.

One unexpected feature with MyFord is in-car Wifi. Just plug in a USB modem dongle into one of the two USB ports and after a quick setup, a Wifi hotspot is in the car with support for up to five devices. HD Radio and six months of Sirius are standard. If you choose not to go with MyFord Touch, you still get SYNC. SYNC is pretty straightforward and offers turn-by-turn directions, weather, traffic, stocks and so on. Also, connectivity for mobile devices.

Opt for the Parking Technology package and the Focus comes with a rear view camera and Ford's Active Park Assist. The system basically finds a parking spot and does all the steering work to Parallel Park. You’re just required to gas and brake. It's a pretty cool feature and it parks in under 24 seconds. Not what you'd expect from a Focus.

Practical makes perfect

What do most people want from a car? Its basic function is only traversing from point A to point B. So why do people choose one over the other? That really comes down to practicality. We think the Focus is a very practical car. It has the recipe to be a very high selling car.

Inside, you get an interior that feels much more luxury than previous Foci. In fact, it's the best in its class. Every surface feels well thought out. Shown is care and enthusiasm to bring quality to the market in any way possible. Interior room is very good, more so for the front. Rear legroom isn't the greatest, but it's pretty good for the class. Headroom is most noticeable in the front; the cabin feels airy and spacious and never cramped. We liked the hatchback because it offered more cargo room. Unlike the sedan, the hatchback makes use of the space above the trunk.

Not only can you move a small apartment in the Focus, but also efficiently. Ford claims that fuel economy is 40 mpg, but it seems that would be hard to reach—we got only 22 mpg on the 60-mile course around LA. Assuming we lightened up our foot, and flattened the surface, we could certainly get close.

While fuel economy and cargo room do add points for practicality, it still doesn't make the car. Ford knows this; they have to sell them after all. We're going to go on record and say that the Focus is easily the best looking car in its class. The style is unmistakably European. The feel is also. From the great interior materials to the way it handles, it's like no other Ford in the US. Functionality, technology, practicality and a fun-to-drive attitude make this a very appealing car. There is no doubt it speaks for itself and will sell very well. In fact, we want one.

Tournaire Expression Watches Have Little Cities On Them

Posted: 31 Jan 2011 02:23 AM PST

Jewelry and watch designer Philippe Tournaire has created some really interesting things. For me, he will be most famous for being the guy who turns architecture into rings. Really. Image a ring with a gold building on it - yup. Tournaire's newest creation combines this concept with a watch, but in a way that is just sort of weird. In fact, as hard as it may have been someone finally make the beautiful city of Paris kinda unattractive.


Fixed-Line Phone With Integrated Android Tablet

Posted: 31 Jan 2011 12:43 AM PST

Japanese telecommunications company Nakayo is preparing an IP home phone [JP, PDF] that features an integrated 7-inch Android tablet. When receiving a call, users can pick up the handset to speak, push a button on the display (the tablet) to make a hands-free call or take the tablet out, walk around and speak into its mic. Read the rest on MobileCrunch.


CrunchGear Week In Review: Go With The Floe Edition

Posted: 31 Jan 2011 12:00 AM PST

Cloud-Based Storage Coming To PS3 (But For A Premium)?

Posted: 30 Jan 2011 10:45 AM PST

Flickr’d

Word on the street is that cloud-based game save management will be coming to the PS3 beginning with firmware 3.60. Hate the idea of the cloud managing your saves? Don’t worry, for it looks like the feature will only be available to PlayStation Plus subscribers. Outrage!

"Cloud-based save game management? What’s that?" A good, honest question, amigo. The long and short of it is that every time you save your game (provided the game works with the new service, which is said to be named "Online Saving") a backup copy will be sent to Sony’s servers in the sky—hence the "cloud" metaphor. The idea is that should anything happen to the saves on your hard drive, there will always be a copy on Sony’s servers.

So let’s say you were bitten by the Mass Effect 2 game save corruption bug. (There’s a glitch in the game, due to be patched any minute now, that leads to save data being corrupted if you play for too many consecutive hours—something to do with data fragmentation.) You lose the saves on your hard drive, but don’t worry: there’s a copy on Sony’s servers. Copy those over and you’re back in business.

Of course, syncing data with the cloud opens up the possibility of further glitches, as players of the PC version of Fallout: New Vegas found out a few months ago. But on the whole it’s a useful feature; nothing wrong with backing up your data, right?

Valve said a few days ago that the PS3 version of Portal 2 will have Steam-based cloud storage, meaning that your local saves will be mirrored on Valve’s servers. It’s the same basic technology, but it would seem to be a feature that merely comes with the game, no having to subscribe to PlayStation Plus. At least that’s how I understand it, but I could well be wrong.

The questions now become A) when will the Xbox 360 see something like this and B) how long will PS3 gamers continue to wait for cross-game voice chat?

Zuckerberg On SNL: “I Invented Poking” [Video]

Posted: 30 Jan 2011 05:43 AM PST

‘The Social Network’ star Jesse Eisenberg hosted “Saturday Night Live” tonight and opened the show talking about the movie’s impressive eight Oscar nominations. The monologue then switched to video of actual Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg watching his two “Berg” doppelgangers backstage, ”Why can’t I go in there, I’m the real Mark Zuckerberg?

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