By Ray Wert 2012 Ford Focus: First DriveFan-boys begged Ford for the international Focus since 2005, when the world got a new model and we got... a refresh. Now it's 2012 and it can finally be yours. But should you still want it? In a word; no. For years, America has watched Europeans get the good econoboxes while we got shitboxes. This "shitbox gap" — akin to the Cold War missile gap — was threatening our very way of automotive life. With no automaker was this more apparent than Ford — and with no car more apparent than the dumbed-down Focus they foisted upon us in 2005. Since that year we've been stuck with nothing more than lipstick on a pig. Even a second refresh in 2008 was just a second shellacking of cherry-red lipstick. But thanks to a jump in gas prices that year, even lipstick-bedecked pigs sold well as long as they got decent-or-higher fuel economy numbers. But now America's getting the same Focus everyone else gets. That means our Focus gets the same sporty "kinetic" design (kinetic, of course, being a word meaning "relating to motion"), platform, techie toy options like active park assist, torque vectoring control and rear view camera that the rest of the world gets. It turns out from my limited 55 mile drive outside of Los Angeles, the rest of the world has been driving a fairly capable car the past five years. Sure, the steering might be a bit numb, and when pushed too hard, it'll understeer in a corner. Otherwise, when it comes to the driving experience, the 2012 Ford Focus isn't just the most capable car in its class — it's also wickedly fun to drive. But only in certain situations. Thanks to the gearing on the touch-underpowered 160 horsepower, 146 lb-ft of torque 2.0-liter four-banger under the hood, downshifting from fourth to third became my new favorite game just to hear the engine whine and the little five-door hatchback burst forward around traffic. But the low gears could use a bit more sporty spunk and the 0-to-60 time could stand to be a bit lower than its estimated 9.0-seconds. Although we only had a chance to try the manual transmission, we're told the dry- clutch six-speed Ford PowerShift automatic transmission ain't too shabby either. But, as an enthusiast, we're still more interested in seeing the high-performance EcoBoosted Ford Focus ST we're told to expect next year. So the real story here isn't the engine and suspension — we knew that was going to be a far cry better than what we've had here in the United States — it's actually the exterior and interior design. On the outside, gone is the baseball cap-wearing Focus for Dummies styling, and in its place is a pleasing Billy the wide-mouthed bass front end. The back end is so attractively-styled it's the first time in many years I've wanted to mount the rear end of an econobox. Of course we're talking about the five-door hatchback. We're told there's a four-door sedan, but meh, it looked boring. The inside is pretty good too. The front bucket seats are a real delight — providing the right mix of side bolstering with ease of egress and ingress plus just enough wideness to fit my fat 'merican ass. Although it really could have used a bit more padding — especially on the "Sport" version I drove. The rest of the interior? Well, it's really nice seeing Ford dip into the Euro parts bin, but that's a game that's a bit old now that we've seen it implemented on the Fiesta. And while everything's well-situated, and there's all sorts of neato-to-use gizmos like Sync, MyFord Touch and Parking Assist available, the base interior's plastics are pretty chintzy-feeling. Frankly, and I can't believe I'm saying this, but the Chevy Cruze's interior doesn't look more plush — but it does feel it. Still, despite those few niggling issues, Ford's finally killed the shitbox lipstick-wearing pig and provided America the economy car it deserves. And in that segment, the Ford Focus has gone from zero to here's the very best car you can buy. But, that said, if you're a car guy, just wait for the ST because the 2.0-liter's just not going to give you that front wheels skittering away like an adorable puppy on a tile floor feeling you're looking for. | January 31st, 2011 Top Stories |
Senin, 31 Januari 2011
2012 Ford Focus: First Drive
Jumat, 28 Januari 2011
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2011 Chevy Camaro Convertible: First Drive
By Ray Wert 2011 Chevy Camaro Convertible: First DriveThe Chevy Camaro convertible drives just like the Chevy Camaro coupe... except with one key difference; with the top down you can actually see out the back of it. Camaro's been fighting the new Mustang for over a year now like a heavyweight with one hand tied behind his back. While the 'stang comes in three flavors — coupe, convertible and GT500, the Camaro comes in one. Despite the handicap, Chevy beat Ford in muscle car sales this past year for the first time in two decades. That's because although I was out here in sunny Southern California four years ago to drive the Chevy Camaro Convertible concept, that whole "Carpocalypse" thing got in the way of GM actually producing the real thing. Until now. With this summer's introduction of the 2011 Chevy Camaro Convertible, the bowtie-badged brand's getting a second stocky fist to pummel its crosstown rivals as both continue their UFC-like muscle car war (let's just ignore Dodge and the Challenger for a moment. As sales would indicate, buyers are ignoring them too). The first thing you notice when you step into the drop-top with the top down is how much more vision you have. It's refreshing, especially after driving the Camaro coupe, which, thanks to its massive C-pillar, is sort of like driving around in a small cave. Although that might do a disservice to caves. Whatever. Anyway, the act of removing the entire roof of a car tends to fix that problem. Like its hard-topped brother, the Camaro convertible comes in the same trim levels and engine choices. The base model gets the same 312 horsepower direct-injection V6 engine. I have no idea how that engine performs but I'm sure someone does. I spent yesterday driving an LS3-flavored Camaro SS convertible and I'm happy to report that the glorious 6.2-liter V8 throws down its phallic 426 horsepower gauntlet with the same level of satisfaction it always does. To gain access to that beating V8 heart, you'll get a standard six-speed manual transmission. We also hear there's an optional six-speed automatic, but like the V6, we don't know nuthin' about it. With the manual gearbox and the V8, the convertible is just a touch slower than the Coupe, but at a tenth of a second, it's a difference indistinguishable to anyone but V-Box-wielding buff book writers. Sadly, none were available yesterday to help us distinguish between the two. In my not-yet-patented stoplight-to-stoplight test in downtown San Diego, I found little to complain about in the acceleration department. But frankly, you can put an LS engine in pretty much anything and I'm a happy camper. Note to GM engineers: Please stop looking at me funny every time I bring up the idea of an LS-engined Chevy Cruze. I think it'll work and that's all that matters, OK? Stop laughing. It's really not nice. Thanks. I digress. Back to the topless mullet-mad muscle car. So acceleration's good. What about handling dynamics? Well, to talk about handling you have to poke a very touchy subject for Chevy — weight. No surprise — the convertible's even heavier than the coupe. What was a really beefy car before is even more husky with its top off. And if the Camaro's Cartman-like 3,849 lb. (for the SS with a manual transmission) weight made you queasy, then you'll lose your lunch over the drop-top's super heavyweight class-level 4,116 lb. weight. But, what do you expect? It's a convertible, it needs to be bigger-boned to increase stiffness lost from dropping that claustrophobic top. Even more so in the case of the Camaro as Chevy tells us that they simply were not willing to soften the suspension. It's a point Camaro chief engineer Al Oppenheiser made abundantly clear to me every time I needled him over the weight gain as we drove through the first half of our day near the Mexican border. Oppenheiser explained that Chevy, in addition to a big top crossbar, added four strategic reinforcements to achieve a level of torsional stiffness just a touch shy of the coupe. The first is a tower-to-tower brace under the hood, the second is a transmission support reinforcement brace, third is an underbody tunnel brace and fourth is front and rear underbody "V" braces. On the tight-and-twisties South of San Diego, the added reinforcement pays off. This is no boulevard cruiser like your pappy used to drive. In almost every way — from donuts to oversteer — the Camaro convertible feels exactly like the Camaro coupe. Look, here's the thing about the Chevy Camaro Convertible — like the coupe, it's an acquired taste. The positives and negatives of one all still apply to the other. Except you can see out the back of this one. | January 28th, 2011 Top Stories |
About Classic Cars: Big Sales and Big Numbers Reported From Scottsdale
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