For last couple of weeks, we’ve been testing out a Ford Focus. It’s an auto with a 1.5 eco engine. I have to say, that based on first impressions, I preferred it to the Mondeo. It’s full of the tech and kit that the Mondeo has, but it’s smaller and seems to have much more pull and spirit than the Mondeo – even when running in the regular mode and not the sport mode! I know that it’s going to be because of it weighing less, but it just has much more of a personality. Lovely Bloke isn’t as keen on it as I am. He likes the feeling of a bigger car and psychologically thinks it feels safer – even though we know that there’s no difference between the two !!!!
Despite my love of the Focus, the immediate thing we discovered is that it’s not so easy to get three children with their car seats and boosters in the back. We couldn’t clip the children in without one standing in the middle, clipping the boys in and then, squeezing the middle one in and scuffing knuckles to clip them in. And I know that this is me conforming to a cliched view that it’s really given me pause for thought. If we are about to buy a new car, we want it to be one that is happy with three in the back. I’m going to be checking out the set up in the back more closely – there must be a way to make it work – because I really do feel that we do not need a Mondeo sized car. Anyway, I had a really good road test set up for the week – to take the dog on a 2 hour car journey around the M25 – what could possibly go wrong – to see a friend – domesticgoddesq. This is because I wanted to put the dog in the boot and then, if she’s ok with it, add a roof box so that if we do go away as a family, we could still take the dog with us. The only thing is, that my dog – Bramble – is not so good with chickens. Well, that’s a polite thing to say. She kills them. So in the end, I decided it would be a bad idea to take her with me – because she has quite a few of them! This photo is Bramble being uncooperative about being in a photo with the Focus!
A photo posted by Liz Weston (@westoncomms) on
So, in summary for this quick post, things I want to document about the Focus.
I do not think that I need the sport function. It goes really well without it. When it’s in play, I feel a regression to my teens and early twenties coming through – reminding me of the time I raced Ryan Giggs in his BMW at the point where he was dating one of the girls I went to college with. I kid you not. I was not in a BMW. I was in a red, ford escort – 1200S – called Doris. I will not shame myself by describing any more of that scenario as we all know how it ended.
There is lots that I really like about it – the tech, the automatic lights, the keyless start, the fact that it’s so quiet that I can’t work out whether I’ve remembered to turn it off before I get out of the car when I pull into a car parking space. But there’s some stuff that I do not think it actually needs – on the doors, there is not the usual door guard. It’s one that pops out when you open the door and pops back in on a mechanical lever set up when you close it. I’ve actually done a video of it and I’ll upload it shortly. Perhaps it is there to make the car look as stylish as possible. Maybe I am not cool enough for the car. But to me, this is something that the boys and I are likely to catch ourselves on and break, snap or leave half coming out as it should and half trapping in the door meaning it doesn’t close. <<UPDATE – on the last day of our test, William caught it with his school bag and it came off. He was so upset about it. I felt sorry for him. He thought a “Ford Man” would come and tell him off!!>>
I’m also disappointed by the placing of the USB in the arm rest. It means that the boys can charge things whilst we are driving, but the cable is squashed and being damaged by the lid of the armrest by us doing it. I’m going to ask actually – can you get the usb ports in the back of the arm rest – facing the rear passengers like you can in the Mondeo? Because I think that would be a good thing.
After all the stuff I’ve said in this post about car seats, handles and USB cables, I still love it. I know I said at the top of this post that I prefer it to the Mondeo. But I really do. I feel like we’re not totally conforming to the middle aged family car. And that’s not to insult the Mondeo too much. Because it really is a good car. It’s a big, sturdy, long distance road car. But I’m not sure I’m ready for that yet. I want to be cool and funky for a bit longer…..
PS. That funkiness doesn’t stop me asking questions about the car – have a look at this instagram post!
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