I was always pretty useless as a hi-fi reviewer, because I could never hear these enormous differences that other folk heard. I now realise that the same applies to cars, because I never can find enormous differences in them. Add to this the fact that I know that I'm not the new (or even the old) Sebastian Vettel, and it means that I will be happy with almost anything. But it's fun trying all these new goodies.
Today's effort was somewhat curtailed. This last week, we've had fine weather but low temperatures. Then, this morning, it rained. Rain hitting cold road turns instantly into ice, in German Glatteis (literally "flat" or "smooth" ice, black ice to you). Thus, before the salt trucks got out, the roads turned into a giant skating rink, with cars going where they wanted, as opposed to where you wanted.
It was largely gone by the afternoon, but it meant that I couldn't go places where I normally would have gone - the wiggly-waggly road over the hills was out, as I may have ended up in the farmers' fields. The Focus is somewhat wider than I would like (1824mm), but it was a pleasant drive. The automatic is a CVT. Now I wonder whether this has got anything to do with the very high revving. At 120kph on the autobahn, the engine was turning over at 3200rpm. This seems very high (the Astra is 2700, and the A-Class Merc tested the other week dropped right down to 2200). Now you couldn't actually hear the motor at all, but it surely mean that the thing is drinking more of that expensive petrol stuff than it should.
Otherwise the Focus is a pleasant small car with which I could easily live. It's comfortable, has good interior room - AND you can have a full-size spare wheel if you want! Might have another go in spring.
Today's effort was somewhat curtailed. This last week, we've had fine weather but low temperatures. Then, this morning, it rained. Rain hitting cold road turns instantly into ice, in German Glatteis (literally "flat" or "smooth" ice, black ice to you). Thus, before the salt trucks got out, the roads turned into a giant skating rink, with cars going where they wanted, as opposed to where you wanted.
It was largely gone by the afternoon, but it meant that I couldn't go places where I normally would have gone - the wiggly-waggly road over the hills was out, as I may have ended up in the farmers' fields. The Focus is somewhat wider than I would like (1824mm), but it was a pleasant drive. The automatic is a CVT. Now I wonder whether this has got anything to do with the very high revving. At 120kph on the autobahn, the engine was turning over at 3200rpm. This seems very high (the Astra is 2700, and the A-Class Merc tested the other week dropped right down to 2200). Now you couldn't actually hear the motor at all, but it surely mean that the thing is drinking more of that expensive petrol stuff than it should.
Otherwise the Focus is a pleasant small car with which I could easily live. It's comfortable, has good interior room - AND you can have a full-size spare wheel if you want! Might have another go in spring.
