What car/Learn me Focus 1.0T

Okay, the Scion is sold. My turn for a "What Car?"

Required:

5 doors. Could be a hatch or CUV.

Out-the-door under $20k, so figure $18k.

Combined MPG: over 30.

New or under 30K miles.

Made in USA or Japan. No Mexican cars need apply.

Should be reasonably comfortable and quiet for road trips.

What's on the radar?

Mazda3

Subaru Impreza

So then this pops up. New 2015 Focus EcoBoost

Hmm... It's on offer at $18,880, and I have an X-Plan, ought to get me right in the ballpark. What does the hive mind think of the 1.0 Focus?

The outlier is a Certified 2014 Prius Two at $17k. I know it's a boring appliance, but it pushes a lot of the right buttons for me. Who has driven a Prius on the highway? What's it like?

Go!

EvanR wrote: Who has driven a Prius on the highway? What's it like?

You learn how far you can push the brake pedal to get regen without using the hydraulic brakes. Combine that with looking ahead and fantastic mileage is easy.

Otherwise it is a car, you still steer it with a wheel, gas is on the right, brake is on the left, etc.

When I test drove a 1L Focus, I wasn't surprised that it didn't have much acceleration left at 60 in 6th. Or 5th. I was a little surprised that 4th, didn't get me anything, and 3rd not much... I mean, it drives really nicely at in-town speeds, you just need to not need to pass anything.

The Impreza was the only other car we seriously considered besides the Mini we ordered. I liked the Impreza way more than the Focus, though I didn't drive any other engines in the Focus.

We were going to look at a 3, but there were no manuals in this part of the world for months to come.

Ransom wrote: When I test drove a 1L Focus, I wasn't surprised that it didn't have much acceleration left at 60 in 6th.

Which begs a question I forgot to ask... How's the 2.0 N/A Focus?

Prius is great as far as autos go when you hit the mountains. No shifting. And great mpg. Go test drive one. You may hate it, but for an appliance its hard to beat. It would be nearly impossible to get less than your target MPG figure.

I'm not a big fan of the Focus for reasons other than the powertrain. Combine that with a crappy powertrain and I'd stay away from it. I've driven the 2.0 and that motor isn't bad. The car is smooth and quiet on the highway... I just find it difficult to see out of and hate the ergonomics of it.

If you get a Ford, make sure it is a stick. I love my fiesta with the 1.0l ecoboost and hated my 2012 Focus with the auto. Totally ruined the car. I think a 2.0l with a stick would have been quite nice.

Driven a fiesta st yet?

I'm averaging a bit better than 35 us mpg so far.

In reply to EvanR:

2.0 NA Focus is fine. I wouldn't call it exciting but they're not terribly boring to drive like a Prius. 2013 I put about 10,000 miles on a couple rental Foci with that motor and they were fine, including through the Rocky Mountains, with automatics.

EvanR wrote: Made in USA or Japan. No Mexican cars need apply.

I just don't understand this requirement???

EvanR wrote: The outlier is a Certified 2014 Prius Two at $17k. I know it's a boring appliance, but it pushes a lot of the right buttons for me. Who has driven a Prius on the highway? What's it like? Go!

I owned a Prius and put 110+ plus miles a day on it for the 6 months I had it. That should tell you all you need to know. I have the utmost respect for the car as a transportation appliance. It's fantastic at eating up miles in quiet, fuel efficient comfort. It'll cruise the highway all day long. In that respect, it's actually a really nice car, I'd recommend it to anyone who needs a toaster. But the driving experience for me was so poor, I just couldn't live with it as my one and only car. Boring isn't even the word. When the road gets twisty, it wallows and trips all over itself, even worse than my minivan.

Haven't driven the 1.0L Focus, but I've put a lot of miles on a Focus SE hatchback and I'd take one of those in a heartbeat over the Prius. I really like the Focus. Not even sure which engine the SE has, but I consistently average 34-35mpg with it, with much of that on the highway.

In reply to Klayfish:

Lemme derail this a little and ask if you thought it might be worth adding some kind of suspension upgrades on the Prius. Would it have been more enjoyable? Maybe a cat-back exhaust that would let a little more sound out (or is that just stupid here? might be, I'm okay if you say it is).

Adrian_Thompson wrote:

EvanR wrote: Made in USA or Japan. No Mexican cars need apply.

I just don't understand this requirement???

I simply don't trust Mexican build quality to the tune of 18 grand. Too many horror stories.

Nathan JansenvanDoorn wrote: Driven a fiesta st yet? I'm averaging a bit better than 35 us mpg so far.

Hecho en Mexico. No me gusta.

I've had Escorts and Fiestas that were built in Mexico. No problems with build quality.

I saw a map awhile ago the showed all of the various car plants in Mexico.

There are a lot.

pres589 wrote: In reply to Klayfish: Lemme derail this a little and ask if you thought it might be worth adding some kind of suspension upgrades on the Prius. Would it have been more enjoyable? Maybe a cat-back exhaust that would let a little more sound out (or is that just stupid here? might be, I'm okay if you say it is).

Suspension upgrades would certainly have helped with the really sloppy handling...I'd guess it would be sway bars as my biggest complaint was that it seemed like the car had no body control. But it's a very isolating car in general, no steering feedback whatsoever, no brake pedal feedback either. I had a true love/hate relationship with it. I loved the mpg, comfy interior, reliability, hatchback versatility and serenity of the car. But every fiber of my "car guy" hated the driving experience. If I was ever in a position where I had a daily driver that I used for nothing but slogging through the daily traffic grind and then a toy that I could actually get a lot of weekend/weeknight use out of, I would consider getting another one. But as an only car, no way.

In reply to iceracer:

All the old foci are Mexican, all the Fiats in the US are Mexican, etc..... It's an invalid beef, my '01 focus has seen a lot of abuse in its life and kept taking it on the chin.

I have a 2013 Focus 5-Foor 2.0L with the DCT. I think it's actually pretty stout for N/A. From a standstill it scoots and even highway passing isn't bad. It returns pretty decent mileage. We average 32 mpg.

I know you're probably going to go with the manual and I definitely think that would be more fun but the DCT has been great. I just wish it had flappy paddles.

I'll give a vote for the Mazda 3. It's like a hatchback miata. You can definitely feel the miata/Mazda DNA. The shifter is nice, the pedal placement is great, and the electronic throttle calibration is very good. I really enjoyed driving the 2014 2.0 my father has. The stability/traction control is well calibrated to boot. It also knocks down good mpgs. At least mid 30s in mixed driving.

Edit: good ergonomics as well. More of a sporty cockpit feel to it than its competitors.

EvanR wrote:

Adrian_Thompson wrote:

EvanR wrote: Made in USA or Japan. No Mexican cars need apply.

I just don't understand this requirement???

I simply don't trust Mexican build quality to the tune of 18 grand. Too many horror stories.

That makes even less sense. I've launched cars both in the US and Mexico. In Mexico the line guys come up to the Engineers and say 'We've got this issue, how can we fix it' I've worked with people in a certain other country just to the North of Mexico and the attitude I always got there was 'Oi, Engineer, this doesn't work, you've got a problem, what are you going to do about it so we can get on with this'. The guys on the line I worked with in Mexico cared very very deeply about their job, the product, the company and the customer. I'd trust a car made in Mexico alongside a car made any where else in the world.