Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General General reasons NOT to buy svt focus??

oh i forgot to say...1st week of S2 ownership, Ford sent me a card and cookies. 2nd week, a "Focus" stainless mug for my "working" cupholders. Gotta like that

I'm not disparaging the Focus, it's an excellent small car. I don't like the styling, that's true, as the ZX3 breaks more styling rules than even the Aztek (though the Aztek breaks the rules it does break further).

My point is in my car classification struture, the Focus is a small car, comparable to other small cars like Civic, Corolla, Protege, Sentra, Sunfire, and the like. The Contour was an entry-mid-size car, comparable to Sonata, Passat (until VW decided to get insane with their pricing), 626, last generation Altima, Galant, and those cars.

I'm not sure what you mean by C, D, and that classification, but I use my own based on competitive models.

Interior room has very little place in my classification model, all it does is place the car as being relatively roomy or cramped within it's class. The Focus is a very roomy small car. The Contour was an average roominess entry-midsize car.

Exterior size is not the only indication of status, but it is one indication. V6 vs. 4 cylinder power is another. Styling and how people view the styling is another (I have LOTS of people thinking I bought a much more expensive car than I did with the Contour, the Focus looks like a small economy car).

However, if a Crown Victoria owner were forced into a Taurus, I think that owner would feel like I do when someone thinks I ought to move from the Contour to the Focus.

My only real disparagements is I don't think the SVT Focus, even if it lives up to your expectations is at a high enough level to be worthy of an SVT badge in it's competitive market. SVT should be representing performance that is well above its price, not comparable to those of its price.

My other disparagement is to those that say the Focus fills the Contour's shoes. I'm sorry, but the car is too small externally, lacking a V6, and lacking the style and class and stature needed to fill the Contour's shoes. Ford needs both cars in their lineup, but they're too shortsighted to see that.

I'll put in my .02 worth, somewhat along the lines of Jim....

I don't consider the Focus to be in the same class as the Contour, and do not consider it a direct replacement for the Contour. Just because Ford made it so does not make it so. Price, size, V6, all that stuff has some impact on perceived "status."

Ford even markets the Focus differently (though the Contour was never really marketed anyway), towards the under 28 crowd, the folks that would buy a Japanese car and tune it up. I think the Contour market was always slightly different than that....it was the cheap alternative to the 3 series, A4, etc.

Dang, all this time my 22-year-old butt's been in the wrong forum!!! I'd better hurry up and sell my SVT so I can get an appropriate Japanese car for my age... j/k


I think what's becoming painfully obvious is that people either like the style of the car or they don't, and that simple fact is what determine's everyone's opinions... Apparently, beauty is only skin deep... The SVT Focus will be an incredible bang for the buck, and also very worthy of the SVT nameplate... If the requirement to be called SVT was that you have to be THE best value in your comparative car class, how would you explain the Mustang Cobra?

What I'm puzzling over, with all the "Focus isn't worthy of the SVT badge" talk, is this: What else does Ford have in its U.S. toybox that is?

• Taurus? Were there ever plans to bring the SHO back? (if anyone can remind us of the reasons for its demise, please do!)
• Crown Vic? Sorry, if I were of a socio-economic stratum to be looking at a BMW 5-series, I don't think an SVT CV would catch my interest.
• ZX2? Why are they still selling that, anyway?
• T-bird? Okay, maybe that has potential, given the stock car seems more tuned towards "cruising," not hitting the twisties. Any noise on this front?
• Something from Europe? Don't we wish... :rolleyes:
• What else are we left with besides pickups and SUV's?

Geez, how many people looked at the CSVT when it was first announced and said "Man, no WAY I'll ever drive such a 4-door POS." I'm just glad Ford will still occasionally come out with a niche vehicle that has more than merely cosmetic mods. I hope they sell all the SVTF's they care to make.

You had an SVT, so do I. But don't tell me the non-SVT models were thought of by the general public or media as being poor man's BMW's. Only the SVT was.

Ive seen plenty of foci parked out side of 150+ thousand dollar homes. I believe one magazine editor said "at home in any driveway, doesnt look, drive or feel like an economy car"



Oh yeah, the Cobra is best in class too! :rolleyes: When the SVT focus was unveiled, it WOULD have been best in class, but as I said in another post, SVT waited far too long to release it, while other car makers hit the drawing boards, car shows, and then showrooms during fords proccratination. Expect the next Gen SVT Focus to be packing 200+ hp.

Either way, its hard for me to convince anyone of my point until you have spent quality time in both the CSVT and a top-of-the-line focus such as my S2. Only after that will most people come to see what Focus owners are really talking about.

Here is a quote from Edmund's "1996 Volkswagen Jetta GLX vs. 1996 Ford Contour SE" review.

I would agree that the pre-98 SE fits that description, but don't about the Zetec or the later SE's. I know the chasis is very good, but the suspension is too American.

I do think the Cobra IS best in class, if you look at the entire performance package. There is more to performance than straight lines, and the Cobra has added technical sophistication and handling ability to the pony car genre.

I have driven a Street Edition and a ZTS Focus, both top of the line 4-doors for the time driven.

As far as houses, I've seen a lot of Escorts, Corollas, and Civics parked in front of expensive homes too! I don't consider that any indication of automotive class. As for magazine editors, they go out of their way to be complimentary to cars, so those those need to be taken with a lot of salt. I guess I don't agree with the editior myself, and consider the Protege to be the classiest small car.