SVT is not the problem. Ford is. The only problem I had with SVT is that they were never able to answer my questions. As for Ford and the CSVT--'98 E0 in my case--the car is a blast to drive but some of the problems are inexcusable. Bumper sag? Throttle hang for Pete's sake? Worthless dealer service depts. Not to mention numerous sqeaks, creaks and rattles, bubbling vinyl etc. You've heard it all before. However, my biggest complaint with Ford is their apparent lack of respect for American consumers. Why do they refuse to sell their best here? No Mondeo. No Ka. No Focus RS. The SVT Focus is fine but Europe gets a model with 230 hp, a quaife and a widened track. Even if the lousy engineering, quality, reliability, service and attitude in general weren't enough to keep me from buying another Ford the lack of product is. What alternative does Ford offer to someone for whom the CSVT was a good choice? At this point I guess all of this really shouldn't matter to me. I sold my SVT and have been driving a Subaru WRX for 3 weeks. I highly recommend it.
