Behind the wheel of the new Ford Focus week 2

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OK week two with the new Focus and the discovery of the usb port hiding discretely in the glove box has been an unbridled delight. 8GB’s of tunes and audio books to get through before we have to hand the car back at the end of next month. Realistically I am not going to get through them all, even if I started driving now and didn’t stop for six weeks (in which case un-listened to mp3’s would probably be the least of my problems) but I’ll try and make a dent in them (sorry Ford if you’re reading this, probably not the best turn of phrase I could have used).

So if the discovery of the usb connection was a big plus the fact that the Focus has started to try and communicate with me is perhaps not so. Now it’s not trying to pass the time of day or comment on the weather, which wouldn’t be so bad (granted it would get annoying after a while) but it keeps banging on about the “tyre pressure”. Every time I bring it back to life the first thing it says is “check tyre pressures” and every time I have to press “OK” (although I’m beginning to think “OK already!” may be more appropriate). Now I know what you’re thinking, instead of just keep ignoring the warning why don’t you check the tyre pressures? And that is a very good point and if I hadn’t already done that I should have no business driving let alone reviewing cars. So, yes as far as I can tell the tyre pressures are fine and yet the Focus keeps telling me (via its little screen) to check them. So there we are we have reached a little impasse. Now if the car was mine I’d take it to the Ford dealer and have them check it out. Hang on a minute why don’t I do that anyway? OK it’s a deal. This coming week I will take the car to the local Ford dealer and will report back on my experiences. I hope they’re good.

On another note one of the mothers at my daughter’s school was really quite disparaging about the colour (Candy Yellow). Not straight away you understand, only after she’d ascertained that the car wasn’t actually mine. “I mean why would anyone actually buy one in that colour? It’s disgusting!” Yes she actually used the word “disgusting”. Now I have to admit I wasn’t completely bowled over by the bright colour when I first laid eyes on it but it’s gone from “sort of growing on me” to “actually quite liking it” and as a result of my growing fondness for the Focus I’m afraid I became a little defensive. “Well I quite like it” I said, perhaps a little too forcefully. Oh well she’ll get over it.

This past week we have also had the Mazda CX-7 in the “stable” and switching between the two has made me realise just how much I enjoy driving the Focus. Not that there is anything wrong with the CX-7 you understand but as you will find out if you read our upcoming review the gearbox is, how can I put this, an acquired taste. So settling back behind the wheel of the Focus I find, apart from feeling somewhat low down after the lofty driving position of the CX-7, that it’s also just so easy to drive.

Now if only I could get it to shut up about the tyres.