Good review, thanks for posting.

News flash for you. They did engineer it to a price point.

Interesting that they have included standard torque vectoring, direct injection, and a host of other technological advances that have trickled down to this model.

Too bad they killed the good model for the US. If you just come a few hundred km north you can buy an SEL hatch with standard manual transmission, 4 wheel discs, and fully auto dual zone AC, plus optional parking assistant, etc. Doesn't look like a Ford problem you have, just a Ford US problem.

Buy one up here and as an added bonus you can get mileage readouts in litres/100 km (7.8 city, 5.5 highway). You could even get one from La Belle Provence with French labels for the full Euro experience.

Our daughter bought herself a Focus (last generation model, MT, sedan) and has been very happy with it. It drives nicely. Not particularly exciting, but very competent. I think I like driving the Fiesta more.

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2007 X3 3.0si, 6 MT, Premium, White

Retired:
2008 535i, 6 MT, M Sport, Premium, Space Grey
2003 X5 3.0 Steptronic, Premium, Titanium Silver
2002 325xi 5 MT, Steel Grey
2004 Z4 3.0 Premium, Sport, SMG, Maldives Blue