2008 Ford Focus

I rented a 2008 Ford Focus for three days and drove it from Fresno to L.A. and back. When the lady at the counter handed me the keys, I was a bit disappointed at first because I was hoping for something I thought would be a little more interesting and fun. The Focus really grew on me, though. The interior was surprisingly nice for a compact car.

My favorite feature was the stereo system, which sounded great for a base-model car. I would have preferred audio controls on the steering wheel, but if I were to buy a 2008 Focus, I'd definitely want to upgrade to make sure I had the steering wheel audio controls and the SYNC system which sounds absolutely awesome. The Focus I drove had a display on the upper portion of the dashboard that showed the radio station and title and artist of the song that was playing. I thought this was a great feature.

The Focus handled well and I have no complaints, although I recognized that it wasn't a sports car and didn't really push it. I did take it on Mulholland Drive between the San Diego Freeway and the Hollywood Freeway and I thought it handled like a champ on the curves. The engine really gets the car up to speed quickly from a complete stop, and I had no trouble entering traffic on the on-ramps, although the Focus tended to really scream at 5000 r.p.m. At La Cienega and Wilshire, I had to step on it to get out of the way of a Metro bus, and I was rewarded by a great deal of white smoke, the smell of burning rubber, and some fun G forces as I went from zero to 30 in an extremely short period of time. I was mucho impressed by the Focus' get-up-and-go.

I think one of the most important benefits of the Focus is the great gas mileage on the freeway. I felt like I was getting mid to high 30's, and at one point I wondered if the fuel gauge was broken because it was hardly moving. With gas prices the way they are, this would be a key selling point for me.

A caveat for guys like me who are in their mid-30's: The Focus is considered a girl car. My 29-year-old coworker laughed out loud when she saw it and said I should never consider buying this car. She was particularly amused by the chrome doo-dads on the side fenders that say "Focus" and attempt to make the car look like a Jaguar XK. It's a personal choice, though. Girl car, great gas mileage, girl car, great gas mileage, hmmm.

Overall, I'd still have to say that I liked the Focus, and if I were considering a subcompact car, I'd definitely add it to my list of possible choices.