S 4dr Sedan
2008 Ford Focus

2008 Focus Photos
2008 Ford Focus SES Coupe – Click above for high-res image gallery A car's design is simply a composite of curves, creases and kinks. A good design will elicit an emotion that urges people to buy the car. The affected just have to have it, often blind to any faults the car may exhibit by the way it makes them feel. The design of the 2008 Ford Focus makes us feel an emotion, too. Unfortunately, it's pity. We honestly feel bad for the latest iteration of Ford's small car. We fear that its strengths will go largely unnoticed on account of a few bad design choices. Of course, we're speaking of the redesigned front end and those fauxest of faux fender vents. It isn't fair to judge a book by its cover alone, or in this case a car by its design, but a bad first impression is difficult to overcome. Ford has made a lot of improvements to the Focus for 2008, but will anyone notice? Follow the jump to find out. %Gallery-10559% Live photos Copyright ©2007 John Neff / Weblogs, Inc. Let's start with the exterior design, since it's the first thing most people notice when seeing the 2008 Ford Focus for the first time. Initial reaction to it last January when the car was introduced at the Detroit Auto Show was not good, so much so in fact that Ford actually tweaked the design before it went into production by removing some chrome trim and replacing the car's rectangular fog lights with round ones. It was an odd move, like trying to fix a broken foot by putting a Band-Aid on your ear. Clearly the most egregious elements of this car's design are an ugly mug and the most superfluous fender events in the history of autodom, but for some reason those weren't among the pre-production tweaks. The front end of the 2008 Focus features a pair of oddly shaped headlights that creep up the car's face on the outside of the hood. Other cars like the BMW 5-Series feature similarly shaped headlights, and while we don't consider the shape particularly attractive, at least the Bimmer's uses every bit of its housing for the purpose of lighting the road ahead. Look closely at the Focus beams, and you'll see that the part extending up alongside the hood is entirely non-functional, contains no lighting element and appears to be purely a design element. They give the car's face a scowl, "angry eyes" if you will, that's completely at odds with its nature. The rest of the front end is marked by a wide air intake slotted below the two-bar grille and above the front bumper, as well as a large lower intake that's flanked by those new round fog lamps. The hood features four creases that create a kind of power dome in the center, which again is a bit misleading considering that Ford has dropped the larger 2.3L four-cylinder as an option, leaving the more anemic …
Full Review
2008 Ford Focus SES Coupe – Click above for high-res image gallery A car's design is simply a composite of curves, creases and kinks. A good design will elicit an emotion that urges people to buy the car. The affected just have to have it, often blind to any faults the car may exhibit by the way it makes them feel. The design of the 2008 Ford Focus makes us feel an emotion, too. Unfortunately, it's pity. We honestly feel bad for the latest iteration of Ford's small car. We fear that its strengths will go largely unnoticed on account of a few bad design choices. Of course, we're speaking of the redesigned front end and those fauxest of faux fender vents. It isn't fair to judge a book by its cover alone, or in this case a car by its design, but a bad first impression is difficult to overcome. Ford has made a lot of improvements to the Focus for 2008, but will anyone notice? Follow the jump to find out. %Gallery-10559% Live photos Copyright ©2007 John Neff / Weblogs, Inc. Let's start with the exterior design, since it's the first thing most people notice when seeing the 2008 Ford Focus for the first time. Initial reaction to it last January when the car was introduced at the Detroit Auto Show was not good, so much so in fact that Ford actually tweaked the design before it went into production by removing some chrome trim and replacing the car's rectangular fog lights with round ones. It was an odd move, like trying to fix a broken foot by putting a Band-Aid on your ear. Clearly the most egregious elements of this car's design are an ugly mug and the most superfluous fender events in the history of autodom, but for some reason those weren't among the pre-production tweaks. The front end of the 2008 Focus features a pair of oddly shaped headlights that creep up the car's face on the outside of the hood. Other cars like the BMW 5-Series feature similarly shaped headlights, and while we don't consider the shape particularly attractive, at least the Bimmer's uses every bit of its housing for the purpose of lighting the road ahead. Look closely at the Focus beams, and you'll see that the part extending up alongside the hood is entirely non-functional, contains no lighting element and appears to be purely a design element. They give the car's face a scowl, "angry eyes" if you will, that's completely at odds with its nature. The rest of the front end is marked by a wide air intake slotted below the two-bar grille and above the front bumper, as well as a large lower intake that's flanked by those new round fog lamps. The hood features four creases that create a kind of power dome in the center, which again is a bit misleading considering that Ford has dropped the larger 2.3L four-cylinder as an option, leaving the more anemic …
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Retail Price

$14,755 MSRP / Window Sticker Price
Engine 2.0L I-4
MPG 24 City / 35 Hwy
Seating 5 Passengers
Transmission 5-spd man w/OD
Power 140 @ 6000 rpm
Drivetrain front-wheel
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