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Subject: "A shadowy flight, etc."     Previous Topic | Next Topic
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Conferences Bubblegum Crisis: The Iron Age Topic #86
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Gryphonadmin
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Jul-14-16, 08:36 PM (EDT)
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24. "RE: A shadowy flight, etc."
In response to message #22
 
   LAST EDITED ON Jul-14-16 AT 08:41 PM (EDT)
 
>Personally, I would be very aggrieved if you tried to sell me a 2012
>Ford Fiesta again. Or a newer Fiesta - the gearbox is utter trash,
>and it hasn't improved that I'm aware of.

Unless they've dropped whichever transmission option you've got (you mention a firmware update, so I'm guessing it's the automatic) altogether, you're probably right. That kind of thing usually doesn't get a major revamp until and unless the model itself is refreshed, and the current-generation Fiesta is an oooooold platform by modern standards. I think apart from mild facelifts, it's been in production for at least eight years.

That said, I think they do a DSG-type transmission in the Fiesta now (Ford has a different trade name for it—"Powershift", I think—but it seems to be the same sort of dual-clutch robo-manual rig). That might suck less, in the current offerings, than the old-timey 4-speed auto. Or it might be worse! Depends on how good the people who programmed the robo-clutch are. :)

I don't know for sure because I haven't actually driven a Fiesta, though I did get close a few months ago. When I went to pick up the rental car while my CR-Z was in waiting for airbag parts, the guy at first tried to put me in one, because Honda had only agreed to cover the cost of a rental in the same size class as the affected car (so, for instance, if I'd had a CR-V, like they originally thought, I'd have ended up in an Escape or a Nissan Rogue or something). It was... kind of comical. I could actually get into it—just—but the controls weren't what I would really call usable, and there was real uncertainty in my mind as to whether I would be able to get out without damaging anything in the car or on myself. It not only wasn't comfortable, it didn't seem entirely safe.

To his credit, the rental guy was very graceful about it; he considered the situation, concurred with me that if I were going to have a Fiesta I would also need another one for my other foot, and said, "Let's try a Focus, and if that works we'll figure out a way to bill it that keeps Honda happy." Which we did, and it was fine.

I'm quite pleased with the overall package that the current model Focus presents, pleased enough that it was on the short list right to the end of the search. If you don't need anything bigger, you can get an awful lot of car for the money; even if you go completely berserk with the candy on the posh Titanium trim level, you can't make the MSRP break $30K, which makes it a much better value for the same amount of equipment (in a significantly smaller car, I grant) than the Fusion. (Which is also a very nice car, though I hear iffy things about the longevity of their front-end suspension components.)

As an aside, it still feels weird to me to have nice things to say about the Ford product lineup. When I was a kid, we were a GM family all the way, in that weird pseudo-religious way some families have. Within the last however many years, though, they've killed off both of my preferred GM marques, and the one remaining that's reasonably priced (Chevrolet) hasn't made anything I was interested in owning, other than the Camaro, for at least 15 years. They're just... dull. And they have really chintzy-feeling interiors. (This is not just a Chevy thing; even my mother's Cadillac feels cheap on the inside. For instance, it has this godawful silver-colored-plastic surround around the navigation screen. In a Cadillac! What the hell, guys.) Ford's current lineup, on the other hand, is both attractive and capable of giving the impression that the people who nailed them together gave a damn.

Amusingly, my father was recently forced to the same conclusion. When he was looking for his megatruck to haul his giant camper, he ended up buying an F-350, which people who have known him for years regard as grounds to suspect the involvement of a pod person, because it was the only one he could find that had everything he wanted and didn't cost two fortunes instead of one.

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.


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  Subject     Author     Message Date     ID  
 A shadowy flight, etc. [View All] Gryphonadmin Jul-13-16 TOP
   RE: A shadowy flight, etc. Mercutio Jul-13-16 1
      RE: A shadowy flight, etc. Gryphonadmin Jul-13-16 2
          RE: A shadowy flight, etc. Mercutio Jul-13-16 3
              RE: A shadowy flight, etc. pjmoyermoderator Jul-13-16 4
              RE: A shadowy flight, etc. BobSchroeck Jul-13-16 9
                  RE: A shadowy flight, etc. Gryphonadmin Jul-13-16 11
                      RE: A shadowy flight, etc. BobSchroeck Jul-14-16 17
                  RE: A shadowy flight, etc. TheOtherSean Jul-15-16 29
              RE: A shadowy flight, etc. Gryphonadmin Jul-13-16 10
                  RE: A shadowy flight, etc. Mercutio Jul-13-16 15
              RE: A shadowy flight, etc. JFerio Jul-13-16 12
              RE: A shadowy flight, etc. Wiregeek Jul-14-16 22
                  RE: A shadowy flight, etc. Pasha Jul-14-16 23
                      RE: A shadowy flight, etc. Wiregeek Jul-15-16 26
                 RE: A shadowy flight, etc. Gryphonadmin Jul-14-16 24
                      RE: A shadowy flight, etc. Wiregeek Jul-15-16 27
                          RE: A shadowy flight, etc. Gryphonadmin Jul-15-16 28
   RE: A shadowy flight, etc. Peter Eng Jul-13-16 5
      RE: A shadowy flight, etc. Mercutio Jul-13-16 6
          RE: A shadowy flight, etc. Peter Eng Jul-13-16 7
          RE: A shadowy flight, etc. JFerio Jul-13-16 13
              RE: A shadowy flight, etc. VoidRandom Jul-15-16 25
      RE: A shadowy flight, etc. Gryphonadmin Jul-13-16 8
          RE: A shadowy flight, etc. Mercutio Jul-13-16 14
      RE: A shadowy flight, etc. drakensis Jul-14-16 16
          RE: A shadowy flight, etc. Gryphonadmin Jul-14-16 18
              RE: A shadowy flight, etc. Meridias Jul-14-16 19
                  RE: A shadowy flight, etc. Lime2K Jul-14-16 20
          RE: A shadowy flight, etc. Peter Eng Jul-14-16 21


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