USA Today
Ford Motor, masterful at milking its models for multiple media mentions, rolled out the whole line of next-generation, 2012 Focus compacts -- not just the hot-rod ST it had hyped and that we told you about in this earlier Drive On post -- at the Paris auto show Wednesday.
Of particular interest: A U.S. version that's supposed to get a 40 mpg highway rating. Sounds good, but is 40 mpg highway so high, really?
Hyundai Sonata, a bigger car, is rated a commendable 35 mpg on the highway. Volkswagen Golf and Jetta diesels are rated 42 mpg highway -- no need to wait if 40's your bogey.
The fuel-efficiency version of the Focus will come with an automatic transmission. Ford doesn't specify, but if it's the so-called DSG manu-matic, we'll need some convincing. That gearbox in the smaller Fiesta was unpleasant to drive, as we detailed in this Test Drive column.
Manu-matics are actual manual transmissions, equipped with clutches, but no clutch pedals. The transmission does the shifting; you don't. The solid connection between engine and transmission provided by a true manual gives better fuel economy than does the fluid coupling of a conventional automatic. But without the fluid-filled torque converter of a typical automatic, a manu-matic car can be a slug off the line.
Automatics are so sophisticated nowadays that they can get better mileage than manuals -- regardless of the the slippage in their torque converters -- if the vehicle-control computer babysits their shift patterns. No yee-hah revving or slam-bam passing gear downshifts.
Apply that same nanny-ish computer control to a manu-matic, and the fuel economy number gets even better, which is why Ford likes that gearbox.
U.S. cars all get a new-design, 2-liter, four-cylinder engine with twin variable-timing overhead camshafts and direct injection. Big words that should mean bigger power than you'd otherwise get from an engine that size. But Ford gives no power ratings.
U..S.-market, 2012 Focuses (Focii?) go into production late this year in Michigan and should be in showrooms early next year. The high-performance ST is due in 2012. Pricing and features won't be specified until next month, Ford says. (What did we say about Ford being able to milk its model rollouts?)
Of particular interest: A U.S. version that's supposed to get a 40 mpg highway rating. Sounds good, but is 40 mpg highway so high, really?
Hyundai Sonata, a bigger car, is rated a commendable 35 mpg on the highway. Volkswagen Golf and Jetta diesels are rated 42 mpg highway -- no need to wait if 40's your bogey.
The fuel-efficiency version of the Focus will come with an automatic transmission. Ford doesn't specify, but if it's the so-called DSG manu-matic, we'll need some convincing. That gearbox in the smaller Fiesta was unpleasant to drive, as we detailed in this Test Drive column.
Manu-matics are actual manual transmissions, equipped with clutches, but no clutch pedals. The transmission does the shifting; you don't. The solid connection between engine and transmission provided by a true manual gives better fuel economy than does the fluid coupling of a conventional automatic. But without the fluid-filled torque converter of a typical automatic, a manu-matic car can be a slug off the line.
Automatics are so sophisticated nowadays that they can get better mileage than manuals -- regardless of the the slippage in their torque converters -- if the vehicle-control computer babysits their shift patterns. No yee-hah revving or slam-bam passing gear downshifts.
Apply that same nanny-ish computer control to a manu-matic, and the fuel economy number gets even better, which is why Ford likes that gearbox.
U.S. cars all get a new-design, 2-liter, four-cylinder engine with twin variable-timing overhead camshafts and direct injection. Big words that should mean bigger power than you'd otherwise get from an engine that size. But Ford gives no power ratings.
U..S.-market, 2012 Focuses (Focii?) go into production late this year in Michigan and should be in showrooms early next year. The high-performance ST is due in 2012. Pricing and features won't be specified until next month, Ford says. (What did we say about Ford being able to milk its model rollouts?)
No comments:
Post a Comment