Rental Focus review

"RiceRocketeer Extraordinaire" (ricerocketeer2) 06/20/2014 at 00:19 • Filed to: None

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I drove a red Focus SE hatchback rental for 10 days. It was utterly normal to drive, which actually pretty nice when traveling in an unfamiliar place.

Exterior:

Entirely subjective, but I'm okay with it. My tastes lean toward bland/conservative though.

Interior:

Most of the interior is hard plastic on the SE trim but at least the common contact points are padded. The footrest for the left foot is just carpet and seems undersized and I'd be a bit worried about wearing down the carpet.

I poked the video display on the dashboard once. I guess it might be useful for navigation or infotainment stuff. I haven't looked at it since.

The back seat does seem a bit smaller than expected - I don't expect rear passengers would be that happy on longer journeys.

Driving Impressions:

The drivetrain feels fine. I think the Denver altitude is blunting its performance but it got up to highway speeds without too much kicking and screaming. It's not fast, but it's not a total slug either.

I have mixed feelings about the steering. At regular speeds the feedback and weighting feels completely normal, but start pushing harder and the wheel goes unnervingly light. Not sure what to make of that except that it's not really a hoonmobile. I have driven a Fiesta ST in anger and liked it a lot, so it's not like Ford doesn't know how to tune suspension and steering systems either.

Still, I like it. There's a directness to the inputs that isn't always there with other cars on sale today, and it was practical and efficient and comfortable. It's exactly what I'd expect of a modern daily driver and I'd consider getting one to replace the Camry.

Textured Soy Protein > RiceRocketeer Extraordinaire 06/20/2014 at 00:39

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My current favorite rental car is the Chevy Malibu .

It's reasonably maneuverable while also being a comfy cruiser. It gets good mileage but still is halfway quick thanks to the base model having 196 hp and a pretty alright transmission. The ones that Enterprise buys come with the MyLink stereo which is pretty easy to pair up to my phone for Pandora, Google Maps voice prompts, and hands free calling.

The big knock against it is the back seat is really too small for a family sedan, but usually when I'm renting a car I don't have to worry about the back seat.

Now, there's no way I'd actually buy a Malibu, but amongst the rental car choices out there, I sorta like it.

RiceRocketeer Extraordinaire > Textured Soy Protein 06/20/2014 at 01:05

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Funny, isn't it? I was beginning to think I'd actually be fine living with a Focus, then I came back and drove my own car. It was like going from eating oatmeal to chewing jalapeños — dumb and unnecessary, but at least you won't forget what was for dinner.