My wife and I decided to go for our first brand new car in 25 years in July and after a few test drives of both the Fiesta and the Focus we chose the Focus - 1.0 (125) Zetec with the appearance pack.

Don't get me wrong, we love our new car to bits, but the one thing I can't be 100% happy about is the suspension. We all know that our roads are FAR from perfect due to lack of maintenance but whenever we go out in the car it feels as if you can feel every bump and blip in the road that you go over.

We have three other vehicles in our family (non Ford's) and I never seem to notice the bumps and blips so much when I drive any of these.

I even booked it in at my Ford dealership a couple of weeks ago asking them to take it for a drive and see what they think which they did but they came back saying that there is nothing whatsoever wrong with it.

I don't disbelieve them but is this a common thing with the new Focus's? I can't recall noticing it when I test drove a Focus (twice). Is it anything to do with having such a light engine / quiet engine / bigger wheels & tyres?

I'd appreciate your thoughts thank you!

My dad has gone from a 51 plate (185/65x14) when it was 3 years old to a new 61 plate (205/55x16) and now to a brand new zetec 14 plate (215/50X17), he has always complained about the harsh ride quality compared to his older cars, I explained to him that these days the lower tyre profile has a lot to do with it years ago he was used to dare I say it 155x13 tyres (155/80X13) which had nice big squishy sidewalls to absorb all the lumps bumps pot holes etc. I sort his tyres for him so he doesn't need to worry about that, but yes the focus seems to have a harsh ride in my opinion , I don't mind it and now after a few month my dad is used to it too.

Very nice car do enjoy... :D :D :driving:

Hello Andy, many thanks for your reply. What you have said confirms what I was thinking in regard to the tyres, as you say if there isn't much tyre between wheel and road then there's obviously less to absorb the bumps and uneven bits. Besides this we really love the car and can't get over just how quiet it is! We used to have a V reg 1.8 diesel Focus and you can't believe that this is also a Focus! I totally agree with you, it's a very nice car and we are enjoying, thanks again mate :driving: :) :)

Ah no probs welcome to the club too lol, what colour did you go for my dad went for deep impact blue after the previous focuses were silver and the car before that was red (14 years owning that one). :D :D :driving:

Ah no probs welcome to the club too lol, what colour did you go for my dad went for deep impact blue after the previous focuses were silver and the car before that was red (14 years owning that one). :D :D :driving:

Our last Focus was silver and we had that for 8 years, only part ex-ing it in as it was becoming uneconomical to keep running mechanically. A shame as it was a great car. Most of our cars have been silver but this time we decided to buck the trend and go for the frozen white. It will give me more motivation to keep it clean in the winter (that's the theory anyway) lol :D :driving: :D

Well plenty of washes coming up then , you simply CANNOT let it get dirty lol.

When it comes to suspension, how the Fiesta felt like, comparing it with Focus?

To me, Fiesta feels stiffer, even with smaller wheels (15 or 16 inch)...

Enjoy your Focus! That 1.0 EcoBoost is a fantastic engine, despite its high fuel consumption...

Do you have the facelifted MK3 Focus that Ford launched now?

When it comes to suspension, how the Fiesta felt like, comparing it with Focus?

To me, Fiesta feels stiffer, even with smaller wheels (15 or 16 inch)...

Enjoy your Focus! That 1.0 EcoBoost is a fantastic engine, despite its high fuel consumption...

Do you have the facelifted MK3 Focus that Ford launched now?

Yes I too thought that the Fiesta was stiffer but we went for the Focus as there were some good deals on them in July and it's that big bigger than the Fiesta. We love both it and the engine! Consumption wise, we're getting around 330ish miles to a tank - mainly local running about as well which I haven't thought too bad as our previous car was a 1.7 diesel and we were getting around 400 to a tank on that. No it's not the facelift model, probably why the deals were on to clear down stocks, trouble is though they're like mobile phones now - as soon as you get an up to date model out comes an upgraded model!

Well we've just got back from five days away in South Devon, and I have to say that I am astounded at the performance of this baby!!! I've driven 700 miles since Monday, 3 of us in the car and a couple of suitcases in the boot and you would never have guessed in a month of Sunday's that it was only a 1.0 litre engine taking us about! A lovely smooth ride throughout, could barely hear the engine even on climbs, seemingly no effort at all for it! Up to this point it had had only mainly local running about since I got it in July so this was the trial by jury for it - and it passed with flying colours!!!

Did you get a nice MPG figure too?