Over at Blue Oval Forums, there's a thread about your dream Ford, with some basis in reality, that has been rather interesting to read. Mine of course is a Fiesta, though I could see the MkIII Focus being appealing and needing consideration. I thought it would be interesting to see some more specific ideas for the Fiesta since we tend to pour over every last part on the cars. We could always come back and reconsider after the NA premier.
I'd start with an Ocean Blue 5-door Fiesta with the 16" 7-spoke EU alloy wheels, US-spec front and rear fascias. I think I'd alter the upper grille just not sure how at this point. US headlights unless their illuminating capabilities are not sufficient in various weather conditions like foggy, rainy nights. Sport suspension, fog lights front (NA housing until I can see it in person) and rear, amber rear turn signals, moonroof, heated and power adjusted EU convex mirrors with turn signals, and a narrowly-spaced dual round exhaust with tame, inoffensive chrome tips (the R32 did this well). Also, larger front disc brakes and rear discs would be a nice addition to reign in added power. That's about it for the exterior.
Inside, manually adjusted heated & cooled (cooled leather on my brother's '03 LS convinced me this is the most underrated interior innovation of the decade) charcoal gray leather sport seats (with silver/light gray stiching stitching) and if a center armrest could be made in an unobtrusive way that would preserve cupholder and console functionality, that'd be nice as well. I'll take the rest of the EU interior layout and features add HD Radio support and Sync. Hopefully AM radio reception is strong--my family's Chrysler products have always vastly outperformed the Fords in this department.
The powertrain is where I'd like to get interesting, with the 1.6L Duratorq diesel tuned to the 135-150 hp range (torque obviously wouldn't be an issue). To handle the torque, I'd like to revert to RWD, but an AWD setup may be the only thing remotely realistic. Either way, a 6-speed manual is the only way to go.
If I had to stick with FWD to prevent huge weight gain, a less powerfully tuned Duratorq would likely return similar acceleration numbers as the Ti-VCT and still return 45-50 mpg consistently. Although, RevoKnuckle may solve the huge torque of a tuned diesel, so that may be nice.
I'd start with an Ocean Blue 5-door Fiesta with the 16" 7-spoke EU alloy wheels, US-spec front and rear fascias. I think I'd alter the upper grille just not sure how at this point. US headlights unless their illuminating capabilities are not sufficient in various weather conditions like foggy, rainy nights. Sport suspension, fog lights front (NA housing until I can see it in person) and rear, amber rear turn signals, moonroof, heated and power adjusted EU convex mirrors with turn signals, and a narrowly-spaced dual round exhaust with tame, inoffensive chrome tips (the R32 did this well). Also, larger front disc brakes and rear discs would be a nice addition to reign in added power. That's about it for the exterior.
Inside, manually adjusted heated & cooled (cooled leather on my brother's '03 LS convinced me this is the most underrated interior innovation of the decade) charcoal gray leather sport seats (with silver/light gray stiching stitching) and if a center armrest could be made in an unobtrusive way that would preserve cupholder and console functionality, that'd be nice as well. I'll take the rest of the EU interior layout and features add HD Radio support and Sync. Hopefully AM radio reception is strong--my family's Chrysler products have always vastly outperformed the Fords in this department.
The powertrain is where I'd like to get interesting, with the 1.6L Duratorq diesel tuned to the 135-150 hp range (torque obviously wouldn't be an issue). To handle the torque, I'd like to revert to RWD, but an AWD setup may be the only thing remotely realistic. Either way, a 6-speed manual is the only way to go.
If I had to stick with FWD to prevent huge weight gain, a less powerfully tuned Duratorq would likely return similar acceleration numbers as the Ti-VCT and still return 45-50 mpg consistently. Although, RevoKnuckle may solve the huge torque of a tuned diesel, so that may be nice.
