Very nice ride Bob!
My wife and I just moved back to the U.S. from Australia, we had the previous Focus, 2010 XR5. It was a 5 Cyl 2.5L Turbo 6MT. Volvo made the engine...it was so sweet!
I was stoked to see that Allen Mulally was bringing the proper Focus to the U.S. with his "One Ford" program. Now if we can only convince him to ditch the FWD Taurus and replace it with the RWD Ford Falcon XR8 or XR6 Turbo models from Australia.
Sadly my wife chose the 2011 GTI over waiting for the new Focus RT. It's pretty close race, both cars are sweet. The GTI feels smoother for everyday driving and I thought the RT was rev-ier (aka more fun), but I drive the 135 so...
I read that the guy who was in charge of the RT project came from BMW or Merc or somewhere else. He was explaining the politics of Ford and how nothing has really changed in making smart decisions. For example he mentioned when he wanted to put a top end steering wheel on the RT, one with nice leather and top grain, he was told no go. Reason was it's a main line Ford badge so the internal Ford BS red tape said no premium leather or wheel allowed, just a blanket rule. So he worked the system, as you do in big companies with stupid blanket policys. He decided on a perforated leather wheel and there was no rule about perforated leather grain.
I forget where i read that but I thought it was funny.