Vitreous enamel

This is a commonly used, yet fanciful term, implying that an ordinary latex or oil-based paint has the same properties as true, fired enamel. The Focus also won the subcategory of Best Compact Family Car in the same awards. Some paints are called "enamel paints". Auto Express in 2005 hailed the European Focus Mk II "Supreme Champion" in its New Car of the Year awards. This produces tiny specks of both colours; although the eye can be tricked by grinding colors together to an extremely fine, flour-like, powder. In 2001 and 2002, Focus was the world’s best selling car. Different enamel colours cannot be mixed to make a new colour, in the manner of paint. Motor Trend magazine has also given the Focus favorable reviews, writing comments like "As entry-level sedans go, few can touch Ford's Focus on the fun-to-drive front" [7].

Enamel can be either transparent, opaque or opalescent (translucent), which is a variety that gains a milky opacity the longer it is fired. The North American version has been a favorite of Car and Driver magazine, which has elected it to its Ten Best list every year since its introduction in 2000 [6]. The last creates delicate shades ranging from pure violet through wine-red and warm gray. In 2005, in a poll by the Men & Motors TV channel in the UK, it was placed 19th in the nation's favourite 100 cars of all time. Color in enamel is obtained by the addition of various minerals, often metal oxides cobalt, praseodymium, iron, or neodymium. The Focus was on Car and Driver magazine's Ten Best list for five consecutive years (2000 through 2004). Some techniques of enameling:. Since its launch in 1998 the Focus Mk I has won over 60 awards including 13 Car of the Year awards in both Europe and North America, and more recently, the best family car ever (Autocar UK 2003).

According to some sources, the word enamel comes from the High German word smelzan (to smelt) via the Old French esmail. It uses the same powerplant from the Volvo S40 T5, a turbocharged 2.5 L 5-cylinder engine capable of achieving 220 hp DIN (166 kW). Enameling was a favorite technique of the Art Nouveau jewellers. Another new model is the Focus ST. The bright, jewel-like colors have also made enamel a favored choice for designers of jewelry and bibelots, such as ancient beads, the fantastic eggs of Peter Carl Fabergé, enameled copper boxes of Battersea enamellers, and artists such as George Stubbs and other painters of portrait miniatures. The vehicle will have a metal folding roof. Other practitioners include the ancient Greeks, Celts, Russians, and the Chinese. There is much talk about a cabriolet (convertible) version, named the Vignale, designed with Pininfarina and due to be lauched in 2006.

The ancient Egyptians applied enamels to pottery and stone objects. Although the latest generation Opel/Vauxhall Astra and Volkswagen Golf have much improved handling (over their respective predecessors), the Focus is still regarded as the class-leader in ride and handling, even over its mechanically similar Mazda3 cousin. Enamelling is an old and widely-adopted technology. Dynamically, the Focus is still held in high regard by the motoring press. The durability of enamel has given it many functional applications, including: early 20th century advertising signs, interior walls of ovens, speckleware cooking pots, exterior walls of high quality kitchen appliances, cast iron bathtubs, storage silos on farms and process equipment such as chemical reactors and tanks for the chemical and pharmaceutical process industries. The new car has gained the best ever Euro NCAP ratings for its class, beating such contenders as the Renault Mégane and Volkswagen Golf. Disadvantages are its tendency to crack or shatter when the substrate is stressed or bent. The interior design has not faced such harsh criticism with many journalists believing it represents a significant improvement through more sober styling and better quality plastics than the ageing first generation design.

Vitreous enamel has many excellent properties: it is smooth, hard, chemically resistant, durable, can take on long-lasting, brilliant colors, and cannot burn. The new car uses styling features from the abandoned B-Proposal for the original Focus which were never signed off for production. Also, an "enamel" is a decorative object, usually very small, having an enamel coating, such as a piece of champlevé or cloisonné. Stylistically, the Mk II's styling has been criticised by the motoring press for what some perceive as a lack of flair, originality and boldness of its predecessor. Vitreous enamel can be applied to most metals. It also features either a Durashift 6-speed manual, Durashift 4-speed automatic transmission or the all-new Durashift advanced manual transmission or just the standard manual. It is often applied in a paste form and may be transparent or opaque when fired. The interior and dashboard are made from far higher quality plastics than before, and the overall feeling of solidity of the car has been increased markedly in a deliberate attempt to emulate the standards set by the Volkswagen Golf.

The powder melts and flows to harden as a smooth, durable vitreous coating on metal, glass or ceramic. New technologies include a KeyFree system, a solar-reflect windshield, adaptive front lighting, Bluetooth hands-free phones and voice control for audio, telephone and climate control systems. In a discussion of art technology, enamel (or vitreous enamel, or porcelain enamel in American English) is the colorful result of fusion of powdered glass to a substrate through the process of firing, usually between 750 and 850 degrees Celsius. The car has a more Italianate feel in its exterior styling. Counter enameling, not strictly a technique, but a necessary step in many techniques, is to apply enamel to the back of a piece as well - sandwiching the metal - to create less tension on the glass so it does not crack. As a result the interior and boot space has increased. Sgrafitto, where an unfired layer of enamel is applied over a previously fired layer of enamel of a contrasting color, and then partly removed with a tool to create the design. The Focus Mk II is larger than its Mk I predecessor with a 25 mm (1 in) increase in wheelbase, 168 mm (6.6 in) longer, 8 mm (0.3 in) taller and 138 mm (5.4 in) wider.

The stencil is removed before firing, the enamel staying in a pattern, slightly raised. The basic suspension design has been carried over largely unchanged from the Mk I, although Ford claims that the stiffer bodyshell further improves the Focus' handling. Stenciling, where a stencil is placed over the work and the powdered enamel is sifted over the top. Diesel. A 3D type of enameling where a sculptural form is completely or partly enameled. Petrol. Ronde bosse, French for "round bump". The Focus ST's engine uses a turbo and offers a healthy 236 lb ft torque peaking as low as 1,600rpm.

It has a stained-glass like appearance. The new Focus ST, however, has a 2.5L 220bhp 5 cylinder straight engine, derived from Volvo as used in the S40 T5. Plique-à-jour, French for "braid letting in daylight" where the enamel is applied in cells, similar to champlevé, but with no backing, so light can shine through the transparent or translucent enamel. The PSA-developed Duratorq diesel engine in 1.6 L 100 bhp and 110 bhp editions, Ford's own 'Lynx' Duratorq 1.8L 115 hp diesel carried over from the previous model and the PSA DW10 diesel in 2.0 L form rounds off the range in standard Focus guise (this is a different unit to the 'Puma' diesel in the Mondeo). It is a form of Grisaille. The 1.4 L and 1.6 L (100 bhp and Ti-VCT 115 bhp) units, although named "Duratec", are in fact revised versions of the old Zetec-SE units, while the 2.0 L versions are the Mazda-derived Duratec-HE units. Limoges, named after the town in France where it was invented, is the technique of "painting" with an especial enamel called "blanc de limoges" over a dark enamelled surface to form a detailed picture, often human figure. The engine lineup for the Mk II is a mixture of old and new, with the Zetec petrol (gasoline) engines of the original having been superseded by the newer Duratec range.

Grisaille, French term meaning "greying", where dark, often blue or black background is applied, then limoges or opalescent (translucent) enamel is applied on top, building up designs in a monochrome gradient, paler as the thickness of the layer of light color increases. This new Focus is also built in South Africa for export to Australia and New Zealand. Cloisonné, French for "cell", where thin copper, silver or gold wires form walls which separate different areas. The European Ford Focus is in the middle of a line of saloon/hatchback cars (smallest to largest) by Ford:. Champlevé, French for "raised field", where enamel is fired around raised fields of metal, leaving the metal exposed. The four-door sedan version was previewed as a concept developed by Ford Australia at the Beijing Motor Show in mid-2004 and joined the range after the hatchbacks. The surface of the metal is decorated with a low relief design which can be seen through translucent and transparent enamels. It was launched at the Paris Motor Show on September 23, 2004 as a three and five-door hatchback and a station wagon.

Basse-taille, from the French word meaning "low-cut". The Focus Mk II, codenamed C307, uses a new platform called C1 shared with the Volvo S40, Mazda3 and Focus C-Max. The S121 is sold as new at many Ford dealers. It includes a 150 hp (112 kW) engine and updated brakes, suspension, and body kit. Tuner Saleen modified the Mark II USA Focus into the S121 performance car.

The American Ford Focus fits smallest into a line of sedans (smallest to largest) by Ford:. Ford apparently decided that a completely new car would not be profitable in this heavily price and incentive-driven market. In North America, a major facelift occurred for the 2005 model year, but on the old CW170 platform. This was a remarkable feat as the Focus was competing against German prestige manufacturers as well as Japanese manufacturers, all of which have strong reputations for quality and reliability.

The European Focus would also suffer from some recall issues, but in 2002, according to German reports and surveys, the Focus was claimed to be the most reliable car between 1 to 3 years old on the German car market [5]. The car has also received a Consumers Digest Best Buy Rating, [4] an award that takes numerous factors into consideration, including reliability and recall history. The Focus now at Ford dealerships has Consumer Reports Best in Class rating for small cars [3]. In fact, there have been no Focus recalls in the United States since 2002 [2].

In the US spec models, despite a series of major recalls early in the car's life [1], reliability has steadily been improving. A convertible version was another notable omission, although there is talk of producing a drop-top version of the Mk II for Europe. The purpose-designed Transit Connect, introduced in 2002, largely served as its replacement. Ford was therefore left without a light-duty commercial vehicle when the Escort finally went out of production in 2000.

The Focus, unlike the Escort, was never offered in a panel van body style. In Europe, the original had a very subtle facelift in 2001. The Focus won the North American Car of the Year award for 2000. It was elected Car of the Year in 1999.

This was the best-selling car in the world in 2000 and 2001. Despite its radical styling (the hatchback version in particular), and some controversial safety recalls in North America, the car has been a runaway success across the globe, even in the United States, where Ford has traditionally failed to successfully sell its European models. It has since given up on this strategy, and has started selling lower specified versions of the sedan. Ford attempted to market the sedan in Europe as a mini-executive car by only offering it in the Ghia trim level, something that it had tried before with the Orion of the 1980s.

In Europe, the hatchback is the biggest selling bodystyle. North America. Europe. The next version of the Focus WRC hit the special stages on the 2005 Rally Australia with Toni Gardemeister and Roman Kresta, notching victory on its 'full' championship debut on the 2006 Monte Carlo Rally in the hands of Marcus Gronholm.

Subsequent variants followed, piloted by such men as Colin McRae, Carlos Sainz, Markko Martin and Francois Duval. In 1999, Ford revealed its first version for the World Rally Championship: the Focus WRC. Special Editions. Standard.

United Kingdom. In the US, the four body styles are coded with a ZXx designation. It is produced by factories in: Saarlouis, Germany; Valencia, Spain; Pacheco, Argentina; and Wayne, Michigan in which the US Knocked down kits are supplied for assembly to Vsevolzhsk near Saint Petersburg, Russia. As a result, the Focus had bold styling, increased quality and critically-acclaimed handling and refinement.

After the Escort Mk IV was criticised by the motoring press as being designed by the "bean counters" and for its mediocre ride, handling and quality, Ford decided to take more risks in its replacement. The Focus is arguably the biggest indication of the change in Ford's design and engineering philosophy. Like the Mondeo, most of the design and engineering work took place in Europe. The Focus, like the Mondeo Mk I, was a "world car", which saw Ford coordinate and pool its resources from all over the globe.

The engines used are the well-proven Zetec and Zetec-SE units, with the Endura diesel (a development of the old Deutz-designed motor which Ford had been using since the 1980s), although the Duratorq unit replaced this in 2002. Mechanically, it drew heavily from other European Ford models, using a sophisticated fully independent multi-link rear suspension (dubbed "Control Blade") derived from the Short-Long Arm system used in the Mondeo station wagon (estate), giving the Focus class-leading handling and ride. The daring styling made it largely unchanged when it entered production three years later. Initial spy photographs of the car seen in 1995 took the world by storm at the design's apparent boldness - further developing Ford's "New Edge" styling philosophy first seen in the Ka and Cougar.

Certain elements of the design had been seen even earlier in prototypes used by Ford to demonstrate forthcoming safety features such as the eye-level rear lighting clusters. Codenamed CW170 during its development, and briefly known to some Ford contractors as the Ford Fusion, the original Focus took its eventual name from a Ghia concept car which was shown in 1991. . In Australia, New Zealand, Japan and other countries in the region, it replaced the Laser, based on the Mazda 323 (called the Mazda Protege in some markets).

Unlike previous Fords in the North American market, the Pinto and the Escort, no luxury Mercury version is available. A new version of the Focus was launched in Europe in January 2005, while the United States received an updated version of the old model. Since then, it has become the most popular car in the United Kingdom, following in the success of the Escort, its predecessor. It was launched in 1998 in Europe, and in 2000 in North America.

The Ford Focus is an automobile made by the Ford Motor Company and sold in most Ford markets worldwide. 2.0 L Duratorq (PSA DW10). 1.8 L Duratorq (Ford "Lynx" type). 1.6L (100bhp and 110bhp) Duratorq (PSA type).

2.5 L Duratec-HE 5-cylinder. 2.0 L Duratec-HE. 1.6 L Duratec Ti-VCT. 1.6 L Duratec.

1.4 L Duratec. Ford Mondeo. Ford Focus. Ford Fiesta.

Ford Ka. Ford Crown Victoria. Ford Five Hundred. Ford Taurus.

Ford Fusion. Ford Focus. Volkswagen Golf. Toyota Corolla.

Saturn Ion. Pontiac Vibe. Nissan Sentra. Mitsubishi Lancer.

Mazda3. Hyundai Elantra. Honda Civic. Dodge Neon.

Chevrolet Cobalt. Chevrolet Cavalier(Until 2006). Volkswagen Golf. Toyota Corolla.

Renault Megane. Peugeot 307. Mitsubishi Lancer. Mazda 3.

Opel Astra/Vauxhall Astra. Hyundai Elantra. Honda Civic. Fiat Stilo.

Citroën Xsara (recently, Citroën C4). Special features included: Rally-derived suspension, wide track, Thatcham Cat 1 alarm, leather sparco seats, metal pedals, alloy gear nob, air conditioning, 6CD multichanger radio, start button, blue backlit dials, turbo boost guage and change up warning light. RS (2.0 turbo petrol), 3-door hatchback.