A few weeks ago I was invited to partake in the Ford Focus Challenge… a day long event of testing and learning about the features of the new 2012 Focus. Now I was interested, but unfortunately I don’t drive, so I proposed the alternative of bringing someone along to be the official driver… I think I actually may have positioned it in Green Hornet – Cato terms. Fortunately they were open to it.

So last Tuesday, @cdot_in_tdot and I got to participate against some great people including @jaycanadian, @keriblog, @cellguru, @wondermoms_ca, @jessehernick, @malindadenbok and others. Meeting at Ultra to sign in, and grab a little brunch we got to meet some of the team at Ford and the competition. I realize now that I signed something that I didn’t actually read… hopefully I still retain my name or whatever… I’ve already had enough trouble with other Zach Bussey’s showing up, I think I’d be pretty enraged if a Ford Zach Bussey hits the roads.

At this point were taken to Ontario Place where we get our cars for the day, and also participate in an obstacle course. We’re also given iPod Touch’s to film some of our day… Calvin and I are competitive and we were determined to win… so with the obstacle course, the key was not hitting any pylons, but we decided for not hitting pylons and speed (speed wasn’t tracked, we tracked with the iPod and on one of our tries we got 27 seconds.) Oh and never hit a pylon!

That same run, we apparently were ‘exceeding driver and car capabilities’, though, both driver and car handled incredibly! For 180HP, that car had some serious GO!

After that the “rally race” of sorts began… essentially it was going destination to destination to learn more about the car, while trying to be good driver. The car actually gave ‘awards’ for eco driving. Much like a video game, you could get achievements and points. Gaming mechanics in car is a very solid idea!

We also got puzzle pieces at each completed challenge to help us with the final quiz… (Pictured at the bottom of this post).

It was at the Havencrest Riding Academy(get it? Horse power?) in Oakville where the only really bad thing happened… see they have fences there… and those fences have a rope that runs around the top. These ‘ropes’ have a purpose… to shock the fuck out of people! Well, maybe not people… the horses I guess… but damn I got hit hard and for about 10 minutes my right arm was completely numb! The above photo is from two days after the event, and it’s since then cleared up mostly, but you can see the dark spot where I was hit with the electricity and my skin was breaking around it. Crazy! Now before you say anything… I didn’t know it was electrified! They apparently had these signs warning against it, but I have vision similar to Superman and I didn’t see them… Electricity is my kryptonite.

Anyway, that was the only bad experience of the day. The rest was fantastic. Ford really took care of us and treated everyone really well. We tested out the self park system built into the Ford Focus (and I imagine other cars soon?), which was so amazing. Honestly the spot was tiny, only slightly bigger than the car yet this thing did it with no problems. Then afterwards, free Starbucks. We learned that the car has a lot of recycled material in it, jean especially. Has a unique feature for parents called MyKey which allows a parent to set limits on the car such as volume, speed, seat belt reminders etc.

And the “MyFord Touch” voice controlled system + touch screen was really cool too – albeit it has a bit of a learning curve. “Lucy” as we called her, wasn’t much a fan of mine at first… but over time she grew on me and started to respond to me better. I considered it foreplay and only after a while was she warmed up to really respond to me. Then we got along fine.

As a non-driver, this car actually made me want to become one haha. As a passenger though, I can say that without a doubt it would be a nice car to ride in!

At the end of it all, back to Ultra for dinner, drinks and to fill out the end quiz. With the full puzzle, we had all except for one answer correct we think… so we waited to see who won the day… and the winners were Calvin and I! We’re each getting an iPad 2!

Ford really treated us well, which is why this post is very complimentary. It was a very good day, lots of laughs, great food and a unique experience! If you’re in the market for a new car, I can safely recommend the Focus! The features are incredible. In fact, if you’re thinking of buying… take me with you on a test drive! I can show you all the different features built in. I’m basically a Focus Expert now.

Learn more about the Focus here. And make sure you follow @ammar_ammar of Ford.