First Impressions

[Retired66]

I've had my 09 plate Zetec 2 ltr diesel auto for about three weeks and make the following observations of it, please feel free to comment or advise given there are a lot of very knowledgeable Focus owners here.

The engine is great, pulls well as expected of a diesel and gives good acceleration when needed. I love the auto box. Seat comfort not too bad.

It drives well and sits on the road nicely, good cornering but haven't pushed it in wet conditions, don't intend to either!

I've fitted a full set up mud flaps to prevent mud/dirt being thrown onto the bodywork as has been suggested by others as being beneficial.

Downsides -

Unless the road surface is silky smooth there is a hideous level of road noise in the cabin, I'm guessing most of it will be tyre noise, have done some googling in that respect and there seem to be two brands which are "cabin quiet" - Hankook 415's and Khumo KU31's. I currently have 205/55/16's, Avon ZV5 on the front and Michelin Pilot Supremacy on the rear and all have good tread depth. The noise rating given on tyre labels refers to external noise so any thoughts/suggestions for in-cabin quieter tyres?

Unable to comment on wind noise as unable to hear anything over the road noise!

Next is the poor FM radio performance of the fitted in-car unit, the 6000CD. It starts to lose a station in areas where previous cars radios have continued to give good performance. Anyone else come across this?

I look forward to your feedback. I usually go online in the mornings, so please don't be offended if I don't respond straight away.

Cheers,

David

[sonic113]

I have the 2009 petrol version and agree with the road noise although the Zetec model does have stiffer springs with the sports suspension so this probably adds to the road noise as well as the make of tyre used. I know some guys on here have add sound insulation with good results. I may look into that at a later date myself.

As for the radio signal I too experience this in certain parts when driving it may break up. I actually unscrewed my aerial from car roof (just the top part no the whole aerial in the roof liner) and cleaned the connection and tightened it back up and found this helped a lot. I found mine was not screwed tight to begin with but I plan on changing the headunit for a OEM look alike one with built in satnav, cd,sd card options ect. There are so many to choose from I have to do a bit of research first.

I think the focus is a great all round car though, the Drive is superb and ford done themselves proud with each model that came put especially in the facelift versions.

Hope this is of some help.

:)

[Goodkat]

I had to replace my aerial as the original was split, picked one up from scrapyard and it works like a dream now. I can't say I am bothered about road noise, don't really let it bother me to be honest.

Sent via the 'Clacks'

GNU STP

[TomsFocus]

Road noise is terrible in the Mk2/2.5 Focus, it's one of the biggest things that annoys me! But then engine noise is also bad with my 1.6TDCi, I guess the 2.0 is less strained at motorway speeds with an autobox. I'm used to quality German cars though, where they fit plenty of sound deadening everywhere and the Focus does seem to lack this. However I've also had several cheap old Peugeots with less road noise!

My car came on the 'quiet' Hankooks, still noisy, changed to some sportier tyres (as I do tend to push mine) with a slightly higher noise rating and it's made no difference, so I wouldn't bother changing tyres to reduce the noise.

I think the only way to reduce the noise will be to fit sound deadening like cloud9 or dynomat around the boot area, it's not exactly cheap though.

As for the radio signal, I can't say it's any worse than any other I've had so I'd say there may be an issue with your aerial as above.

[dezwez]

Hi welcome :)