Hi All,

On Monday I decided to pick up a 2013 Focus 1.0 Ecoboost (100ps) Estate, which is in pristine condition, and has barely been driven (was at around 9400 miles when I got it home).

I guess the guy who got it from the dealership back then wanted the bare essentials for driving in Sweden (which is where I am), so the only things notable it has are front heated seats and cruise control, other than that, it appears to be the very basic of basics model. Up until then I have been driving around in an Exclusive spec Citroen C5 V6 (auto) for about 7 years, so I've been rather spoiled by some nice extras - some that go unnoticed until you start doing proper driving.

So would like to do some upgrades, and Quality of Life improvements, and looking for advice, and recommendations 🙂

1) Armrest, this seems to be between the Pelican, or the Armster S for retaining the USB port of the center console.  Is there any recommendation for one over the other? or would either do fine? the Armster seems to edge out being slightly cheaper.

2) OBD2 HUD, given my height, and position of steering wheel, the top of the steering wheel chops off the top of the display (for gear change notification, and outside temp), but also I find I have to look at the speedo longer if I need to ensure a specific speed (e.g. with cameras about etc).  Amazon and eBay seem to be flooded with ones from China (even though they say item location is uk/eu), so am way about what to pick up, and from many review sites, a number of them are "Currently Unavailable" or have disappeared.  So does anyone have a recommendation? - ideally one that has the gear shift indicator (coming from an auto for so long, with quite a loud engine, means I often forget to shift gears from 3rd onwards 🤣)

3) I'm looking at getting the Connects2 kit for putting my single din Kenwood (and a pocket or so) into the Focus, does anyone know if the kit allows you to retain the USB port, or does it require an extra cable?  The Focus stereo is really basic, no SYNC, and says my ipod has no tracks when I plug my iPhone in.  As the Kenwood has bluetooth and usb, I'm not too fussed about it being directly connected to the stereo, but keeping the port there for charging would be nice.

4) Auto-dimming mirror, this is definitely one of those things you get used to and don't notice until you no longer have it. I'm guessing as I have bog standard mirror, along with a basic center light, it's not going to be a huge difference between a retrofit and an aftermarket autodimming mirror? Any recommendations here too?

5) Reversing aids. It doesn't look like I having the wiring in the boot for retrofitting oem parking sensors.  Having either a reversing camera or sensors on all my cars over the past 15+ years makes me a tad nervous, giving the pristine condition of the car.  I'm not entirely sure which is the best way to go here, seems like going for sensors would require more drilling, but less electrical work (I'm guessing? since it all just needs to be in the back).  But a camera in the boot lid switch is probably simpler from a fitting standpoint, but requires more cables to be run etc, and sorting out a screen for the front (maybe something to go with the hud or a mirror replacement?)

6)  In Sweden the headlights are wired to be on when set in the off position,  this is fine and all, but it means that to be able to turn on high beams, I need to switch the headlights to being in the on position, before the beams will stay on.   Also means when I get out of the car, I get nagged to turn them off again 😂, is there any way around this, so that I can naturally use the high beams when the headlights are in the off position (but of course on, because wired to be so).

Many thanks for any help in advance. 🙂

Ben

 

3 hours ago, Ben82 said:

Hi All,

On Monday I decided to pick up a 2013 Focus 1.0 Ecoboost (100ps) Estate, which is in pristine condition, and has barely been driven (was at around 9400 miles when I got it home).

I guess the guy who got it from the dealership back then wanted the bare essentials for driving in Sweden (which is where I am), so the only things notable it has are front heated seats and cruise control, other than that, it appears to be the very basic of basics model. Up until then I have been driving around in an Exclusive spec Citroen C5 V6 (auto) for about 7 years, so I've been rather spoiled by some nice extras - some that go unnoticed until you start doing proper driving.

So would like to do some upgrades, and Quality of Life improvements, and looking for advice, and recommendations 🙂

1) Armrest, this seems to be between the Pelican, or the Armster S for retaining the USB port of the center console.  Is there any recommendation for one over the other? or would either do fine? the Armster seems to edge out being slightly cheaper.

2) OBD2 HUD, given my height, and position of steering wheel, the top of the steering wheel chops off the top of the display (for gear change notification, and outside temp), but also I find I have to look at the speedo longer if I need to ensure a specific speed (e.g. with cameras about etc).  Amazon and eBay seem to be flooded with ones from China (even though they say item location is uk/eu), so am way about what to pick up, and from many review sites, a number of them are "Currently Unavailable" or have disappeared.  So does anyone have a recommendation? - ideally one that has the gear shift indicator (coming from an auto for so long, with quite a loud engine, means I often forget to shift gears from 3rd onwards 🤣)

3) I'm looking at getting the Connects2 kit for putting my single din Kenwood (and a pocket or so) into the Focus, does anyone know if the kit allows you to retain the USB port, or does it require an extra cable?  The Focus stereo is really basic, no SYNC, and says my ipod has no tracks when I plug my iPhone in.  As the Kenwood has bluetooth and usb, I'm not too fussed about it being directly connected to the stereo, but keeping the port there for charging would be nice.

4) Auto-dimming mirror, this is definitely one of those things you get used to and don't notice until you no longer have it. I'm guessing as I have bog standard mirror, along with a basic center light, it's not going to be a huge difference between a retrofit and an aftermarket autodimming mirror? Any recommendations here too?

5) Reversing aids. It doesn't look like I having the wiring in the boot for retrofitting oem parking sensors.  Having either a reversing camera or sensors on all my cars over the past 15+ years makes me a tad nervous, giving the pristine condition of the car.  I'm not entirely sure which is the best way to go here, seems like going for sensors would require more drilling, but less electrical work (I'm guessing? since it all just needs to be in the back).  But a camera in the boot lid switch is probably simpler from a fitting standpoint, but requires more cables to be run etc, and sorting out a screen for the front (maybe something to go with the hud or a mirror replacement?)

6)  In Sweden the headlights are wired to be on when set in the off position,  this is fine and all, but it means that to be able to turn on high beams, I need to switch the headlights to being in the on position, before the beams will stay on.   Also means when I get out of the car, I get nagged to turn them off again 😂, is there any way around this, so that I can naturally use the high beams when the headlights are in the off position (but of course on, because wired to be so).

Many thanks for any help in advance. 🙂

Ben

 

Welcome to the club 🙂   Unfortunately I can't help as I only fix my car when it breaks (or when I break it trying to fix it!) - never really bothered with mods but someone will chip in soon........