Did not expect to love my 2021 MHEV so much!

[Anubis]

I knew I would enjoy it but I had a lot of worries, esp w lockdown meaning no-one could test drive the new mHEVs.

💖Love:

the stop/start - I know!! Who woulda thought? Maybe cos it's a manual? But I actually look forward to hearing the engine cut out and it restarts so quickly and smoothly.

steering - totally transformed from the 2019 models I test-drove which had way too light steering. 2021MY has steering feel 100% on point.

gearbox - Ford have nailed the manual gearbox.

new digital dash - looks a bit pants in photos but is great irl and the blue colour is actually pleasant!

adaptive cruise - just soooo good to set and then leave it to maintain a distance AND it re-engages if you change up or down a gear

DAB radio - Heart Radio 80's hits! How cool? My old rustmobile could pick up Radio 2 and 4. 😭

seats - just the right level of comfort. Much more so in the 2021 built model than in any 2019 models I have driven.... which even after 10K+ had hard seats.

heated seats - hmmm. Yes please. Summers coming? Seats on max... aircon on max 🤘

engine noise - it's a mild thrum. 3 cylinders is fine. Haven't had the guts to floor it yet tho so that might change at 1001 miles!

regen braking - does it? The hybrid gauge says so but it's soo mild I don't even notice. Was terrified this would be awful. Maybe it's not kicking in much cos the battery is full? But at 300 miles I have yet to notice regen at all.

 

💩 Not loving;

Ford metal. Y'know, 1mm thinner than a VW (probably) so when I slam the bonnet down to close it I wince every time. And the doors crash shut rather than VW thunk shut.

telematics - ugh. Submenu upon submenu to turn off all the 'send your driving data to us automatically when using wifi' nonsense.

[Zemanel]

When my engine is cold, on the first miles, if i gently accelerate , the mhev pull aid seems to fail and the car seems to sttuter . When is hot it never does that.

Does yours do it also ?

 

When you're going at low speed and start braking gently to stop , do you feel a rough braking , like, the pads were already worn out ? And when you brake , does the green battery symbol lights ?

[Anubis]

Right now all I'm doing is accelerate gently! I'm even loving eco-mode. I think there must be something wrong with me!

Not noticed any..... is it loss of power you are thinking? Although I have stalled it a couple of times when cold but I figured that's more me getting used to the car. So maybe that's the stuttery thing you mention. I will go out for a test tomorrow and look out for that.

Haven't felt that the brakes are rough or any difference over a conventional car. Will test that out tomorrow as well! Didn't notice green battery. Keep getting distracted by the green arrow (tm)😁 and number that is telling me to change up as soon as I hit 2000rpm. I actually tried it when suggested and was like.... ummmmm,... no!

[gds1972]

The brakes grinding may just be that the car has been sitting for a little and there was a small amount of corrosion that occurs on brakes that I suspect should be okay after a short drive with some gentle braking.

As for the green battery/blue boost symbol I have noticed that these don't appear when you have the info display set to the hybrid gauge.

When I first got the car I also had a few instances of it stalling when pulling away from stationery however I was too panicked trying to quickly restart the car than read any messages. When it happened once in a quiet area and I had the time to read the message all the car wanted me to do was put my foot fully down on the clutch again so it could start. After this with a little bit of experimenting I have found that when trying to pull away if I'm already in gear and the engine is not running I need start pressing the accelerator a fraction sooner than I was.

[TomsFocus]

Haven't stalled mine at all...  And that's coming from a diesel!  

I wonder if the mapping has been altered slightly as someone mentioned bogging/stalling on a Fiesta MHEV a week or so back.

[Anubis]

On 4/24/2021 at 2:44 PM, Zemanel said:

When you're going at low speed and start braking gently to stop , do you feel a rough braking

Nope. Not at all. Great day for a test drive. My brakes are smooth, progressive, quiet. 100% perfect. Green battery light does come on.

 

On 4/24/2021 at 2:44 PM, Zemanel said:

When my engine is cold, on the first miles, if i gently accelerate , the mhev pull aid seems to fail and the car seems to sttuter

No also. If I don't press the accelerator enough when first driving off it's a bit jumpy like the auto-choke is hunting to find the right mix but I'm sure that's just me getting used to the car.

Only thing I haven't had yet is driving on battery under 9mph. It might have done it once but I figured it doesn't like hills, or cold, or aircon.... or 80's hits!

Start stop is still wonderful tho. Loving leaving it in gear when I stop. And someone today said it was the shiniest car he'd ever seen, so that was nice.

[Andyr55]

In gear? What am I doing wrong.?

do I need to change some setting?

[TomsFocus]

2 hours ago, Anubis said:

Only thing I haven't had yet is driving on battery under 9mph. It might have done it once but I figured it doesn't like hills, or cold, or aircon.... or 80's hits!

MHEV can't drive on battery alone at any speed.

The MHEV generator is tiny, you'd be forgiven for thinking it was just a normal alternator!

You should be getting 'rolling stop' cut in around 7mph as you come to a junction.  There is a setting on the dash to change it though so it may be switched off if not.

[TomsFocus]

1 hour ago, Andyr55 said:

In gear? What am I doing wrong.?

do I need to change some setting?

You have to keep the clutch down for SS to operate in gear.

[gds1972]

2 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

MHEV can't drive on battery alone at any speed.

The MHEV generator is tiny, you'd be forgiven for thinking it was just a normal alternator!

You should be getting 'rolling stop' cut in around 7mph as you come to a junction.  There is a setting on the dash to change it though so it may be switched off if not.

 

My one can cut in at around 17mph but I have changed the rolling stop setting to high on my car.

[TomsFocus]

6 minutes ago, gds1972 said:

My one can cut in at around 17mph but I have changed the rolling stop setting to high on my car.

Yeah, I just left mine set at low.  Assumed that's how they all leave the factory but don't know for sure.

[Anubis]

Rolling stop! 🤦‍♂️ That makes sense! Here's me thinking it would be a mild HYBRID... turns out it's a MILD hybrid! 😁 At least it's working!

I only discovered the stop-in-gear thing today. That's going to be my fave in-traffic thing from now on. 👍

[Jim H]

I'm glad you are enjoying your new car. It's always great to see a positive thread on a forum.

Regen - Have you tried Sport mode yet? I have seen a review of a Fiesta MHEV who complains in sport mode regen is quite aggressive, but also there is a slight delay when you press brake peddle and it activating. I have no idea if it the same with the Focus.

[Anubis]

I figured it was about time for something a bit positive. I know we tend to only use the forums when something goes wrong. Having waited for this car for sooooo many months I was almost dreading getting it based on the perceptions of the mHEV cars but it's just great. Like having the best parts of an auto and manual in one.

Yes, tried all the modes. Absolutely love the Sport Mode. It's like the car is ready for a race; very good throttle response - engine more growly. Expected there would be a definite regen effect with it but did not notice one. Even Eco Mode isn't as dreadful as everyone's said - might use that on a long motorway run. It could be that the 2021 build has been tweaked based on feedback from the initial mHEVs in 2020(?)

[Zemanel]

17 hours ago, TomsFocus said:

Yeah, I just left mine set at low.  Assumed that's how they all leave the factory but don't know for sure.

Yours is also a mhev, wright ?

Does your braking feel rough when braking at low speed ? 

Do you have the digital dash or is it the analogue ? does the green battery symbol lights when braking or does it only lights when decelerating without the use of the brakes ?

[TomsFocus]

1 hour ago, Zemanel said:

Yours is also a mhev, wright ?

Does your braking feel rough when braking at low speed ? 

Do you have the digital dash or is it the analogue ? does the green battery symbol lights when braking or does it only lights when decelerating without the use of the brakes ?

I think you've asked me the same thing in 4 different threads now.  Yes mine is a 155ps MHEV.

I can definitely feel the MHEV regen (slightly worried that Anubis can't, maybe we're at opposite ends of the sensitivity scale!) but the brakes don't grind.  I really think you should have your dealer check it out.

Green battery symbol can come on when braking but mine rarely does.  I have a very 'relaxed' driving style though and use engine braking most of the time.

[Anubis]

Actually I can feel it now! I think it's cos I live on a hill. So finally went on some flat bits and yup, can def feel the regen kicking in. And now I can even feel it on the hills! But it's a dragging feeling. No noise from brakes at all.

So if I normally go into 3rd to cruise downhill I would have to be in 5th to have the same non-mHEV feel. I think it's just a slightly different driving sensation that we'll all have to get used to as everything shifts to battery power.

[TomsFocus]

28 minutes ago, Anubis said:

Actually I can feel it now! I think it's cos I live on a hill. So finally went on some flat bits and yup, can def feel the regen kicking in. And now I can even feel it on the hills! But it's a dragging feeling. No noise from brakes at all.

So if I normally go into 3rd to cruise downhill I would have to be in 5th to have the same non-mHEV feel. I think it's just a slightly different driving sensation that we'll all have to get used to as everything shifts to battery power.

Yeah, dragging is a great way to explain it.  Struggled to find an appropriate word myself!  

Having active cruise probably reduces yours as well.  If you try a 30mph road in light traffic without cruise you'll probably find it quite annoying.  It 'over-slows' when you lift off so you then have to accelerate again, and then lift off again, constantly.  In a non-MHEV car you can just feather the throttle to stay within a few mph smoothly.  Using cruise stops that happening, but my peasant cruise doesn't work in that particular scenario. 

[Anubis]

Yes @TomsFocus that's it precisely - over-slowing. It was starting to annoy me today but I think I should adapt in the next week or so of driving. Might have to take regen braking off the 'love' list! And yes, having posh cruise is super-nice . That ickle button was worth the £500 extra