The other day I had to drive a relative of mine in his 2018 Ford Focus 1.0 EcoBoost 125 Titanium 5dr (Mk IV) and was horrified at how heavy the clutch was.  It took all the strength in my leg to depress the pedal ... although it was a 200 mile journey, mercifully most of it was on motorways.  I have a 2020 version of the exact same car and both cars have similar mileage despite the age difference.  I have never found the clutch in my car to be any problem.

So why should the clutch in the 2018 car be so tough?  The relative I refer to is over 90 and loves his driving so can anything be done to make his car more driveable?

The easiest option would be changing the pedal return spring.  You could just remove it but I wouldn't recommend it on a car with a hydraulic clutch.  The weight of the pedal then puts light but constant pressure on the MC which could lead to excess wear.

Anything worse than that is likely to need the gearbox out for inspection of the clutch kit itself. 

Thanks, Tom.  You're dealing with a complete "mechanaphobe"!  What is the MC?

Sounds as though it needs to go in to the dealer, but we should expect it could get complicated and ultimately pricey!

apologies for stealing Toms thunder but MC = master cylinder. Unless under warranty DONT go to main dealer.

33 minutes ago, Linds said:

Sounds as though it needs to go in to the dealer, but we should expect it could get complicated and ultimately pricey!

Has your relative complained about the weight of the clutch or is it just something you've noticed?  If they're ok with it, and the clutch works fine, I'd probably just leave it tbh.  I've bought several cars with super heavy clutches that I could barely drive myself but the previous owners weren't bothered by, admittedly much older cars though.

The pedal spring is literally a spring clipped onto the pedal, I think it's within your capabilities to change that for them.  (Though perhaps not a 90 year olds!)  Ford would probably charge about half an hours labour to do it, so £50 or so, plus the part.

Thanks, Tom.  No he hadn't complained so ... may be I'll do nothing unless he says something.

Just an observation rather than an answer, but could be just "one of those things"? I have found surprising differences over the years in the feel of clutch and gearchange, even between two apparently identical examples of the same model, without there being a fault as such.

 

@Linds, when comparing the two cars was there a marked difference in the pressure required to keep the clutch pedal fully pressed or was it only the initial press? I think because of the way the diaphragm springs work, where the pressure reduces as the pedal goes down, a small difference in the 'at rest' position, due to variations in the pressure plate thickness, could translate to a noticeable difference in intial pressure. Just a theory, unless anyone knows different.

My left knee doesnt do clutches, never has from when i learnt to drive. Been on automatics ever since.

On modern cars they have a pedal spring which kind of works both ways.  Over centre is the term I think.  On the first half of travel as you start pushing pedal down, you are pushing against the spring. But when you get past half way the spring is pulling the pedal down to help you.   I am wondering if there is something wrong with the pedal spring so that it’s not assisting you on the lower part of the travel.   I can’t say 100% certain that fiestas have a pedal spring that operates this way but I would be surprised if they were not designed that way. On my wife’s Mazda 2 the pedal does a horrible click when the spring goes over centre half way down.  It was a common fault and many were done under warranty but ours didn’t start doing it until a couple of years after we bought it 2nd hand.  I’ve tried greasing it to no avail.  I believe on warranty fixes Mazda we’re replacing the whole pedal box 

Another random thought on this. Were the seats in the two cars adjusted exactly the same way? A slight difference in seat position - nearer or further from the pedals, or seat base up or down - can have an impact on the leverage applied to the pedal and make it feel heavier/lighter.

 

16 hours ago, mjt said:

@Linds, when comparing the two cars was there a marked difference in the pressure required to keep the clutch pedal fully pressed or was it only the initial press? I think because of the way the diaphragm springs work, where the pressure reduces as the pedal goes down, a small difference in the 'at rest' position, due to variations in the pressure plate thickness, could translate to a noticeable difference in intial pressure. Just a theory, unless anyone knows different.

The clutch was hellish to begin with but I had the impression that towards the end of the journey it was lightening up a bit (or maybe I imagined that).  It did occur that my relative may not be fully depressing the clutch when changing gears and that may have in some way contributed to the problem.

10 minutes ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

Another random thought on this. Were the seats in the two cars adjusted exactly the same way? A slight difference in seat position - nearer or further from the pedals, or seat base up or down - can have an impact on the leverage applied to the pedal and make it feel heavier/lighter.

 

Now that could be a v good point!  I think I adjusted the seat (forward/back) but probably did not worry about up/down ... and that could make a difference.  But that much difference?  I don't know.

Its all about fulcrums and levers 😎 plus the angle of the dangle LOL

 

On 5/18/2022 at 8:03 AM, Linds said:

The other day I had to drive a relative of mine in his 2018 Ford Focus 1.0 EcoBoost 125 Titanium 5dr (Mk IV) and was horrified at how heavy the clutch was.  It took all the strength in my leg to depress the pedal ... although it was a 200 mile journey, mercifully most of it was on motorways.  I have a 2020 version of the exact same car and both cars have similar mileage despite the age difference.  I have never found the clutch in my car to be any problem.

So why should the clutch in the 2018 car be so tough?  The relative I refer to is over 90 and loves his driving so can anything be done to make his car more driveable?

Hey there.

 I am very conscious that the perception of a heavy clutch pedal in a car that is not yours and you have only driven once off, or rarely is not necessarily an issue. It might be that the owner of that car might have various reservations regarding your car and might wonder how you can drive it in it’s current condition. It might be to do with muscle memory. So there might be absolutely no issue. But if you alter his car he may have a problem. You should first ask that driver how he feels about his experience with his clutch. He may love the feel of his clutch. There may actually be very little difference between yours and his except your perception of his. 😁

1 hour ago, Jimpster said:

Its all about fulcrums and levers 😎 plus the angle of the dangle LOL

 

Give me a long enough lever, and a fulcrum to place it upon, and I shall move the world.  

The mk2 Focus has an additional ‘pedal force reduction’ spring to help the clutch pedal pressure - known for the retaining cup breaking and the spring falling out.

Think the mk3 has similar part but they redesigned how it was mounted to the pedal/pedal box?

21 hours ago, TomsFocus said:

Give me a long enough lever, and a fulcrum to place it upon, and I shall move the world.

I think your lever would bend.

I remember watching Hornblower not 100% sure of original movie or tv series, but they broke out of their leg restraints using a system of pulleys and levers.