Focus Mk 3.5 - Overall Review and Question

[lcf]

Bought my Mk 3.5 Titanium 1.5 tdci 120 in June 2021 with 71k miles on the clock. I have covered 16k miles in the car to Sept 2022. Mechanically and electrics wise there have been no issues with the car except that the air con system needed a new condenser unit and to be regassed - total cost of this repair was €400.  Fuel economy has been really strong with the car averaging 57mpg. The car looks sporty, especially from the side and front. Refinement levels, especially tyre and road noise are much improved over the mk 2.5 model, which I owned previously.  Gearbox is lovely to use and with cruise control, SYNC 3 and dual zone climate control, the car has all the tech I need. There is some very clever storage options in the centre console. Finally, the car is very refined when just cruising, but if you find a twisty back road, and you decide to have a little fun, the car comes alive and puts a smile on my face, by the way it corners and responds.

On the downside, the the driver seat angle  on the Titanium spec is a little steeper than the mk 2.5 and the mk 3.5 Zetec seats which leads to moderate back ache/bum ache on longer trips (i.e. trips of say more than 1 hour…in future, a driver seat with “tilt” functionality is advised if there are concerns about the angle of decline on the driver’s seat…Also, I am 6ft 2 in height, so it maybe that shorter drivers will not experience the same issue - I use a wedge cushion which has improved the issue a lot - just wondering does anyone have any other suggestions to make the driver's seat more comfortable on long runs - much appreciated

[Simon Kelly]

Great review of a great car! At 6 foot 1 I've found the seating position to be quite good, and I'm on the road with work for 5 hours once a week and never find myself sore!

Just a word of advice on the AC condenser. Fords tend to have a pretty open gob that love to eat rocks and stones. My first car (A mk2 Focus) had exactly the same problem when I bought it (though I did the work myself with a mate and only brought it in to a garage to be gassed). My solution after the fix and on the two Focii I've owned since (a mk2.5 1.8tdci and a mk3.5 1.5tdci) has been to pick up some of that generic black painted metal "Race mesh" you always see in car stores (I make sure to go for black painted metal, as I'm not confident the plastic stuff would hold up) cut it to shape, and zip-tie it behind the upper and lower grilles. If you use small black zip-ties, you don't see it unless you're looking for it, but it prevents anything big enough to do damage from getting to the condenser. When I took the undertray off to do it on the mk3.5, it was already full of broken fins from where it had been bombarded by rocks!

It can be a bit of a pain of a job, as there is a surround behind the lower grille to force air through the condenser and radiator, but you can just about get a hand up and once you have one side zipped in place and snug, you can go from the front for the rest of them.

Enjoy the miles!