What Would You Be Driving If Not A Focus?

[ford focus edge]

Jumped from a mk1 focus to a mk1 mazda3 but now im feeling the need for a golf or a move back to an st170 or even a st220 i really miss the fords :(

If there was a car that felt like the mk1 but had the engine and equipment of the maz and the build quality of an old merc id buy it with out a moments hesitation

[jeebowhite]

wow seems the focus is a good jump from BMW then! lol

[catch]

2.2CDTI Honda Civic (new shape).........best diesel ive ever driven

What's the 2.0 TDCI Focus like to drive, does it have traction control, how does it behave when you do a "floored" start ?

[catch]

On the plus side cheaper repairs, lower insurance and hopefully better MPG though at the moment the MPG is on a par with the BMW :(

In that time honoured tradition of going Off Topic:

Funny you should mention your mpg, I was just mucking about with spreadsheets last night. Now last year we did 5,676 miles in the Focus, and returned a per annum average of 32.84 mpg, which lets be honest on the face of it is pants really.

Of that mileage 2,146 was accounted for by three trips, a week touring down Cornwall, a week touring up in the Border Country, Bamburgh Castle, Holy Island area, and a two day trip down to Kent for a funeral. The remaining 3,530 miles were just knocking around locally, oh with a trip to Southport on one Bank Holiday Monday! Why on a Bank Holiday I don't know, other than the fact I just like an excuse to drive the Focus.

Anyway before the wife went to work Monday, I zeroed the dashboard computer. She travels at peak times, we live in the centre of town, she works on a business park on the edge of town. She has two sets of traffic lights, and three roundabouts to negotiate in a 1.75 mile journey. When she came home I checked it, she had clocked up 3.5 miles, at an average speed of 11 mph returning 16.5 mpg.

So I stripped out of the 5,676 mile total, the 800 miles [roughly what she will do in a year going to work and back] And the resultant 48.48 gallons of fuel consumed doing those 800 miles.

And after computing the figure on the spreadsheet,it resulted in us ending up with a more realistic annual mpg figure, I mean how many people have such a short journey to work and it being driven totally in a town environment.

RESULT IS 39.21 mpg...........that is only 3 mpg short of the "official combined" figures :)

Edit: Bless her, she walked to work to day :D

[Bianconero]

In that time honoured tradition of going Off Topic:

Funny you should mention your mpg, I was just mucking about with spreadsheets last night. Now last year we did 5,676 miles in the Focus, and returned a per annum average of 32.84 mpg, which lets be honest on the face of it is pants really.

Of that mileage 2,146 was accounted for by three trips, a week touring down Cornwall, a week touring up in the Border Country, Bamburgh Castle, Holy Island area, and a two day trip down to Kent for a funeral. The remaining 3,530 miles were just knocking around locally, oh with a trip to Southport on one Bank Holiday Monday! Why on a Bank Holiday I don't know, other than the fact I just like an excuse to drive the Focus.

Anyway before the wife went to work Monday, I zeroed the dashboard computer. She travels at peak times, we live in the centre of town, she works on a business park on the edge of town. She has two sets of traffic lights, and three roundabouts to negotiate in a 1.75 mile journey. When she came home I checked it, she had clocked up 3.5 miles, at an average speed of 11 mph returning 16.5 mpg.

So I stripped out of the 5,676 mile total, the 800 miles [roughly what she will do in a year going to work and back] And the resultant 48.48 gallons of fuel consumed doing those 800 miles.

And after computing the figure on the spreadsheet,it resulted in us ending up with a more realistic annual mpg figure, I mean how many people have such a short journey to work and it being driven totally in a town environment.

RESULT IS 39.21 mpg...........that is only 3 mpg short of the "official combined" figures :)

Edit: Bless her, she walked to work to day :D

Lucky you (and the missus)!

I've had mine 3 weeks, all town driving, and I know its an auto and I'm not particularly light-footed but so far showing 21mpg. I'm not happy, could have kept the BMW if I wanted 21mpg!

[mercerft]

I think if I didn't have the Focus I'd probably want a Mazda RX8 as they look a cracking car. Though, seems I've got two kids the RX8 would probably be out the window, so I think a Mondeo Titanium X would be nice as that digital dash is uber sweet!

[sweettoad]

My Focus 1.8 tdci 08 plate has gone!!!can't put up with it any longer!!now have a BMW 320D Touring,and love it,(so far!!)

[jeebowhite]

Sweettoad, why did you get rid of your focus out of curiosity?

[sweettoad]

It went because it had a engine hesitation, which it went back and forth to the garage for many times,it was simular to a petrol engined car with a bad spark plug,they never did manage to solve it properly,it was letting in water in both footwells in the front of the car,it jerked like a kangaroo in slow moving traffic,i just had enough of it,i believe the french design of engine in the 1.6 and 2.0 diesel cars are great,mine was the 1.8,it had electrical faults too!it,s a shame,i lost money on that car but i;m glad it's out of my life!!.

[poshpawsfiesta]

What's the 2.0 TDCI Focus like to drive, does it have traction control, how does it behave when you do a "floored" start ?

i had ours spinning its wheels in first and second gear in the dry :) well more like skipping as the traction control was interfearing lol