Well after a long drawn out saga with Evans Halshaw and a plate transfer, i'm now on day 2 of my owning a 1.8 TDCI Focus. One thing i've noticed though and it's annoying me, is how 'sensitive' the throttle is.

I've drove Diesels for years and i've know nothing like it! The car idles at around 750RPM and when i press the accelerator (gently) to move away, the car revs up to 1,500/2,000RPM.. it's like there's no middle ground and impossible to be anymore gentle lol, all i wanna do is be able to reverse out of a parking space without a cold Diesel sounding like it's getting reading to do a 1/4 mile at Santa Pod! (bit of an exaggeration i know)

The revs will immediately go back down if i take foot off and once it's moving, it seems to gradully build up revs like you'd expect depending on how heavy the right foot is being!

Are they all like this? I had a 1.6 TDCI through work a while back and i can't remember that been so 'responsive'

i just use the clutch bite point when moving out of my garage its got enough pull to do the job, however for your car it does seem like a throttle issue

I've just noticed as well, that if you drive along for a short distance in 1st at low speed where there isn't enough of a run up to get in 2nd, the car 'kangaroo's'.. I've been reading a few topics on here about the actual pedal itself and replacing it cures similar issues, do you think this is the problem i'm having?

2nd gear starts from about 10mph

aye, but this is literally crawling along as i leave the space at work and get to a barrier..set off, once just started moving I let foot off pedal and it starts kangaroo'ing. I've just been back out and got the revs to about 1,100, managed to hold there for a second and without moving foot the revs were up and down +/- 250ish revs..

I've had my 1.8 TDCi for just over a week and I was all over the place at first but I'm getting used to it now. Compared to other diesels I've driven clutch and throttle control is quite tricky. Pickup from low revs is quite poor until you hit about 1800 then it suddenly takes off. Not experienced any real kangarooing unless I've really let the engine get bogged down.

From what I've heard lifting the clutch to set off, like in slow-moving traffic or reversing out of the drive, without putting any revs on is a no-no as it puts strain on the DMF.

Actually kangaroo'd for the first time today. Pulling away in first gear seems to be different each time and is taking some getting used to. Only had my car for 6 days.

Thanks for replying guys!

So, Newbie and Karlos.. are your accelerators very 'sensitive' to? I've tried again this morning - car idles at 750rpm, apply the tiniest amount of pressure and it's up to 1,500ish+ rpm..

the throttle shouldnt be that sensitive, it should be smooth. i'd get it checked out with the garage. im sure you have warranty since you bought it from evans halshaw?

I don't have a sensitive throttle as such, I either pull away very very slowly or occasionally get a quick start. Its just a matter of getting used to the car.