@drsdriver This one will be 150ps in Manual. They cannot locate the 182ps unfortunately but this is promising. Be a good indicator for which tune to go for. Also got it at a pretty decent time in the morning, so I can throw it road some twisties 👌🏾.

I know 0-60 time is not necessarily a key performance parameter, but the 1.5 is rated at 8.6-8.9, which is a margin slower than the headline figures of 'competitors' i.e. Seat, Volkswagen and Vauxhall. Why is that? Figures indicate that HP, Weight and Torque figures are largely the same. 

It is also quite a bit slower to 60 than the older 1.6 in the MK6?! Torque is also down. Can't seem to find the answer to this!

Not sure on the stats for the standard 0-60 times. 

Get the 150 bhp and remap it, it is exactly the same engine as the 182bhp . Probably a few thousand pounds cheaper too than buying the full blown 182bhp car. 

Update: Went to the dealers at the agreed time and the person who organised the test drive informed me that she couldnt get the Focus 1.5, and is unable to in the near future which is disappointing to say the least if I am honest. Waste of time. Won't be going back there again as the service from the staff was shocking!

Back to the drawing board and will try to find another dealer.

That’s ***** awful service . And they wonder why dealers struggle to get customers! 

You may have to check auto trader and travel a few extra miles. 

Update: The lack of availability of the Focus put me off. And due to the fact that I was going down the finance route, I decided to go with the new shape Ford Fiesta ST Line 1.0 Ecoboost 140ps. 

Also discovered a family friend is part of management at TrustFord which was helpful with discounts! Will be writing up in the Fiesta section from now on.

Thank you to everyone for your input!

I have the st line x 182 and I'm pretty happy with the performance as standard. Glad I didn't go for the 150. Had the 1.0L 140 in a fiesta so didn't fancy only Extra 10bhp in the bigger car.

Havent acctually seen anymore of the st line x's on the roads near me, so it seems to be pretty rare at the moment 

I had a  '62' 1.6 182 titanium X estate with all the bells and whistles until December last year.

In general it has a good rate of acceleration supposedly 7.9sec  0-60 and a top speed of 138mph. Superbly stable at speed travelling back from Hanover in Germany I managed 143mph according to the SatNav on a slight downhill section of autobahn. It was very brief and never again attempted. The 182 has a little extra puff than the 150, you can hold on in the gears a split second longer but you'd barely notice it in normal driving. Insurance is low, I was paying £235 per year. The downside to this car was fuel consumption,  in normal mixed driving the average was 33mpg, on the motorway it topped out at 43mpg, not quite what Ford promised.

The only issue I had with it was a mystery coolant loss which required top ups every other month. 

I drove the 1.5 182 last year and it felt just a tad inferior to the 1.6 182 in acceleration in that  it lacked a last gulp of air. A K&N airbox makes it sound better too. The 1.5 was introduced because of emissions and economy which I think was a retrograde step.

A remap can get you maybe another 18-20bhp but it's not necessary. Get an ST instead.

i now have a new Mondeo and the performance is pretty much the same with a higher top speed.

Hello all.

 

I've just ordered an st line x 1.5 182 auto hatch in magnetic grey with convenience pack, delivery hopefully early July.  When I get it I'll write a review.

 

Went for the 182 as I think if I'd have gone for the 150 I'd always be aware it wasn't the 182.

I’m waiting for an auto st line x auto 182.  Did you get it yet? 

Yes had it for 5 weeks, 950 miles.  It's just getting run in now.   

How’s the gearbox? 

Well it's interesting.  Gearbox is very smooth but I dont see the need for 8 speeds.  And it seems to have better acceleration top end than it does 0-60 end.

 

Eco mode I like, it doesn't change up so you can drive on the torque more.

 

Engine needed a good 1000 miles, it's felt tight up until then.

 

Handling is amazingly good, it'll corner faster than I'll ever want to.

4 hours ago, Guy Heaton said:

Well it's interesting.  Gearbox is very smooth but I dont see the need for 8 speeds.  And it seems to have better acceleration top end than it does 0-60 end.

 

Eco mode I like, it doesn't change up so you can drive on the torque more.

 

Engine needed a good 1000 miles, it's felt tight up until then.

 

Handling is amazingly good, it'll corner faster than I'll ever want to.

I have to agree Guy, I am generally very pleased with the auto box.

However I know I am probably nit-picking but I find that when coming to a stop and then immediately selecting reverse I have to be careful with the accelerator because it can have a tendency to slightly snatch/jerk back.

If I hold the foot brake on for a couple of seconds during/after selecting reverse its OK.

I assume this is giving time for the auto change to complete?

How do you find engaging reverse gear?

I have driven manual cars for many years so I guess it could be me still getting used to an auto. 

Yes, it is slow to go in to reverse. It takes a second.  

Trouble is these days you don't actually drive the car, you just make requests to the computer and it decides wether to let you.

Maybe I'll get used to it but I don't find the rotary dial as intuitive as a stick.  I still need to look at it when I put it in gear.  It's only been a month though.

I do think it's an excellent car though.  You could stick a "premium" badge on and people would rave about it.

1 hour ago, Guy Heaton said:

Maybe I'll get used to it but I don't find the rotary dial as intuitive as a stick.  

I was wondering how folk were getting on with that - I've not liked it when I've tried one, but I suspect it's one of those Marmite things. It's interesting that JLR, who were heavily into these at one point, now seem to be going back to a stick, just as Ford adopt the rotary dial!

 

 

 

 

3 hours ago, Guy Heaton said:

Yes, it is slow to go in to reverse. It takes a second.  

Trouble is these days you don't actually drive the car, you just make requests to the computer and it decides wether to let you.

Maybe I'll get used to it but I don't find the rotary dial as intuitive as a stick.  I still need to look at it when I put it in gear.  It's only been a month though.

I do think it's an excellent car though.  You could stick a "premium" badge on and people would rave about it.

Thanks for your thoughts regarding the auto box and the confirmation that it takes a little time to engage reverse.(not just me then) 👍

Interesting you say you feel the need to look down when changing gear and I also find myself doing that.!!

Having said that, I am glad I went with the auto option and wouldn't want to go back to manual.

I have to agree, although I have the Titanium X I am very pleased with the car. 

 

 

 

 

17 hours ago, Guy Heaton said:

Well it's interesting.  Gearbox is very smooth but I dont see the need for 8 speeds.  And it seems to have better acceleration top end than it does 0-60 end.

 

Eco mode I like, it doesn't change up so you can drive on the torque more.

 

Engine needed a good 1000 miles, it's felt tight up until then.

 

Handling is amazingly good, it'll corner faster than I'll ever want to

I think Ford claimed 0-60 in about 8 seconds from the 182. What’s your thoughts on that?

2 hours ago, Alex.S said:

I think Ford claimed 0-60 in about 8 seconds from the 182.

 Autocar clocked their long term test 182 (manual) at 8.9 secs. I've always thought 0-60 pretty meaningless, in-gear acceleration figures are a better indication of real world performance, overtaking ability etc.

I like a gear stick as I tap my ring finger against the top when I listen to music,

I'm not a TLGPer, and yes, in gear, on the sliproad to motorway is where it's at in the real world.  That said 0-60 in 8.5 is not fast for even a warm hatch these days.  Most other warm hatches now are mid 7s and 200bhp.  I wonder if Ford will up the  Focus output to the same as the Fiesta ST in a couple of years.

It's great to swap experiences amongst ourselves, helps us and future buyers but I wonder if it is worth feeding back to Ford, do they take notice of these things?

2 hours ago, Guy Heaton said:

I wonder if it is worth feeding back to Ford, do they take notice of these things?

I got a very detailed customer feedback survey from Ford shortly after my car was delivered. I spent absolutely ages completing it with carefully considered comments - good and bad - on the various aspects of the car. Didn't even get an acknowledgement.

On the performance point, you would expect an upgrade might come along when the warm medium hatch norm is now 200ps or so, but Ford don't seem to do this very often, other than at model changes. Unlike say, VW where the Golf GTI seems to creep up a few bhp from time to time, and the Leon Cupra seemed to be getting a boost every few months or so at one point.

The Autocar test I mentioned (which is on their website) did say that although they thought the quantity of performance from the 182 was nothing exceptional, the quality  of it was, and it was still a very satisfying drive.

It does drive really nice, it is smooth and willing, but it does seem strangely underpowered at lower speeds.

 

Maybe it's because I've come from many years of diesels.

1 hour ago, Guy Heaton said:

Maybe it's because I've come from many years of diesels.

We're at it again with the old f*rts memories, but I'm the same, after 25 years of torquey turbodiesels I find most petrol cars feel a bit weedy!

12 hours ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

We're at it again with the old f*rts memories, but I'm the same, after 25 years of torquey turbodiesels I find most petrol cars feel a bit weedy!

Modern turbo petrols are a lot less weedy than the NA engines they replaced though.

Interestingly, the 1.5 182 I have now has almost identical power and torque figures as my old Vec B 2.5 V6.  Yes, the torque comes earlier due to the turbo and it's probably more efficient but the V6 sounded better.