pleasantly surprised- mk2 focus

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Soldato
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with the Vectra off the road today for some repairs I've half inched the wifes dull as ditchwater diesel focus.


now for those that don't know its a mk2 zetec 1.8d with a whopping 113 bhp on tap. now since it arrived with us a few months back I'm lucky if I've driven it twice and never further than the local Tesco or down the workshop when i serviced it. its an unloved shopping trolley that's not even been washed yet in our care which tells you the level of feeling towards it.

I have to admit i was pleasantly surprised when i nipped out to visit friends this evening and had occasion to actually drive it properly. And i have to say it made me smile. I remember being impressed with the various mk1 focus' that i drove new over the years i worked in the motor industry albeit none driven with any serious enthusiasm but i have to say our focus whilst severely lacking in grunt (really could do with an extra 30-40 bhp ) certainly is great fun on twisty roads. It managed to do something that not many cars have done over the last 10 years, it made me act like a hooligan teenager.

Basically a pointless thread but the moral here is don't write a car off just because it doesn't tick your boxes(mine being power and torque figures. This little thing has sat outside my house unacknowledged and unloved, Until now. I shall certainly be making a point to steal it a lot more. good handling with great communication from the car itself and nowhere near enough power to get in any sort of trouble. I know i shouldn't really have a soft spot for it with having no grunt and only a 5 speed box but it feels bulletproof and surefooted. and thanks to having an engine that dates back to the 80's very simple and easy to look after as well.
 
A Mk2 Focus does not have an engine that dates back to the 80's and is very simple at all, it has a modern commonrail TDCi turbodiesel :p
 
[TW]Fox;22256447 said:
A Mk2 Focus does not have an engine that dates back to the 80's and is very simple at all, it has a modern commonrail TDCi turbodiesel :p
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well the basic core of that 1.8d is an endura-e, its still the same rattly single cam 8v oil burner you found in mk3 fiestas back in the day :) albeit with some added gubbins


if you want to be picky the original endura-e was an evolution on the 1.6d that came fitted in mk2 fiestas and other rubbish 80's fords. Its a very simple engine when you take it to the core components.
 
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Delta12 said:
well the basic core of that 1.8d is an endura-e, its still the same rattly single cam 8v oil burner you found in mk3 fiestas back in the day :) albeit with some added gubbins


if you want to be picky the original endura-e was an evolution on the 1.6d that came fitted in mk2 fiestas and other rubbish 80's fords. Its a very simple engine when you take it to the core components.
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You sure you don't mean Endura-D as that's what the Duratorq TDCI engine is based off, whereas Endura-E was the predecessor to Zetec petrol engine?
 
Delta12 said:
indeed, well spotted.
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D for Diesel, E for Excitement according to my Ford mechanic friend...

Not certain I agree with that though as my little derv mobile does occasionally encourage raj driving for no particular reason. There's something attractive about forcibly losing traction at speeds that would keep even BRAKE happy.
 
Delta12 said:
well the basic core of that 1.8d is an endura-e, its still the same rattly single cam 8v oil burner you found in mk3 fiestas back in the day :) albeit with some added gubbins
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And its the added gubbins not the basic core that cause diesel issues anyway...
 
I borrowed my mums Focus TDCi (09) the other day, apart from being a bit noisy and not particularly refined, it actually wasn't a bad drive, certainly felt very smooth and the steering gave nice feedback :)
 
Why would people be surprised that the often stated "best driving / handling hatchback" is pretty decent to drive :-)
.................. Beats me ?
 
i had a mk2 for about 4 years. was only a 1.4 petrol but still so fun to drive.

only thing that ever went wrong was the water pump went one summer while delivering pizzas for dominoes :)

so much room inside, it was like a tardis.
 
I have MK2 1.8 diesel, and its lovley. I bought it when I was driving 30k miles per year, and it was and still is a pleasent car to drive. I agree it needs more power, but on the twisty stuff its great.

Even when I stopped doing the high mileage I have kept it, as the car is reliable, and servicing costs are low. Tbh if i was going to get a newer car I would probably get another focus.
 
widdyst said:
Why would people be surprised that the often stated "best driving / handling hatchback" is pretty decent to drive :-)
.................. Beats me ?
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because its a god awful diesel shopping trolley with less power than my lawnmower.

the fact it brought out feelings of hooliganism that I've not felt since I was a oiky teenager with a mk2 fiesta was quite surprising
 
I have similar feelings towards our mk2 Focus, it certainly is just a utility item now. We seriously downgraded from the ST to a 1.6 petrol mk2 focus, and while the loss of 140bhp is enormous, given the right road on the weekend its actually still a lot of fun.

A bonus is the ride over very poor surfaced country roads is better and your never going at silly speeds to make any loss of traction a big deal.

I think the term hooligan is spot on as thats how you have to drive it to get something from it given the lack of power, still surprisingly good fun :)
 
Delta12 said:
because its a god awful diesel shopping trolley with less power than my lawnmower.
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Shows how little you know about cars if you thought that about the Focus and were surprised by it's handling- it's always been the best driving hatch in its class (the MK1 in particular was streets ahead of the competition).

Since when did power have a say in handling?

Oh, and coming from a Vectra you aren't in any position to criticise, infact you'd do well to make your conversion to the Focus permanent ;)
 
Delta12 said:
because its a god awful diesel shopping trolley with less power than my lawnmower.

the fact it brought out feelings of hooliganism that I've not felt since I was a oiky teenager with a mk2 fiesta was quite surprising
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You see , it just isnt. Its a genuinely good economical , fine handling affordable family hatchback.

Really mate, you drive a vectra, hardly the last word in power, handling and style now is it
 
Fusion said:
Shows how little you know about cars if you thought that about the Focus and were surprised by it's handling- it's always been the best driving hatch in its class (the MK1 in particular was streets ahead of the competition).

Since when did power have a say in handling?

Oh, and coming from a Vectra you aren't in any position to criticise, infact you'd do well to make your conversion to the Focus permanent ;)
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having driven literally hundreds of mk1 foci when I worked with Ford I am well aware of what a decent car the mk1 was. i'm merely saying that having spent the last few years hopping between overpowered hot hatches that have been stupidly lowered and well 2 Vectras it was a surprise to jump into the focus. it was surprising especially when you drive it in anger back to back with the Vectra or indeed the insignia I was pootling about in today.

and as for making it a permanent switch, no need the keys for it live on my coffee table anyway :) really need to steal a mk2 focus estate from somewhere and see how it compares, I could seriously see myself replacing the Vectras with a pair of Focus estates in the future if the prices are right


edit

goddammit,


a quick google suggests I can pick up an ex police focus estate 1.8tdci at 3 yrs of age for under 3 1/2 grand. that's even cheaper than the ex fleet vectras I've been eyeing up
 
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