Which Focus...

Dutch777 · 22 Sep 2006 at 10:21

Picked up a 1.8 zetec W reg for the misses earlier this year, good all round car was advertised as having Climate Pack, but when I went to view it I realized it had the Reflex Pack as well: ABS / Traction Control / Side Air Bags / Rear Discs. This was overlooked by the Dealer so was a nice bonus.

It might prove beneficial to still enquire with standard cars as a lot of people wouldn’t even know what reflex pack was or even advertise it as.

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riddlermarc · 22 Sep 2006 at 11:05

I have a 1.8 Zetec X reg 2001), excellent car for the price and it's nippy enough if you take it over 4k revs (who doesn't?).. the downside then is that it does drink the petrol a bit when you do so.

It does have stiffer suspension than the Ghia but it's perfectly acceptable and the missus/young son don't notice anything.. plus the better suspension means you can take the roundabouts that little bit faster (when the family isn't in the car, that is)

Mine has heated rear/front windows and heated leccy mirrors, A/C but doesn't have traction control.

Amleto · 22 Sep 2006 at 16:52

ajgoodfellow said:
From what I've read from user reports and reviews you would expect about 29-30mpg from the 2.0 and 38-40mpg from the 1.6 or 1.8. Pretty big difference!

rofl. never got anywhere near 38mpg in my 1.8. If ffoc.co.uk was still free to view, I would suggest you go take a look and find many similar experiences as mine.

peter212693 · 22 Sep 2006 at 18:58

I have mostly made my mind up, I want either a 1.8 or 2.0 Zetec with as much as I can in it and the latest year. Now what would you recommend perfomance wise, revvy, etc.

thanks

ajgoodfellow · 22 Sep 2006 at 19:21

If insurance isn't a problem then I'd get the 2.0 as suggested as it's got a decent amount of power behind it

As for year surely you want the latest year you can afford not the earliest? I'd have thought a 2002 model would be in budget

peter212693 · 22 Sep 2006 at 21:04

ajgoodfellow said:
If insurance isn't a problem then I'd get the 2.0 as suggested as it's got a decent amount of power behind it

As for year surely you want the latest year you can afford not the earliest? I'd have thought a 2002 model would be in budget

Yes lol I ment latest :rolleyes:

Jonnycoupe · 30 Sep 2006 at 20:04

Just looked at prices and the 2.0 Ghia is only £50 or so more than the 1.6LX.

85p a litre the difference between a 30 and 40mpg is just over £140 so its not really that much of an issue as the Ghia Im gonna look at is a fair bit cheaper than the 1.6 and 1.8 hot cakes I'm been trying to find.

Going to look at it 2moro so I hope its a good one to end this damn search

Scarfacé · 30 Sep 2006 at 21:12

1.8 and 2.0 are quite different engines to the 1.4 and 1.6.

The 1.8 and especially the 2.0 drink fuel, I know from experience.

Driven 1.6 Zetec, owned 2.0 Ghia, own 1.8 Zetec currently.

Personally I'd go for a 1.6 Zetec with climate pack/ABS.

Don't even bother with the Ghia tbh, everything was still an option, the only extras you got was slightly nicer seats, platic wood style interior and things chromed.

As always with Fords, you can get the base model higher specced than the supposedly highest spec model.

Cheers,

[TW]Fox · 30 Sep 2006 at 21:15

One day I will get to the bottom of this whole Focus drinking fuel thing.

Becuase I know from experience that the 2.0 Zetec engine is suprisingly frugal.

Scarfacé · 30 Sep 2006 at 21:22

Fox, I know the Mondy and the Focus shared the same engine, but trust me, the 2.0L Focus for some reason is *terrible* on the fuel. I could never get above 30mpg unless I sat at 65mph on the motorway.

My average with pretty normal driving was around 25mpg.

Asked anyone who's owned a 2.0L Focus and they should tell you the same.

[TW]Fox · 30 Sep 2006 at 21:23

It just seems ridiculous they struggle to get over 30mpg, I got 30.3mpg this week and thats in a 3 litre, 231bhp 6 cylinder and I didnt go near a Motorway!

Dogbreath · 30 Sep 2006 at 21:26

[TW]Fox said:
One day I will get to the bottom of this whole Focus drinking fuel thing.

Becuase I know from experience that the 2.0 Zetec engine is suprisingly frugal.

Then again, with your driving style a BMW 3 litre engine is also frugal, and I don't think many other owners would share that experience!

I've had a 1.8 Mk3 Mondeo a couple of times to drive from Paignton to (near) Silverstone, and I didn't get much better than ~32mpg out of it. The TDCi gave me around 46mpg on the same trip. (I'm ignoring the first TDCi I drove that reported a hugely optimistic 56mpg as it didn't tally with the fuel bill.

It interesting that even Parkers show a substantial economy difference between the 1.8 and the 2.0 Focus, which isn't really logical given the power difference.

Jonnycoupe · 30 Sep 2006 at 21:38

Apparently the Zetec heads can be prone to sticky valves, i wonder if this is a cause for poor mpg performance?

The 2.0 litre im looking at is at 99k too but hes after £2500 if the belt hasnt been done i have a nice bargaining tool there. Seems to be loaded with lots of options. TC, AC and 6CD.

My friend informed me the 2.0 is an overbored 1.8 so i imagine the geometry of the engine has moved away from the sweet spot for economy.

Hilly · 30 Sep 2006 at 21:43

[TW]Fox said:
One day I will get to the bottom of this whole Focus drinking fuel thing.

Becuase I know from experience that the 2.0 Zetec engine is suprisingly frugal.

They must have my engine mixed up with the 2 litre ones fox. The two litre's are decent engines, surprisingly nippy at times. They don't drink an unreasonable amount of fuel though !