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Thread: Ford Focus Road Test by Motorsportnerd

  1. #16
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    Quote Originally Posted by motorsportnerd
    barely adequate performance
    Barely adequate for what purpose?

    Quote Originally Posted by kingofthering View Post
    To convert from dollars to pounds, one must divide by 2.

    So.... $15K = £7500
    Yes, for converting dollars to sterling, but that is not converting the price.

    The usual conversion on car prices is to just swap the $ for a £ - so $15,000 equates to £15,000, which would be about right for a high-spec Focus.

    Quote Originally Posted by fisetdavid26 View Post
    Actually things are awfully expensive in the UK, so he was right.
    It would be "awfully expensive" if we were all paid in dollars, but, aside from a few unlucky contractors, most transactions tend to be in sterling for some odd reason.
    Thanks for all the fish

  2. #17
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    Quote Originally Posted by Coventrysucks View Post
    Barely adequate for what purpose?
    Coping with New Zealand's hilly terrain and overtaking on passing lanes on said hilly terrain. The reason, as I noted, is the weight of the car. I've driven much less powerful cars that coped better with overtaking on short passing lanes in New Zealand's hilly terrain simply because they were a lot lighter.
    The Focus's performance is fine for city commuting and on relatively flat terrain. Most buyers in the UK or Australia would never have cause to complain about the performance.
    UCP's biggest Ford Sierra RS500 and BMW M3 E30 fan. My two favourite cars of all time.

  3. #18
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    Quote Originally Posted by motorsportnerd View Post
    Coping with New Zealand's hilly terrain and overtaking on passing lanes on said hilly terrain. The reason, as I noted, is the weight of the car. I've driven much less powerful cars that coped better with overtaking on short passing lanes in hilly terrain simply because they were a lot lighter.
    The Focus's performance is fine for city commuting and on relatively flat terrain. Most buyers in the UK or Australia would never have cause to complain about the performance.
    nice review msn, and i agree with you there completely - had a diesel ford transit van while i was in NZ, and travelled everywhere with the throttle pedal mashed to the floor because even the slightest undulations caused it to slow down to 50... was fine around town, but a pain in the ass everywhere else and a rather bad driving habit..
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  4. #19
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    Quote Originally Posted by henk4 View Post
    what turbo diesel was on offer? the 1.6 TDci?
    NZ gets the 1.8 TDci, but only in the 5-door wagon at present. I believe the engine will be available in the hatch sometime this year.
    UCP's biggest Ford Sierra RS500 and BMW M3 E30 fan. My two favourite cars of all time.

  5. #20
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    Quote Originally Posted by Coventrysucks View Post
    Barely adequate for what purpose?



    Yes, for converting dollars to sterling, but that is not converting the price.

    The usual conversion on car prices is to just swap the $ for a £ - so $15,000 equates to £15,000, which would be about right for a high-spec Focus.

    Yeah, that's what I've also discovered.

    It's pretty funny (sad for some) to see Americans go mad when they see the £60,000 price tag on the M3 and jump to the conclusion that the USD price = 120K.
    Last edited by kingofthering; 01-14-2008 at 08:01 PM.
    I'm dropping out to create a company that starts with motorcycles, then cars, and forty years later signs a legendary Brazilian driver who has a public and expensive feud with his French teammate.

  6. #21
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    Quote Originally Posted by clutch-monkey View Post
    nice review msn, and i agree with you there completely - had a diesel ford transit van while i was in NZ, and travelled everywhere with the throttle pedal mashed to the floor because even the slightest undulations caused it to slow down to 50... was fine around town, but a pain in the ass everywhere else and a rather bad driving habit..
    And diesel vans (usually 15 year old Toyota or Mitsubishi vans belching lots of black smoke out the back) are the worst offenders for holding up traffic on the hills. The drivers tend to refuse pull over and let the faster traffic past. Considering the lack of straights on many roads, overtaking is impossible until the passing lanes are reached. And only those with decent amounts of low down or mid-range torque get past on the shorter passing lanes up steep inclines.
    A couple of times I pulled out to pass on a passing lane on a steep incline, only to discover that there just wasn't enough grunt to do the job, and had to pull back in and let some fuming driver in a V6 or a turbo get past. Then of course I'd have to follow the slow vehicle for another 15 minutes....

    If I wasn't following anyone, the Focus was able to cope with the hills. However, if the vehicle in front was slowed to 40-50km/h on a hill, the Focus just didn't have the grunt to pull out and uptake up a steep hill from 40-50km/h.
    Last edited by motorsportnerd; 01-14-2008 at 08:02 PM.
    UCP's biggest Ford Sierra RS500 and BMW M3 E30 fan. My two favourite cars of all time.

  7. #22
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    Quote Originally Posted by motorsportnerd View Post
    A couple of times I pulled out to pass on a passing lane on a steep incline, only to discover that there just wasn't enough grunt to do the job, and had to pull back in and let some fuming driver in a V6 or a turbo get past. Then of course I'd have to follow the slow vehicle for another 15 minutes....

    If I wasn't following anyone, the Focus was able to cope with the hills. However, if the vehicle in front was slowed to 40-50km/h on a hill, the Focus just didn't have the grunt to pull out and uptake up a steep hill from 40-50km/h.
    Your observations about the liberating joys of grunt - of a car's ability to quickly and decisively overtake slower vehicles, lest you be stuck behind them for yet another quarter-hour or so - is pertinent not just for hilly NZ but for general country driving in Oz as well. The vast majority of our rural road network is 2-lane and badly lacks for overtaking lanes, if they exist at all, so your chances are typically few & far between.

    Although often overlooked, the grunt aspect is a genuine primary safety-factor because cars of insufficient performance effectively sentence their occupants to remain within the tightly-knit and often risky 'snaking chain' of following vehicles where congestion and driver-frustration continues to grow, as does the recipe for disaster.

    Reading your quoted words made me think how much you must have missed your gutsy Fairmont in these conditions, which in turn reminded me of a previous post from 2006 ..
    Overtaking Exposure 60-120km/h in seconds

    6.84: Falcon (base 6cyl auto)
    7.52: BMW 330 Ci
    10.02: Mazda3
    11.39: Mazda6 Classic
    11.59: Corolla
    12.69: Astra
    Notice the Astra (which is comparable in performance to Focus) requires twice as much exposure to overtake, and this is on level ground!

    In closing, you might have put me off recommending the Focus (despite their current low price) and especially in ever wanting such a low-performing gutless wonder myself. Far too one-dimensional. A little bit more $ can get you a lot more car, or for less $ a far superior near-new one. Btw I recently rode in a new, unladen Honda Oddessy and was literally appalled by its utter lack of acceleration, especially considering its pretentions as an 'allround' family car
    Last edited by nota; 01-15-2008 at 07:07 AM.

  8. #23
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    Quote Originally Posted by motorsportnerd View Post
    NZ gets the 1.8 TDci, but only in the 5-door wagon at present. I believe the engine will be available in the hatch sometime this year.
    that I believe is the old engine, in Europe they use the engines developed together wiith PSA. This comes only as a 1.6 or a 2 litre. However the old 1.8 is still available here, with 115 bhp (109 for the 1.6 and 136/320 nm for the two liter car)..
    "I find the whole business of religion profoundly interesting, but it does mystify me that otherwise intelligent people take it seriously." Douglas Adams

  9. #24
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    Quote Originally Posted by nota View Post

    Notice the Astra (which is comparable in performance to Focus) requires twice as much exposure to overtake, and this is on level ground!
    Are the measured cars running a manual or autobox? If manual, is it taken in top gear?
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  10. #25
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    The Focus I was driving was manual, and I'm talking about its overtaking ability in 2nd or 3rd gear.
    I believe the Astra measured above was a 2.0 litre manual, and times were probably recorded through the 3rd-4th change.
    UCP's biggest Ford Sierra RS500 and BMW M3 E30 fan. My two favourite cars of all time.

  11. #26
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    Quote Originally Posted by henk4 View Post
    If manual, is it taken in top gear?
    Forgot my glasses! In fact those times were from 60 km/h > 120 km/h.
    So apologies for that typo in my previous post, which I have now corrected.

    To answer your Q these times (from 'Wheels' 7-05) were derived using kickdown if auto and up to redline if manual.
    Astra CD was current-shape manual petrol 1800cc

  12. #27
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    Quote Originally Posted by nota View Post
    Forgot my glasses! In fact those times were from 60 km/h > 120 km/h.
    So apologies for that typo in my previous post, which I have now corrected.

    To answer your Q these times (from 'Wheels' 7-05) were derived using kickdown if auto and up to redline if manual.
    Astra CD was current-shape manual petrol 1800cc
    so presumably starting from 3rd if manual?
    "I find the whole business of religion profoundly interesting, but it does mystify me that otherwise intelligent people take it seriously." Douglas Adams

  13. #28
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    Quote Originally Posted by henk4 View Post
    so presumably starting from 3rd if manual?
    Starting from whichever gear provides max acceleration @ 60 km/h.
    I'm not familiar with Astra gear-speeds but presume this would mean 2nd, initially?

    Further to MSN's observations about overtaking ability (including diesel vans and 4cyl compacts) here's some interesting results from the 60 km/h > 120 km/h test which highlights dramatic differences between various vehicle types

    HiAce diesel van
    29.78 seconds in 750 metres
    Astra
    12.65 in 332 metres
    Falcon
    6.84 in 177 metres

    (sorry about the thread diversion MSN)

  14. #29
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    Quote Originally Posted by henk4 View Post
    that I believe is the old engine, in Europe they use the engines developed together wiith PSA. This comes only as a 1.6 or a 2 litre. However the old 1.8 is still available here, with 115 bhp (109 for the 1.6 and 136/320 nm for the two liter car)..
    I think the Focus still has the old 1.8-litre in 125bhp guise, but not the 110bhp 1.6-litre PSA. IIRC Fords only have the 90bhp, at least until recently.
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  15. #30
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ferrer View Post
    I think the Focus still has the old 1.8-litre in 125bhp guise, but not the 110bhp 1.6-litre PSA. IIRC Fords only have the 90bhp, at least until recently.
    check this link, 90/109/115/136 bhp

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