New Focus TDCI

[Legend83]

My dad wants me to get something safer than my old Fiesta as I do a lot of travelling with work. I want something economical and powerful, so was interested in the new Focus 2.0 tdci. Plenty of pull by the sounds of it, with 5 star ncap and good economy. Anyone got one? If so can you relay your experiences so far?

Plus, which model/trim is best? Titanium and Ghia have great options but Sport looks better.

Cheers!

[Focus2.0Zetec]

Sport is pretty basic to be honest. The Ghia is aimed at the older end of the market, whilst the Titanium is a kind of luxury/sporty version. If you can stretch to the Titanium thats th eone to go for.

Was looking at this option a few weeks ago as my car was in to main dealer with un-diagnosable engine fault. Service manager suggested taking it elsewhere and trading it it. Eventually Ford sorted it after 6 days of diagnistics.

Regards

Chris

[nighthawk]

I have a 2.0 tdci ghia

pulls well enough and on the motorway with the cruise control set it turns in some very impressive figures.

I didn't like the interior of the titanium, so the ghia was a natural choice for keeping the toys.

[plfrench]

Good choice - I inherited a 1.6TDCi Ghia on a 55 plate as my company car and it is great. I've done over 16000 miles in it since the beginning of July with no problems at all. I think when it is time to change I'll go for the same again but the 2.0 version you are considering as a bit more poke would be welcome along with the extra gear.

Cruise control is enough reason alone to go for the Ghia. I find it really useful. Wood trim looks ok and there isn't too much of it, so not too old manish!!

Cheers,

Paul.

[Legend83]

Cheers for the replies, would probably try and stretch to the Titanium as it looks the most like the ST (still not very much).

Colour choices? The bright blue is a bit stand-out ish for me. Like the look of panther black.

[plfrench]

I've got Panther Black on mine and it looks smart when it's clean, but it is a bugger to keep it looking clean!! I'd suggest the Dark Grey perhaps (can't remember what is's called - looks pretty good in that)

I still think ford should do a ST Diesel with the D5 from Volvo... I'm sure loads of people would buy it / have it as a co. car.

Paul.

[nighthawk]

sea grey is the dark colour.

In terms of features, the titanium lags behind the ghia.

The ghia can still be fitted with the st'esque body kit and lower springs

[DennisTheMenace]

The one thing that lets the ghia down is the god awfull wheels and fake wood , i wish ford would ditch them both .

[Legend83]

Seems to be quite a few year old Zetec Climate's aound the £10k mark - spec seems ok on the website. Any opinions?

[Mannginger]

Zetec Climate's the one to go for if you can't stretch to the Titanium. The seats are (IMHO) mor comfortable and modern than the Ghia and the suspension feels tighter. I drove the TDCI version a few weeks back and loved it loads more torque than my 1.6 petrol which was fun on the motorway, although I would miss the relatively high revving nature of the Ti-VCT petrol.

Phil

[pAntscat]

I just picked up my 2.0 TDCi Zetec Climate yesterday.

Very impressed with it! Feels very similar to a mondeo to drive and quite a bit better through the twisty bits!

Seats are very comfy (although I went for the optional leather), only thing that struck me as odd straight away was the position of the handbrake - it doesn't seem to be quite where you'd expect it to be.

Just out of interest - what's the 1.6 TDCi like? still quite quick?

[plfrench]

I agree about the handbrake, and with the rear drums on mine, it doesn't work very well and it is really uncomfortable trying to put it on harder...

The 1.6TDCi is a bit slow. It's ok when up to speed, and will cruise all day at high motorway speeds with no probs, but it's just getting there that takes a while!! Having said that if you work hard to keep the turbo spinning and convserve momentum, then it does the job.

Great car overall though.

Paul.

[Legend83]

What about the 1.8? A happy medium?

[pAntscat]

I wouldn't have thought there was a lot in it... the 1.6 is supposed to be a very smooth engine and I found the old 1.8 to be a bit rough!