MK1 Focus - 1.6 vs 1.8, performance and economy

[MC Bodge]

Devil2575 said:

Oh and the ESP is the most useless traction control device I've ever encountered. Utterly pointless.

I agree. Mine was terrible. Intrusive and unsettling.

My 2009 Mondeo's ESP is far better.

I also agree about choosing a 1.8 over a 2.0
-As does almost everybody on this thread.
(edit: Opening out the throttle body (search the www) made the throttle pedal position:response more linear and made the 2.0 feel sharper)

The 1.6 is very high-geared.

The 1.4 is fairly slow.

Edited by MC Bodge on Saturday 12th October 18:51

[ModernAndy]

I don't think you'll find much agreement on what engine to go for OP, they're all good at different things and have their drawbacks. I would seriously recommend looking for a car with all-round discs though, feels so much better when you need to brake hard.

As said before, standard on all 2.0i and an option on everything else.

[RenesisEvo]

MC Bodge said:

(edit: Opening out the throttle body (search the www) made the throttle pedal position:response more linear and made the 2.0 feel sharper)

Sorry to go slightly O/T, but can you elaborate on this? The throttle response on my 1.6 is awful. Press gently on the pedal, add pressure to finally get past the flop/slack in the mechanism, then there's a little response, push down a little more, then more still and it suddenly wakes up and goes, it feels very non-linear. Not to mention it don't half judder when you lift off, unless you are super gentle.

[pad58]

My wife has the zetec 1.6 , it's ok for a day to day car , but everyone has one....which says a lot.
The rev counter revs lower than I would have thought , tonight she was driving at 60 in 5th and it showed just over 2000 revs ????
TBH I think it's a good little car if you stir the stick .

[RenesisEvo]

pad58 said:

The rev counter revs lower than I would have thought , tonight she was driving at 60 in 5th and it showed just over 2000 revs ????

That's normal, the car seems to have a very long final drive. 70 is about 2700-800 rpm - or 5000 rpm in 3rd (you can just do 60 in 2nd!!) It does mean 1st gear is actually usable, but 99% of the time if you want any response you have to drop a cog.

[MC Bodge]

RenesisEvo said:

MC Bodge said:

(edit: Opening out the throttle body (search the www) made the throttle pedal position:response more linear and made the 2.0 feel sharper)

Sorry to go slightly O/T, but can you elaborate on this? The throttle response on my 1.6 is awful. Press gently on the pedal, add pressure to finally get past the flop/slack in the mechanism, then there's a little response, push down a little more, then more still and it suddenly wakes up and goes, it feels very non-linear. Not to mention it don't half judder when you lift off, unless you are super gentle.

the 2.0 had a big constriction in the throttle body. When the throttle butterfly opened, the constriction shape was such that the first few degrees(initial pedal travel) had little effect on air flow. Removing the constriction made a difference to the relative throttle opening and made it feel more snappy.

I think that the 1.6 may be very different to the 1.8/2.0, but this is the job: Porting the throttle body

Edited by MC Bodge on Saturday 12th October 20:22

[ModernAndy]

RenesisEvo said:

ou can just do 60 in 2nd!!

I remember that being a feature of the 1.6 that I liked. I think you can actually go very slightly faster in 2nd in the 1.6 than in the 2.0

[Devil2575]

MC Bodge said:

I agree. Mine was terrible. Intrusive and unsettling.

My 2009 Mondeo's ESP is far better.

The trouble with the ESP is that it is both intrusive and completely unnecessary. The Focus is such an easy and forgiving car to drive that you don't need ESP. It's pretty much impossible to over do it and if you do overcook it breaks away gradually and is very easy to recover.

Oh and on my car even when you turned it off, it still seemed to be on in any gear other than first, making it very difficult to drive in snow.

[PlayersNo6]

Be aware that the original Mk I 'Zetec' spec didn't have aircon as standard whereas the LX did (but had hubcaps instead of the Zetec's alloys)

I had an 01Y 1.6 LX from new as a company car, great car apart from the motorway speed flat spot and small boot.

[ModernAndy]

PlayersNo6 said:

Be aware that the original Mk I 'Zetec' spec didn't have aircon as standard whereas the LX did (but had hubcaps instead of the Zetec's alloys)

I had an 01Y 1.6 LX from new as a company car, great car apart from the motorway speed flat spot and small boot.

Was it not a choice between aircon and a sunroof. I had the 1.6lx with the latter a few years ago

[shoehorn]

RenesisEvo said:

avoid the one with the intermittent speedo problem. It's a sensor in the gearbox that can be a total nightmare to remove

I have done loads over the years,takes 10 minutes maximum and costs around 40 quid!

[93Jay]

I had a 1.4 CL for a my first car, great car, didn't break took all the abuse I threw at it. Other than being a bit slow and thirsty, it was a pretty good.

[nipsips]

I think the only time their a nightmare is if the metal pin that holds the sensor in breaks. We always used to supply a new pin with a sensor so if you butcher it then it wont be an issue. The 2.0 uses a different sensor as its a different box. My 2.0 just has traction control but I have decent front tyres and dont find it intrusive at all. On the other hand my dads 2.0 with budgets the TC is always kicking in.

With regards to spec I dont even think RCL was standard on early Zetecs (although I maybe thinking of Fiesta).