Mk3 Focus Ecoboo..
Discussion
As a replacement for our excellent old hand-me-down Fiesta, I give you the hand-me-down Focus.
It reached us via a relative. It was due for a timing belt change and they fancied a change of car.
It has now had a new timing belt, aux belts, water pump etc.
The chassis is excellent. It drives very well and rides very well. It is one of those excellent everyman cars for which Ford were known for the past 3 decades
The 1.0 125ps engine performs very well. It is just a shame that it doesn't have shorter gearing.
The standard sounds system lacked bass, but a small sub in the boot has improved matters.Some better speakers will be fitted in the doors when I get around to it Ford Sony door speakers, tweeters and sound sound deadening have made a big improvement.
The headlamps have benefitted from sets of Nightbreakers.
It could do with a set of better tyres. Some sort of all-seasons or Rainsport 5.
....The Sync infotainment system..... is a human factors nightmare.
It reached us via a relative. It was due for a timing belt change and they fancied a change of car.
It has now had a new timing belt, aux belts, water pump etc.
The chassis is excellent. It drives very well and rides very well. It is one of those excellent everyman cars for which Ford were known for the past 3 decades
The 1.0 125ps engine performs very well. It is just a shame that it doesn't have shorter gearing.
The standard sounds system lacked bass, but a small sub in the boot has improved matters.
The headlamps have benefitted from sets of Nightbreakers.
It could do with a set of better tyres. Some sort of all-seasons or Rainsport 5.
....The Sync infotainment system..... is a human factors nightmare.
Edited by MC Bodge on Saturday 23 December 18:38
Snubs said:
I had the same car for a couple of years and thought it was great. Solidly built and only let me down by bricking itself on the driveway due to an electrical fault that only a main dealer could solve.
Funny you should mention shorter gearing, I wouldn't have minded 6th to be longer personally as it was doing something like 3,000rpm at 80mph in sixth. Any faster and the otherwise excellent fuel economy would drop off a cliff edge.
Mine was a Zetec and it did feel a bit budget in places, like keep fit rear windows and no central armrest. I think it was also a one touch window on the drivers side only.
Couple of the things i miss were the engine getting fully up to temperature within about 2 minutes of setting off thanks to a clever water cooling system, handy for warming the car up quickly on cold days and reducing engine wear on short journeys. Plus the heated windscreen. What an absolute godsend. Every car should have one on H&S grounds IMO.
This is a Zetec model too, with a similar spec to yours.Funny you should mention shorter gearing, I wouldn't have minded 6th to be longer personally as it was doing something like 3,000rpm at 80mph in sixth. Any faster and the otherwise excellent fuel economy would drop off a cliff edge.
Mine was a Zetec and it did feel a bit budget in places, like keep fit rear windows and no central armrest. I think it was also a one touch window on the drivers side only.
Couple of the things i miss were the engine getting fully up to temperature within about 2 minutes of setting off thanks to a clever water cooling system, handy for warming the car up quickly on cold days and reducing engine wear on short journeys. Plus the heated windscreen. What an absolute godsend. Every car should have one on H&S grounds IMO.
Yes, the good features are very, very good. It is a bit budget in places, but not ones that bother me too much so far. I will add some sound deadening to the doors when I fit new speakers.
The lower gear ratios are far too spaced out. The gear change isn't as slick as the one on our previous Fiesta or the Mk5 Mondeo. I might have a look at the linkage.
It could do with a set of better tyres. Some sort of all-seasons or Rainsport 5.
Edited by MC Bodge on Wednesday 20th December 13:37
Sycamore said:
Anyone involved with the Sync system and its development/release deserves to squeeze a pine cone out of their genitals.
50% of my life has been spent pulling the fuse for it to reset it as it'd constantly lose the ability to connect through bluetooth.
Ours seems to work ok, but the user interface is terrible. 50% of my life has been spent pulling the fuse for it to reset it as it'd constantly lose the ability to connect through bluetooth.
An ancient Nokia phone keypad and screen (sans snake) in a 2010s car.
Sync 3 feels 20 years ahead of it.
Even with the very long gearing in the Focus, the 1.0 Ecoboost is far more driveable/tractable and responsive at lower rpm and from a standing start than the 1.5 "Ecoboost" in my Mk5 Mondeo. The Focus is possibly quicker accelerating at low speeds too.
I am intrigued by what happened with the design and mapping of the 1.5, it must have been tuned for some sort of emissions test, but if behaved like a more powerful 1.0, it would be much better.
I am intrigued by what happened with the design and mapping of the 1.5, it must have been tuned for some sort of emissions test, but if behaved like a more powerful 1.0, it would be much better.
Edited by MC Bodge on Thursday 21st December 18:15
ridds said:
MC Bodge said:
It has now had a new timing belt, aux belts, water pump etc.
Did you pull the sump and get all the fibre strands from the belt out of the oil pick-up strainer? That's what kills these things.An oil change isn't enough, they don't fall off the strainer when the oi is drained.
The old belt was in good condition too, with very little damage.
Gas1883 said:
My 17 plate titanium has Sony speakers / woofer in boot , never seen one with it , possibly a upgrade option when new , sounds nice
I have fitted a subwoofer into the boot, Ford Sony speakers, tweeters and sound deadening to the front doors. It sounds pretty good now.
Edited by MC Bodge on Saturday 23 December 20:35
The 1.0 Ecoboost continues to impress me as a use-able engine for the road.
I have fixed the standard water leak into the boot.
Raising the headlamps to a sensible angle, allowing the main beam to project horizontally and the dipped beam to illuminate a more typical distance in front of the car.
A juddering clutch from a standstill was resolved by a few hard starts and some deliberate clutch slipping.
The Alliance tyres are still awful.
I have fixed the standard water leak into the boot.
Raising the headlamps to a sensible angle, allowing the main beam to project horizontally and the dipped beam to illuminate a more typical distance in front of the car.
A juddering clutch from a standstill was resolved by a few hard starts and some deliberate clutch slipping.
The Alliance tyres are still awful.
Animal said:
My 2012 1.6 is on 86k miles and as far as I can tell is on it's original belt - is this something I should change as an urgent precaution? If so, what's the cost (is it one of those things that needs a special tool which means it's going to have to go to a Ford dealer)?
That is not as expensive to do as the wet belt on the 1.0 Ecoboost. Evo Sean said:
Another one here for the Focus Daily. Mine is a 1.0 Ecoboost Titanium X on 83k miles...
....The radio interface is pure horse ****! Thinking of adding in a android auto screen.
Good stuff. ....The radio interface is pure horse ****! Thinking of adding in a android auto screen.
The Sync 1 radiofotainement is indeed the worst thing about the car. Everything else is pretty good.
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