Richykins

TomTom comes with a fag lighter charger if you go for the 300 model. Above that it comes with both a car charger and mains charger. The built-in battery is good for about 4 hours on a full charge on the 300 & 500. The 700 model has a built in hard drive, I expect that impacts the battery life, but I don't know for sure. Sorry dude - no experience of the speed cam thang.

38-40MPG on the motorway sounds good to me. Mi 1.6 Ti-VCT just game all the way down from scotland yesterday, averaged 41.2mpg. Fluctuation could be caused by gradient, road surface, wind, the slightest movement of the throttle etc. I wouldn't be too concerned. Don't leave the computer running all the time, it'll drive you to distraction - just check it every few miles for a while.

All my ford dealer encounters have been massively disappointing - they've got to sort it out.

I'm not having a dig dude but the sentence: "If you opt for the 1.6 Ti-VCT...then ESP is an absolute MUST " comes across to me as a bit alarmist. I don't have it - didn't want it, and I don't miss it. Traction control and it's associated technology, apart from anything else, contribute to dulling the responses of a car - that's perhaps not such a bad thing for people who don't have such a good feel for the conditions of the road, or much care for self preservation. But for me, it's a no no. So if you said it was a personal preference thing - then I'd agree. I can see the case for it in sn

I have a Ti-VCT, and I'm not trying to be a smart *rse, but I'd say traction control is not a worthy investment: 1. The car puts very little power onto the road from a stand still anyway. 2. There's no subsequent discernable point were you suddenly end up with more torque than you can deal with, even in the damp. 3. It's a FWD.... phenomenally capable chassis. The only time you're likely to break traction at the front is if you plough on understeer, and that's not really the kind of problem that traction control can solve. I'd put the money towards something more fun. Good luck chap.

Glad you're having fun dude. And just so it doesn't come as a shock... :) the VCT gets louder once you start giving it some revs - it's got a nice throaty sound to it, without being too obtrusive.

Or rather people who are older and wiser... and know a con when we see one :)

On the TomTom? Main Menu>Change Preferences>Use Night Colours I haven't dug deep enough to see if there's a shortcut to that yet.

I just got a TomTom 300 this week - and I have to say I'm impressed sh!tless. I personally think they're over-priced right now - and could easily retail for 100 quid less, but my wife is off touring with her family so I thought I'd treat her. Cost aside though, the TomTom gets my vote as coolest gadget ever. Yeah it could be smaller, but I like the industrial design, I love the software, the interface is joyously simple. I never have to worry about how to get to a destination any more, and that makes 'getting there' a whole lot more enjoyable. Big thumbs up. I'll post a pic when I get ti

You've done about the same miles as me. The difference is, my average speed is 27mph. I live in a suburban area, and I don't get caught up in much commuter traffic. My journey to work is 75% B-road, the rest is built up areas, but there's very little I need to stop for; the odd roundabout and that's about it. 16mph suggests you must be in the lower gears quite a lot - and no matter how gentle you are, that's going to cane your fuel consumption. Did you have an OBC in your last car? Do the figures not compare at all?

23? That is a bit poor... something's not right there. Assuming there's nothing wrong with the car (and you might want to get that checked out) then if you're not driving it hard, you may be over compensating for the weight/lack of torque. Are you sitting in a lot of traffic? What's your average speed? Also, how many miles has yours done now? Forgive the basic advice, but revs are crucial - the longer you can maintain a consistent engine speed the better your economy will be. Don't run too long in a gear before changing, but likewise changing up too soon will mean you're pumping in more fu

Nice colour - looks kinda blue in one shot, and black in the other. Pretty. I haven't had that problem. PS. Get yourself a sunglasses holder... they're wicked, and you don't have to punch so many people when they sit on your fancy shades :)

Lol - I can see it now, the FFOC Economy World Championship. FocusGhia - you can be our Schumacher! Sadly my hopes of a 40Mpg combined got ruined when I generously let Mrs Rich drive me to and fro' the pub this weekend. She has a lead foot.

re: Ti-VCT I reset the computer on my last fill up, about 100 miles ago. I just hit 40mpg today, one brief trip down a dual carriageway, otherwise that's mainly urban miles and quiet roads. If I can hold it there, that gives me a theoretical range of 466 miles (if I've done my sums right!) :) I find a good efficient gear change to be in the region of 2.5 - 2.6k RPM. Much lower than that and you have to welly the gas a bit too much to get back into the torque.

Hey Peeter, Ahhh, Estonia. I had a very lovely girlfriend from there once... happy days :D oops, sorry, I was miles away. Just to say I haven't encountered your lights problem on my Ghia, I specifically went and checked for you, and it's fine. Maybe a dodgy earth/ground or something? Let the dealer worry about it. You've got a better CD player than me... so I can't help there at all. All the best!

I was almost tempted by a diesel, i just can't live with the torque characteristics. While it's nice to have a bit of low down oomph, I can't get used to quite how low down it is. I've tried... oh how I've tried. It would be cool if they could have some kind of bi-fuel system. Diesel to 2300 rpm, then petrol above that. :D

Heya Steve, The the range prediction on the computer is apparently based on the 'Life time' average MPG counter, which is tucked away in the firmware and you don't get to see. This counter, so I hear, never gets reset - so right now it's used to you doing in the region of 26MPG, and consequently it's estimating a little low. It'll start to creep up if you maintain your new sensible approach :D. Rest assured, if you keep it in the 36MPG ballpark, you should be able to turn in 400 miles no worries. I'm up to 37MPG at the moment, but I had a longish run today and managed to sit practically s

Hey Steve, I normally run it down until about 30 miles are left according to the range. I used the air-con for around 100 miles last week, and that pulled my average down to around 34.xx, i've done another 100 without it and am back up into the 36's now. Altho most of the time I do drive like an old fart, 5,000 RPM is not unusual from time to time. If you want to see how much this impacts your MPG, find a straight road, and while stationary reset the fuel computer; then accelerate harshly through the revs up to about 40 or 50. Watch the numbers roll! It's a real shame there's no instant

Hey Steve, I have the 1.6 VCT too (on about 1400 miles now), the range estimate i get is in the region of 430 miles on a full tank. I'm averaging between 36.6 and 37.2 MPG on each tank I use. I was a little disappointed at first too, but it's not such a bad figure considering the weight. We're basically driving a 1.6 Volvo. Obvious things that will affect your MPG figure: Temperature. Probably the most important thing if you do low commuter miles. My car lives in a garage so it's never excessively cold. Still, when it is, the MPG figure goes down the bog. I have about a 6 mile commute to

> I noticed the trip computer is still illuminated showing the mileage information. >The trip computer eventually turns off but seems to take in excess of 30mins + >Does this happen with all the new Focus's? Yeah, it does. I queried this on here too last month. I have no idea why anyone would want this kind of functionality... but there you go.

I think the brake dust is a little excessive too - maybe the pads are a bit soft by default. I wash mine every week (discs on the front only) - and they're usually covered. I'm not a late braker by any means, and have only just broken the 1,000 mile barrier. Still - it looks gorgeous once it's washed, and it gets me out of the house. :)

To be fair, Page 14 does mention this in my manual - but I agree, it's mostly unreliable at best.

That sucks. The motor trade needs a real good kick up the * * * * - a guy I worked with had his (poxy) Saxo off the road for about 3 months, and when he got it back the rear quarter, door and wing were so far out of alignment it defied belief. The paint job was also as you described, swirly, matt in places, glossy in others. It was abysmal. And this work was carried out by the largest insurance approved chain in the country. As for the turd that did this in the first place... if it were up to me, that would be his driving career over. You can't drive a car and behave responsibly? Then you

Yeah, that's cool Steve... i use it when exiting roundabouts, 3 flashes I think. I'm a little scared to use it for proper changes of direction in case it cancels before someone notices it, but as a courtesy to others I think it's pretty nifty.

I also happen to think that the 3 wipes, plus a delayed wipe on the windscreen after washing it is a bit excessive. It's bone dry after the second swish. Maybe once the blades have worn a bit more... Still, I'm not bitching. I stuck another 20 miles on it tonight before paying homage to the Guinness gods, and it was a joyous experience. I love this car.