12r

You have to remember that Ford are quoting 115 PS for the Ti-VCT. One PS (or pferdestärke) is 0.98632 bhp so the most optimistic output is 113.4 bhp. This is at 6000 rpm though and off-idle the Ti-VCT probably makes no more than 30 bhp. If the air-con is taking 10 bhp out of this, it's not surprising the car feels lethargic. But hey what a great air-con :D Fan on #2, recirc on and it's blasting cold air within a minute !

Yup German Colorado Red and the colour match is perfect. Unfortunately the finish itself is spoiled by large areas of orange-peel on the roof and tailgate :roll:

:shock: It'll polish out :) FWIW a Tesco van reversed into my Focus a few weeks ago, putting a nice big dent in the bonnet and a crease through the grille and bumper. I have to say the repair work is just awesome. A new bonnet that is a perfect colour match but best of all the paint finish is like glass ! All I need now is a dent in the roof and another on the rear three-quarter to get rid of the factory orange-peel :wink: No pain, no gain 8)

Saw a nice orange ST at lunchtime parked right alongside a fully-specced '06 3 series and you know what, the ST looked pretty damn good 8) Fit and finish were comparable and given the choice I would've taken the ST any day. That Electric Orange looks great in the sunshine.

Let's just say the Focus is not without it's niggles :). Having said that you'd be unlucky to get one with all of those problems and in general the quality seems to be improving. This forum often paints a bleak picture but you have to remember that many people come here with problems and don't post otherwise. You might find the Focus a bit of a shocker coming from a Clio; Mrs.12R has a Clio which is absolutely indestructible and never, ever goes wrong.

Where shall we start ? :roll: * make sure it's the same colour all over * listen out for creaks from the tie-rods * watch out for the waterfall when you open the tailgate * don't worry about the instrument lights staying on * make sure the weather strip around the windscreen is in place * the fuel consumption will be awful until it's done about 5,000 miles Otherwise it's a great car 8) Let us know how you get on with your 1.8 petrol.

OK the mk2 Focus is getting popular now and I've seen all of the colours - silver, blue, red, black, orange and even a couple of white ones. But I've not seen a Focus in green. Anybody seen one ? Or bought one ?

I'd go for: * black headlight surrounds from the Zetec * front fog lights * colour-coded door handles and bodyside mouldings * steering wheel accents from a Sport or Ghia * Ghia or Titanium gear knob

'Kin hell :shock: :shock: £180 ? Take the car in ? They are definitely havin' a larf :roll: The Colorado Red mirror covers on my Z-Climate have already been clipped a few times. Last time I asked they were £35 each.

My 3-door has a 'ripple' in the passenger window :shock: . Only visible from the back seat, as pointed out by my nipper :lol: .

A great game for those boring motorway journeys - see if you can get the instantaneous fuel consumption up to 99.9 mpg :lol: Tip: neutral throttle at 55 mph - watch those mpg's go!!!!!!!

Jeez, not painting the bottom of the doors :shock: is pushing it even by Ford's standards. FWIW my ZC is painted all over (albeit with a slight orange-peel effect). The inside of the bonnet looks like it's been done with a rattle can :wink:

My Z Climate is the first car I've owned without a sunroof. Although the air con is good, I miss being able to open the roof :(

An ST2 or a diesel estate :shock: ? You're right - there's no choice :)

Hardcore - an underbonnet question :lol: I never heard of incompatible antifreeze - hell, a few years ago you could've topped it up with Austrian white wine or more recently grated carrots :shock: As long as you maintain the 50/50 mix it'll be fine. Check it when the engine is cold, keep it off your skin (it's poisonous) and off the paintwork.

You mean you've had a (gasp) bad experience with these shining examples of customer relations ? :lol: :lol: :lol:

Dead right sm, a sad indictment of modern society. Too many sales robots selling products they have no idea about and only interested in taking the money.

Where shall we start ? :lol: * make sure it's the same colour all over * listen out for creaks from the tie-rods * watch out for the waterfall when you open the tailgate * don't worry about the instrument lights staying on * make sure the weather strip around the windscreen is in place * the fuel consumption will be awful until it's done about 5,000 miles Otherwise it's a great car :wink:

Warranties are a very grey area and I know from previous experience that any aftermarket accessories not fitted by the dealers will be used as the first line of defence if you take your motor back to them with a problem. It used to be the same with servicing during the warranty period but now many owners are wise to this. Trouble is, although many dealers are fully aware of their legal obligations not many of us (as consumers) are as clued-up and it really pays to do you homework before getting into a debate. The local Trading Standards office have all the info and offer sound advice when it

Dropping the bonnet to close it has to be one of the things I dislike about my Focus. Letting it go from the required height - what is it 20 cm ? - shakes the whole car and sounds like a gunshot :lol:

What about B&Q - they sell loads of small-diameter tubing and semi-flexible sealing strips for guttering etc ? Like SM says, opening the tailgate quickly in the rain guarantees a waterfall in the boot but even the slightest movement of the tailgate is enough to dislodge the water. It seems as though this initial draining is crucial :lol: and I've got into the habit of restraining the tailgate for just a moment (instead of letting it fly open on the struts) and then releasing it.

Villain, you have every right to be ticked off. My Focus collected its first parking ding when it was just 3 days old - some ar*e parked alongside and opened their door into my car while I was sitting in it. I nearly f**king killed them. :evil: :evil: :evil: A local dealer used dentmaster/dentman/dentdevils/whatever to remove a ding they'd put in my previous car during a service and the result was almost undetectable. IIRC it was ~£75.

From what you have said Malaysia is a very different territory to the UK. The reasons you have mentioned for not getting a Focus are almost exactly the same as those for not getting a Civic in the UK. I shortlisted the previous-model Civic before getting a Focus and objectively there wasn't much difference but the Honda dealers had a take-it-or-leave-it attitude quite at odds with the Ford people. I'm very happy with my Focus and I'd probably be just as happy with a similar-spec Civic. At the end of the day, neither Ford nor Honda are going to produce a dog in such a competitive segment o

That makes sense Pete - 230 kPa is ~33 psi :). But this is for 205/50s - your Falkens may need higher pressures. RT215 and FK451 are both listed at 50 psi.

Maybe your manual has the pressures in pieze ? 1 pieze = 1 kPa, but pieze is normally abbreviated to pz to avoid confusion with the mathematical constant pi :wink: What values of 'kPi' does your manual recommend for the tyres ? 340 kPa is about 50 psi.