Ford Focus 1.8 Zetec

Wow going from a 1.6 focus to a 1.8 what a difference the 1.8 comes to life where the 1.6 is just lazy love this car it never wants anything from you so i carnt fault it lovely to drive very smooth and on the motorway it overtakes other traffic with ease recommended to anyone wanting to buy a 1.8 focus just find a one that's been looked after good thing is parts are cheap and car is easy to repair...

My focus is an 02 with 95.000 on the clock & drives a treat.There is no rust as yet, the interior is still very nice, no knocks or rattles.It is an estate & has bags of room for my fishing gear or my two Labradors. It is quiet,no wind noise when doing motorway,Apart from tyres & 1 ball joint it has been very reliable. I have just replaced the rocker cover seal because you could smell like something burning when the engine is turned off. Ths is common with the zetec engine but is a dead easy fix.The car is well equipped & everything works. I have no intention of parting with for quiet a while.

I have a December 2000 registered 1.8 petrol Focus (MkI). I have had this car a while now. I usually spend about 2 grand on a car, buy a reasonable hatchback, give it 3 years and then change it. I bought this car 3 years ago for £1700 with FSH in mint condition with 100,000 miles on the clock and am not swapping it anytime soon! It is probably the best car I have ever owned. It's clear there were some well-known Focus grumbles earlier on in its history, but these were all attended to (you should check this before buying one).

I’ll start with the top:

Reliability: unbelievably good. I changed the cam/serpentine belt when I got the car. There was a leak from the wiper tray (about £30 from Ford dealer) about 2 years ago. Apart from that, the car has been virtually faultless. It gets not a lot in the way of servicing!

I had it off the road (didn’t need to use it for 6 months), started it every three weeks and apart from 3 lamps which didn’t survive the winter, it flew through the MoT.

Spec.: better than I'd usually have, with 1/2 leather, etc. All gizmos still work, pretty good on an 11 year old car. There is the first signs of rust where some of the galv panels is starting to fail, but this is superficial and not noticeable from the outside.

Ride/handling/performance: excellent. Engine is very flexible and it can be either docile or quite sporty. Very nice to drive and it drives like a 40k miles car, not a 120k miles car. Non-ABS brakes mean drums at the back, so not as powerful as some.

Economy: if there is a downside, this is it. It seems to average about 35mpg. So, on a full tank, driving conservatively, you’ll get no more than 420 miles. Usuual combined is about 380. But given the miles I do (about 7,000 a year), this is a terrific car. And I don’t even like cars!!

Ive owned a few Fords from Fiesta's to" a jelly mold" Sierra .

I got my 1.8 Zetec focus from new and its been the best car ive owned up to now , its responsive seriously good in the corners and very realible , the interior is good quality and the ride is good , reading reviews before i bought my focus told me it was quite a hard ride complimented by annoying road noise !!! , i didnt find this to be true ..Would i advise anyone to buy one , in my expierence yes i would there great looking cars aswell ...but bearing in mind it doesnt matter what car you buy from ford to Ferrari theres good and bad ...

125bhp is plenty for town and motorway driving , it will do 125mph if required 0-60 in about 9 sec,, its not a racecare its a quility all rounder, acceleration 2-3 gear pretty responsive, handling is unbelevably brilliant ,no mechanical probs ,loads of space in cab ,large boot,panther black in colour ,looks amazing ,all in all one of the best cars ive ever owned, ive had them all from a capri to merc,,,

Zetec 1.8 Petrol Sport Pack.

Very poor performance from 1.8 petrol engine and only around 25mpg (combined). Poorly contstructed interior using nasty hard grey plastics.

Motorway noise annoying, no real acceleration in any gear, not many clever places for storage. Unresponsive to drive, average handling (but certainly no Mini), vague steering.

I bought this car because it was cheap from new and had the 5 doors i needed for the family. I wish I'd bought something German second hand as this thing is dismal.

As a plus.....the seats can fold flat and there are little hooks in the boot which are useful for shopping but that really is it.

I have owned the Ford Focus mark II for two months now and this has been a worryfree time !!. This motor vehicle is just great, I love to drive it and look for any excuse to do it. Below are the pros and cons of the vehicle:

Good points...

1. ergonomics on the inside is excellent

2. interior quality of plastics is average but well put together, sport styled seat are very comfortable

3. ride is firm under the sports suspension and the steering is awesome.

4. very responsive engine

5. standard radio is good (6000CD)

6. lots of interior space

7. comes with lots of toys

8. 3 levels of steering assistance

bad points:

1. you have to open the bonnet with the key, there is no lever from inside which is a bit of a hassle.

2. the delay or lag due to the drive by wire throttle is appreciable, you have to be adapt to that

3. petrol thirsty, i am getting an average of 12mph at 28 mpg on the trip computer.

4. rubber in tailgate removing paintwork off the mainbody

5. some rattle coming from the rear (probably tailgate)

6. a bit wide

7. rear visibility is poor (as are all new cars nowadays)

8. road noise is appreciable

9. drum brakes at the rear (i would have preferred disks considering the power of the car)

though it seems that I have written more about the negative side of the car but the few +ve outweighs by far the -ve.

Bought my 1.8 petrol LX after reading reviews and I am mighty impressed. its extremely reliable (never had a single failure of any sort in 4 years), handles well, the engine is gutsy and also very smooth when you want it. Plenty of room and rear space with the seats down means you can move furniture. I regularly get in the region of 45 miles to the gallon on longer trips and it never ceases to amaze me. There is no rust and it has never let me down in 4 years, brilliant car.

Ford Focus 1.8 Zetec is a little bit hard and not precise turnig in back gear,

and I have a question: is it save for engine (1.8 zetec)to drive on tng?

Probably the best handling car I`ve ever owned. The Ford Focus 1.8 Zetec is great to drive once you get used to the Turbo lag.