Focus. Diesel. Now.

[teammate]

Hi, let me join the discussion. I just bought a 2010 Ford Focus TDCI two weeks ago and so far I'm very happy with it. The powershift transmission is great, but I think mine has some problems. A split second before I hit a full stop, lumalagutok yung transmission. Feels like 2 beats of ABS kicking in. It also happens when I'm accelerating from a full stop. Hinala ko it's when the clutch engages or disengages or whatever. It's very subtle but I'm very particular about sounds and vibrations so I'm going to have it checked tomorrow (my 1,000KM maintenance checkup).

Do the other Focus TDCI owners feel this ticking thing too?

I kind of took a leap of faith choosing to buy a car that's made in the Philippines (I'm a development economist, so I was thinking why don't I help the local manufacturing sector?). Sana lang maganda ang QC, and that my car fares better than all the horror stories I've read here in tsikot.

[teammate]

ALSO, let me share my real-world FC data. I joined tsikot primarily to look up real-world car FCs. I was looking for a good compromise between great FC and not bad styling. Almost ended up with a Hyundai Accent simply because of the great FC, or a Corolla Altis because I just really like the styling in front. Was actually gunning for the new Tucson, but the diesel wasn't set to be released until mid-year 2010. Ended up with the Focus and I'm the happiest kid in the block.

*The Focus is claimed to do 6.5L/100KM (15.4KM/L) combined City/Highway I think.

Anyway, my real-world FC:
I can drive around Metro Manila: [Loyola Hts.-C5-The Fort-Aurora-Loyala Hts] late at night (very light traffic) and get around 5.5-6L/100KM (16-18KM/L) which I think is really great for a car that isn't really tight-budget level. I was driving at around 60-80KPH, using the sequential gear shift feature shifting up early at around 1800-2000RPM (1800RPM is the earliest it will let me). Check out my other thread regarding that, I have a question you might be able to help answer: http://tsikot.yehey.com/forums/showt...05#post1453605

Normal QC-Makati on rush hour churns out around 8-10L/100KM (10-12.5KM/L) which is still very respectable.

Harurot driving (happens when I see Subaru Imprezas or get passed by siento-vente noisy cars) FC is at around 10-11 L/100KM (9-10KM/L).

Driving from QC-Bolinao, Pangasinan (Holy Week break-in roadtrip) put me at around 8-9L/100KM (11.1-12.5KM/L primarily because I was driving at 140-180kph (yes, I know that's illegal and dangerous but it's my first time driving a car that can go that fast), and I was fantasizing I was Marcus Gronholm when I was driving the winding National Highway in Pangasinan (did you guys know that ang ganda na pala ng quality ng asphalt roads sa probinsiya? I never knew until recently, I'm an urbanite). It was a really great drive too, mind you. I believe though that if you drive properly and stay within the speed limits you can do that at around 5.5-6.5L/100KM (15.4-18.2KM/L). I drove almost exactly 900KM in that trip (may side trips to Subic, San Fernando, and Angeles for Aling Lucing's sisig) and spent around PHP2,400 for Shell diesel (average at PHP34/L), may natira pa (Mura na ba yun? I really don't know, I'm new to roadtripping).

*I use the L/100KM measure because the Focus trip computer gives data in that format.

[niky]

The on-board display won't be completely accurate... it'll sometimes be 2 km/l off... sometimes more. Best way to check is to fill up completely, reset the trip meter, drive around, then fill up again at the same pump (auto-cut-off, each time).

Hi, let me join the discussion. I just bought a 2010 Ford Focus TDCI two weeks ago and so far I'm very happy with it. The powershift transmission is great, but I think mine has some problems. A split second before I hit a full stop, lumalagutok yung transmission. Feels like 2 beats of ABS kicking in. It also happens when I'm accelerating from a full stop. Hinala ko it's when the clutch engages or disengages or whatever. It's very subtle but I'm very particular about sounds and vibrations so I'm going to have it checked tomorrow (my 1,000KM maintenance checkup).

Do the other Focus TDCI owners feel this ticking thing too?

I kind of took a leap of faith choosing to buy a car that's made in the Philippines (I'm a development economist, so I was thinking why don't I help the local manufacturing sector?). Sana lang maganda ang QC, and that my car fares better than all the horror stories I've read here in tsikot.

That's the clutch kicking in and kicking out. Unlike a traditional automatic, the transmission fully disengages when you come to a complete stop.

Quality Control is everything. The Philippines is host to a number of factories building everything from semiconductors to circuit boards to cars (The engines of most Fords (except the Focus TDCi... that's imported from Europe) are milled from the ground up at the Santa Rosa plant). Some cars made in the Philippines have poor QC... some are even better than those from Korea and other parts of Souteast Asia. It's no different from buying cars from anywhere else... the actual brand and plant quality control system count more than the country of origin.

[teammate]

About the FC meter being off sometimes... Well I was actually afraid of that. I've been monitoring it very closely and even if it says that I'm consuming significantly less fuel than the other cars I used to drive, parang ambilis bumaba nung fuel ko sa gauge. I hope I'm just being paranoid, I really want this Focus to be budget friendly (I'm a fresh graduate earning minimum wage).

Anyway about the knocking sound in the transmission, I brought it to Ford Libis for my first 1000km checkup and so far so good. I requested for roadtest with the mechanic so he could hear the sound, but I wasn't able to duplicate it. He says that they'll just take note of it, so if in the future it gets worse they'll know it's been there for a while na. Generally happy with the helpful and friendly service the offered.