Hi, bought my 96 2.0 Omega CD, needed a big cheap run around. Please can someone tell me, on the indicator stalk there are 3 small buttons marked l, R and O... what do they do..? Seem unable to locate an owners manual so if anyone can point me in the right direction, most appreciated.

Huge thanks, DB Read more

In the financial section of todays Telegraph,the billionaire Roman Abramovich's motor yacht Pelorus (one of three)was filled with the wrong fuel in August this year,the cost of putting it right is given as One Million pounds,nice to know it happens to anyone.

ndbw Read more

Had new header tank fitted to cure supposed "COOLANT LEVEL ALARM INDICATOR" 3 months ago. Now alarm coming on even when header tank has required level of liquid in it. Tank also empties when used. Temp indicator up and down dependant on speed. Checked oil, no sign of water, also no visible signs of other leaks. Minimal hot air available inside car when turned on. Suggestions ideas welcomed.
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Well as part of the search for a new wagon, I happen to have a Hertz rental, that includes one of the cars I might have considered. Then a twist.

So it gets a road test. Focus Zetec 1.6 Hatch

Initial thoughts are, Interior oh so boring. Quality of plastics, mouldings and fit is good, but poor choice of textures and colours makes it feel very cheap. A large glovebox but an appling lack of cubby holes and odment spaces. The door pockets are next to useless.

Seats initially comfortable, then rapidly find that the seat squab is too short, seat too narrow,
and an ache sets in after an hour.

At first Driving wise, you cant deny its Focus. Lovely gearbox, well damped firmish ride
nice perfectly weighted steering, no doubt it handles well ( cant find out at the mo )

But then it all goes pear shaped. Nicolle and Jaques hate it. Fifi the faithfull RF hound bangs her nose on the seat backs every time she jumps in, (the boot is deep with a pronounced lip)
and something funny happens with the ride three up & dog ala boot. It starts to pitch front to rear almost as tho the front and rear wheels are on out of synch ripples. Speed bumps result in a
distinct jump up/jump down syndrome.

But worse of all, at 70 - 80 mph the engine is doing 3,200 - 3,500 revs, & drones annoyingly.
This 1.6 needs a 6th gear. It wouldnt be a problem it has enough low down urge. 2,600 - 3000 at
70- 80mph would be perfect.

Now the twist

After the accident I am temporary slightly disabled. I can't bend at waist, twist torso more than 45 degrees left/right, extend right arm fully out. I need to keep my torso (waist to neck) rigid, and right arm /shoulder movement to a minimum.


So here is the focus from that less mobile point of veiw

It has good seat height, so no falling down into it. One needs to open door fully, and sit down into seat at 90 degrees with both your legs still outside the car. Then slip one then two legs into driving seat. Before you do that you need to pull the door in one click on the stay as it will be too far away to shut once in. Once in, all falls to hand and driving is easy. The hatch lid goes up far enough to stop you banging your head, but not too high you cant pull it donw with your left arm without stretching. The boot depth is a real no no though, once in that deep well stuff has to stay there!


So In summary, No Focus Mk2 for RF.

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Seems to me from various threads (London to Newcastle how long etc) that driving on Friday afternoons and evenings is becoming pretty well impossible. Unfortunately, last Friday, I was one who attempted the impossible. A trip from Leics to Dover, almost exactly 200 miles, almost entirely by motorway (M1, M25,M20 and a bit of A46 dual carriageway to start with and A20 dual carriageway to finish. Due to work commitments we couldn't set of unti 1.30 pm and we had allowed 5 hours for the trip. How long did it take? 7 hours, 7 hours to do 200 miles on the motorway, averaging less than 30 mph, admittedly allowing about 10 mins for a stretch of legs at South Mimms. The M25 was murder, something like 2 hours to do 30 odd miles (accident on opposite carriageway but nothing to cause a hold up on ours). Yet I gather that we were lucky; according to Radio 2 traffic news the M6 was virtually stationary from Birmingham to Manchester, M42/A42 the same, as were long stretches of the M5, M1 (Leicester to Sheffield), M60, M66 etc and our queue apparently started at the M3 junction with the M25 and continued to the Dartford crossing. What's the solution? OK tell me to use public transport, but I was going to Dover to catch a ferry to spend a couple of nights near Boulogne, have a nice meal and bring back a rather large number of bottles of the red stuff (Berlingos are designed to carry boxes of wine!!)And of course, large numbers of people finish work on Friday aft. and want to get to places away from where they work. Why shouldn't they be able to use the most convenient form of transport - the car? Why do we expand access to all sorts of other things (TV channels, internet access speed, air transport, shopping hours, pub opening hours etc) yet restrict peoples' access to efficient use of their beloved cars?
Sorry for long post - we were really fed up on Friday night, got to France too late for a meal and had to drive down the motorway to the first services to get a coffee and a sandwich!
Phil Read more