Zetec 1.6 5dr People Carrier

A keeper, with a few caveats

My trusty Mk1 Focus Estate finally passed on in December, and being a) penniless and b) in desperate need of a car for Christmas I bought a C-Max 1.6 petrol (the r****** old 1.6) with minor but noticeable panel damage from wheel to wheel for less than half the cost of a clean example. My love for the extra height (both seating position and 'airiness') outweighs the loss of pure loadability for moving kids to/from uni. Having had an original Megane Scenic, which was blown all over the motorway, I was a little nervous about road-holding in a similarly tall car, but the handling/steering is rock-solid. Basically everything is a 'positive' with the following exceptions...

a) Could do with a sixth, and seventh, gear! Once you hit 55-60mph the engine sounds/feels as though it's working hard, even though it's only at ~2500 rpm. 70mph is just over 3000 rpm, and it feels as though the engine is really straining - difficult to describe, but it's more a 'feedback' from the pedals than actual noise levels.

b) Probably related to above: it simply does not have a 'cruising speed'. If I'm on an empty motorway at 70mph and don't look down at the speedo for 30 seconds, I will find myself doing any speed between 60-80mph. The accelerator pedal is too responsive to almost imperceptible changes of pressure.

Both the above might be because I haven't adjusted after eight years of driving a lazy old diesel, but my two cars prior to the Focus were a Megane Scenic 1.6 and a Citroen ZX 1.4: both less powerful than the C-Max (although power/weight probably very similar across all three). Both of those cars felt much more relaxed at motorway speeds, and were better at maintaining a speed.

c) Clutch pedal sits *far* too high, especially as the car doesn't have a heel rest to one side. Have tried a friend's C Max and it's the same. Bite point also high, but I suspect that's just my clutch is showing its age.

d) A couple of times during the snow/ice the ABS kicked in, and I really wish it hadn't! Seems very 'aggressive', and I'd sooner have driven myself out of (non-existent) trouble. ABS was well-established by 2005, but in the absence of a warning light I assume it's functioning normally and that the 2005 C-Max's implementation of ABS is simply 'poor'.

e) Nasty tendency for wheel spin when turning from stationary with any degree of urgency when the road is anything other than bone dry. Again, could be indicative of an issue with my particular vehicle.

f) It absolutely *drinks* unleaded at 70mph and above. On a two hour 'legal' motorway run I'm lucky to see 35mpg; if I'm being a bit naughty and approach 80mph for any length of time you can literally watch the average mpg fall. Overall average mpg over the course of 3000 miles, of which at least half is pottering around London, is 30.5mpg. Remember this is the nasty 1.6 Duratec rather than the flashy Duratec Ti-VCT, which is much easier on the wallet.

g) Last and least, the 6000 CD radio (with 'phone' button) has the worst reception I've ever encountered in a car. Have applied copper paste, tried another aerial, but no dice.

But other than that...I like it, and have every intention of driving it until it dies!

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