Focus 2008 TDCi - Which engine to choose?

dbentham

Hi all. Very shortly, I'm hoping to buy a 08 new-shaped Ford Focus diesel from the UK.
But I'm still in a bit of a dilemma whether to get a 1.6 or 1.8 though ???

I'm limited with knowledge of engines/mechanics, but here's what I understand (I'm open to corrections of course )

The 1.6 (1560cc) is a 16-valve commonrail diesel giving 109bhp, emissions are 119 (Band-A)

The 1.8 (1753cc) is a 8-valve commonrail diesel giving 115bhp, emissions are 137 (Band-B)

Is there anything else I need to know and which option is best - ie is it worth the extra investment for the 1.8 or is the 1.6 a more refined engine?
I'd appreciate your opinions and feeback. Thanks in adv...

PCPhoto

1.8L will be slightly faster and have a worse effect on the environment,

Personally I'd say go for the 1.6L .... top speed if you need it should be around the 130mph area (Whatever that is in Kph) .....and will be cheaper in road tax.

EPM

driven both.the 1.6 is a sweeter engine.make sure you go for the 110ps engine.the 1.8 was a great engine at its launch but its fallen behind a bit now in terms of refinement.still a decent enough engine to go though

bazz26

The 1.6 is the excellent Peugeot/Citroen HDi unit and I have it in my 05 Focus. It is very refined for a diesel engine, quiet (even at idle), has plenty of zip in the Focus and very economical. The 1.8 litre engine is a Ford inhouse unit and while not as refined as the 1.6 it is also grand. The 1.6 is better on fuel and a little quieter so this would be my choice of the two.

To be honest OP if I was going to the UK for a 2008 Focus TDCi I would be choosing the 2.0 TDCi. It has an extra gear and more importantly more torque than either the 1.6 or 1.8 litre. Given that it is a 2008 car I think the 2.0 TDCi falls into the same VRT and motor tax bracket as the 1.6 litre.

Edit: Just spotted that the 2.0 TDCi is in the 20% VRT bracket as opposed to the 1.6 which is in the 16% bracket.

mumblin deaf ro

bazz26 wrote: »

The 1.6 is the excellent Peugeot/Citroen HDi unit and I have it in my 05 Focus. It is very refined for a diesel engine, quiet (even at idle), has plenty of zip in the Focus and very economical.

+1 - I drive a 2006 Focus with the 1.6 TCDi engine (the 90bhp one) and find it quiet and punchy. In terms of resale I'm not sure I'd go for the 2.0 litre as people looking for that size engine may be thinking more along the lines of a Mondeo.

There have been previous threads on this in which the 1.6l PSA seemed to come out as the winner.

bazz26

mumblin deaf ro wrote: »

+1 - I drive a 2006 Focus with the 1.6 TCDi engine (the 90bhp one) and find it quiet and punchy. In terms of resale I'm not sure I'd go for the 2.0 litre as people looking for that size engine may be thinking more along the lines of a Mondeo.

Thing is though on a 08 plate the road tax on the 2.0 litre diesel Focus is Co2 based making it cheaper to tax than my current 2005 1.6 diesel Focus. It also has a lower Co2 rating than a 08 1.6 litre petrol Mondeo. So it doesn't matter unless you actually need the extra room of a Mondeo.

Shamo

I'd be looking at a 2.0 TDCI focus for the extra power (drive a 99 1.6 petrol focus at the moment) but I don't want it to sound like a tractor. Is it close to being as refinded as the 1.6 TDCI or how does it compare?

Drummerboy08

The only reason the 2.0 might not be as desirable as the 1.6 is insurance. Not sure if this applies to the op, but i know with me my insurance would rocket if i went for the 2.0 diesel over the 1.6. Its a big difference to a lot of people. The 1.6 is a good little engine, but like someone said here, make sure its the 110ps version.

bazz26

The 2.0 TDCi is also a Peugeot/Citroen HDi engine and it pretty refined, plenty of torque for the Focus and alot quieter than the VAG PD units.

dbentham

Thanks to everyone for the input so far. Seems like the 1.6 is not to be sneezed at, though insurance isn't an issue as for me as I'm in my 30s and claims free.

Looking at ROS's calculator, I would save around Eur500 by importing a 1.6 (2475) as opposed to a 1.8 (3000).
And then there's a tax saving of Eur50 a year or so.

In terms of fuel economy, I presume either engine would be leaner on juice than my current car (a 1.8l Mondeo)

E92

Shamo wrote: »

I'd be looking at a 2.0 TDCI focus for the extra power (drive a 99 1.6 petrol focus at the moment) but I don't want it to sound like a tractor. Is it close to being as refinded as the 1.6 TDCI or how does it compare?

I would go for that engine if I were you.

The 2.0 comes from the same engine family as the 1.6, so it should be the exact same as that engine in terms of NVH just a fair bit faster.

One of the regular posters, Stevie Dakota has a 2.0 TDCi Focus and he seems to be very happy with it.

The 1.6 108 bhp is much better than the 1.8. It's more flexible, it is more willing to rev and the power delivery is more linear too.

It also has the advantage of averaging 62.7 mpg rather than 53.3 mpg and being in VRT band A rather than VRT band B.

I'd go for the 1.8 TDCi over the 1.6 89 bhp though, 89 bhp is not enough in a car the size of the Focus.

But the 2.0 strikes me as being the best option.

It's actually cheaper to tax than a 1.4 petrol Focus, even on the cc rather than the CO2 system.