ClutchDisc's new ride

[ClutchFork]

Head down South and then out east to the Niagara Escarpment.

Yeah, but the environmentalists will hang me if I do it there. Maybe that quarry that I80/I90 runs though east of Chicago?

[ClutchDisc]

As I said I would, here are some more pictures!

[ClutchFork]

I should have told him to photo the underneath up front. Bottom of the engine and tranny are spotless. Not a speck of oil. This car is clean as a whistle.

[Rope-Pusher]

This car is clean as a weasel.

Fickset!

[potownrob]

Well, ClutchDisk picked up the Focus tonight. He didn't waste any time getting used to it. We drove from Ann Arbor back to Detroit area and I had a tough time keeping up with him, that on a rainy, dark night with heavy traffic. He has learned how nicely that little car can zip around compared to a boxy pickup.

Hey, so long as the Ranger is going bye bye, I may as well drive it like I stole it, eh?

Or maybe it is time to try that little trick every kid dreams of--laying a brick on the gas pedal and stand back! Nah, won't work with that stupid rev limiter. High tech spoils all our fun. How to unhook it....

I'd push the truck off a cliff but would get stuck with a cleanup fee and possible jail time. Besides, no cliffs in SE Michigan.

Head down South and then out east to the Niagara Escarpment.

that's only a 4 hour derive from detroit...hope ye ol' ranger makes it...or not...

[tankinbeans]

Glue it to the S10 and have a 4.5 liter I-8.

[ClutchFork]

Glue it to the S10 and have a 4.5 liter I-8.

Ranger's engine is good. Maybe pull it and mount in S10 Bed for a rear wheel drive setup. Then push the Ranger carcass off the cliff. Aww, there goes my You Tube fame. It's already been done:

[potownrob]

Glue it to the S10 and have a 4.5 liter I-8.

Ranger's engine is good. Maybe pull it and mount in S10 Bed for a rear wheel drive setup. Then push the Ranger carcass off the cliff. Aww, there goes my You Tube fame. It's already been done:

Don’t worry; you’ll never top Terrence

[ClutchFork]

I can take the Ranger up to Alaska. It's a sport up there:

[bk7794]

Nice car! I love the Focuses. You got a good motor, timing chain, DOHC plenty of power etc.

I've got an Auto one in the household. I hear the passenger motor mounts are common to go. Easy as pie to do though. Other than that, been pretty good!

[ClutchDisc]

Thanks everyone! I have now driven it over 1,500 miles since I got it. I have no complaints. This car should serve me well for many years!

[ClutchDisc]

Well folks, its a sad day in the world of manual transmissions. On Wednesday July 25th, the Focus died at 86,900 thousand miles....




Some nut came off the highway and tried to unsuccessfully cut in front of me and another driver, cutting across three lanes of traffic and a solid white line in order to make a last minute turn around.... After the accident, she said, very casually... "my GPS told me to turn there".

Here is a picture of the culprit. She was the one found at fault and the one to get the ticket.



Now the hunt is on for what manual vehicle I will replace the focus with...

[tankinbeans]

Mooooo!!!!!!!!

Sorry to hear it. That sucks balls. Hopefully you're okay and there's no harm done other than the annoyance of needing to buy a new rig.

87 million miles is pretty good though for a 13 year old car.

[ClutchFork]

ROTTEN DEAL! That lady needs to take the bus!

We are learning what cars he does not want. Tested a Ford Fiesta (2011) yesterday and it handled like a shopping cart. Maybe this one had issues but going on a curve on a freeway ramp we hit a bump and the back end skipped sideways in a spooky way.

[tankinbeans]

ROTTEN DEAL! That lady needs to take the bus!

We are learning what cars he does not want. Tested a Ford Fiesta (2011) yesterday and it handled like a shopping cart. Maybe this one had issues but going on a curve on a freeway ramp we hit a bump and the back end skipped sideways in a spooky way.

No, I had a similar experience in one when I was test-driving for my friend who hadn't quite gotten her license yet.

A 12 or 13ish Mazda3 might to the trick. Similar to the Focus in many ways. I think that's when they started to diverge from Ford so Mazda has more to do with suspension bits. A model with the SkyActiv suite of bits would be the preference if fuel mileage is of utmost importance. I can confirm that 38 and change is possible with a little thought.