2007 Ford Focus wagon, 5-speed

[spacemanspif]

Originally Posted by Miller88

There needs to be a 6th gear.

Amen to that, brother! I'm at 2500@60mph so the swap would only net a 200rpm difference and I'm not sure how much it would help your hill climbs. Doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to what gears Ford put in what cars either. On my old Saturn you knew exactly what years and what models got what gears but it seems like Ford was playing with ring and pinions through the entire Focus run. I just want to yell back in time and say "pick a gear and stick to it man!".

[Miller88]

There were 2 different versions of the MTX-75 for the 08-11 Focus. If it had 17'' wheels it got 3.84 final drive ratio ... but all of the 5 gears individually were higher (lower number) ... and it evened out. Makes no sense.

My biggest complaint isn't the RPM on the highway, but lack of a granny gear. I guess I'm just used to trucks and jeeps where you can start out, on a hill, with a load, in 1st gear without touching the gas pedal.

[Miller88]

There were 2 different versions of the MTX-75 for the 08-11 Focus. If it had 17'' wheels it got 3.84 final drive ratio ... but all of the 5 gears individually were higher (lower number) ... and it evened out. Makes no sense.

My biggest complaint isn't the RPM on the highway, but lack of a granny gear. I guess I'm just used to trucks and jeeps where you can start out, on a hill, with a load, in 1st gear without touching the gas pedal.

[pete c]

Looked at an 04 5 speed wagon yesterday. It has some rust issues. There is a rear suspension mount crossmember that is pretty badly rotted. Someone tacked a piece of steel on it just to hold things together for awhile. The seller says that he has looked into getting a replacement piece installed and it would be in the 6-700 dollar range. The rockers are rusted as well, but, that doesn't bother me so much. It has 140K, 5 speed, 2.3. It has the engine with the timing chain. The rest of it and interior are very nice.

Does anyone here know much the suspension crossmember rot issue and how replaceable it is?

If I could pick this up cheap enough, it would be worth putting 700 bucks into the repair. Might also be yet anothe rjustification to go buy a welder!

[Miller88]

It's super common on them in the rust belt areas. How DIY are you? If you can do it yourself, it will save quite a bit of money.

If I came across a 2.3, 5 speed wagon, I'd have to buy it - super rare!

[spacemanspif]

Depending on the price, it would be worth it. What is the seller looking to get for it? you could drop the rear subframe and replace it with a rust-free unit from the Southwest, maybe. I think someone on the internet sells new rockers to replace the rusted ones, very common problem on these cars...

[spacemanspif]

Well my grill block seems to be working perfectly. On today's snowy ride in, it filled with snow lol. Any thoughts on the amount of snow that didn't blow off the hood by the base of the windshield?

[Miller88]

What did you use to block the inside? Mine has a similar honeycomb setup for the upper grille - I stuffed a bunch of pipe insulation behind it.

Have you tried blocking the lower one? The radiator is below the upper grille.

[spacemanspif]

Post 8 shows a pic of the block, I removed the grill and used caulk to stick coroplast to the inside of it for a "stealth" block. A small election sign with the grill diagonal was all that was needed in materials. Make sure to paint the material before attaching the 2 pieces. My sign was blue and yellow and from different angles you can still see it because I painted everything afterward lol.

I have not yet begun to block the lower but I am pretty sure that I can block the 2 outer sections and still get plenty of cooling using just the middle for air. When I do, I will do it from the back with black painted coroplast zip-tied to the grill. Other concerns are the fog lights, they are just open in the rear and probably causing problems for me. Thinking about using a clear film to cover the whole area and if I get enough, maybe do the lower grill that way too.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

The wagon is the nicest-looking bodystyle for the Focus, too bad it was never available in my country. Gotta tell you that I like wagons more than sedans, and their rear hatch is way more practical to arrange the load or luggage than the tight trunk lid of a sedan. Regarding aerodynamics, eventually a sedan might fare a little better, but not by far.

As far as gearing goes, it really bothers me that close-ratio is so prevalent in manual transmissions while it implies more compromises to performance and fuel-efficiency than a wide-ratio