Today The Estate managed its third amazing feat (other than starting first time after a 3 year lay up, and us finding out it's got less rust underneath than the majority of Focus' on the road).....I decided that I would stick it on the rolling road at work:
Still hasn't had a cambelt, still has a knackered clutch, still has 7 year old diesel in, still on engine oil that was put in back in 2005 (IIRC) and still has a radiator that can't hold water.
First run blew the pipes/cobwebs out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NIBi2Bo ... e=youtu.be
Second run:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOJ94f7CWbI
I did one more and ended up with three runs (maths, innit). Result?
Doesn't look impressive at all....until you read that it's supposed to have 69bhp (or 71bhp, depending on what you read) from the factory! Now I'm a dyno operator, so yeah I know a flywheel figure on a rolling road dyno isn't a gospel figure. I understand how the device works and most aspects of the system.
But it's close enough to smile and pat the old girl on the bonnet once more
The graph also shows what I love about driving it. It's slow and there's little grunt. But all the torque is does produce, it gives you instantly, as soon as you ask for it (unlike a turbo diesel) and it holds that torque pretty much until it runs out of revs (unlike most turbo diesels).
Here's a comparison to a TD from the rolling road day I held a few weeks back. It was a healthy TZD Turbo (I picked it cos it was also an estate....hello Jaba!)
(I put the 16v on there too for comparison between the two cars)
See how the n/a diesel comes in much quicker with the torque? And that's a torque at the wheels figure (because torque of the flywheel isn't particularly relevant)....it's not far off that of a TD. I've always thought the 1.9 n/a diesel doesn't have the void between itself and the TD that some make out. This graph shows it.....many will say the n/a is a slow car, but consider the TD a quick one. Well, it's not....a 16v is a quick one. There's a massive jump up to one of those from a TD, but the gap between n/a and TD isn't all that big. I think the main reason the TD feels much quicker to drive is because that lump of torque advantage over an n/a comes in in a big lump when the turbo spools. The n/a distributes it evenly, nearly all the way.
None of it matters of course, as long as the car is enjoyed by the owner the numbers mean little. But this little test proved it's running happily (which I kind of got the impression of from driving it).
Rather embarrassing for my Dad it made MORE power than his GT
But I'll sort that one out.
Next stop....MOT. Time to get it back on the road!
! wishbones are a piece of piss mate! If you were next door or something I'd replace it in under an hour.
