Ford Focus - newbie focus driver, Please help !!!

[kizzy]

Hi, can anyone shed some light on the following :

I recently bought a 2002 Ford Focus 1.6 Zetec and am concerned about 2 issues : firstly, I find it quite slow to accelerate up the gears and it only seems to have some 'poke' when up in 5th gear, also im finding it hard to get used to the noise !, when doing 60mph+ i feel as if my eardrums are going to bust !!!, is this indicative of these cars ie are they generally loud ? thanks for your help

[larsen_huw]

Well i can help with the noise issue! :)

Come out for a drive with me in my car and the Focus will seem like a silent magic carpet! :p

I drive a reasonably heavily modified 1982 Ford Capri with a 4-speed gearbox, so motorway speeds can be a touch noisy.

A 1.6 is never going to be particularly torquey, so isn't likely to that fast. Where on the rev counter does the red zone start, and how close to that do you get on a regular basis?