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We could do it in one of these?
We could do it in one of these?
Or one of these?
Or one of these?
But those were designed for the desert. Our choice isn't!
But those were designed for the desert. Our choice isn't!
The struggle, effort and adventure of driving the Paris Dakar rally captured our imaginations as kids.... The heat, the dust and the thrill of unleashing the (then 'new') technologies' of turbocharging and four wheel drive, were things that we could only dream of....
Some 40 years later we finally have the chance to fulfil a dream - or at least part of it. So the first thing to choose was a suitable car. Perhaps a Mercedes G Wagon?... or better still a Porsche 959!
Reality is a little bit different... and we've had to make a few compromises. So our choice of car is the Ford Focus (that is the actual one in the picture below). But not just any Ford Focus, a 15 year old MKII model with a 1.6 diesel engine. .. it really was important to keep costs down (but at least we got a turbo!).
We are modifying this humble family hatchback in an attempt to meet the challenges of driving on rocky Moroccan roads and in the Sahara's soft sands. The suspension will raised and coupled with tyres with deeper sidewalls will give extra ground clearance; while sump and radiator guards will be installed to minimise damage when we do hit things . In an attempt to reduce fuel costs and weight we've opted not to fit a roof rack and instead will instead modify to the interior, so that it is suitable for safely carrying our kit. In addition to equipment for the car we will be taking everything we need to camp in the dessert (e.g. stuff for cooking, sleeping, food, water etc.)
The choices and modifications
Fuel & engine size
We have chosen a Ford Focus Sport with a 1.6 diesel engine.
The choice of diesel was three fold. Diesel is less flammable than petrol and as we will be carrying emergency fuel inside the vehicle our preference was to carry diesel. In addition, if we need to obtain fuel in remote areas of the Sahara desert it is more likely we will come across diesel than petrol. Lastly look at the picture, that mpg will save us some cash!
For the engine we needed to consider the terrain we will be driving over. Initially we thought about having a 1.8 or 2 litre for additional power. After discussing this with the expedition leader Mac, he suggested the 1.6 would be better; as it was used in a number of Citroen and Peugeot cars, so Moroccan mechanics would be familiar on working on them.
Tyres
The journey to and from Morocco involves diverse and challenging terrain. In addition to thousands of miles of French and Spanish ‘N’ roads there will be pot-holed dirt tracks, the rock strewn roads of the high Atlas Mountains and the soft sands of the Sahara. What tyre could cope with all of this ? Or do we need a combination of road and off-road tyres ? Anyone who watches Formula 1 will know that tyre choice hugely impacts driving dynamics in changing conditions … although we’ll be going much slower, as with F1 our tyre choice will impact our ability to cope with the terrain.
The most obvious choice to address the challenges of driving in Morocco is to fit off-road tyres. The problem with this approach is that the extensive sections of road driving will quickly wear down the block tread, making them far less effective for off-road use. Another option was to have two sets of tyres, one for road use and one for off-road; but the problems with this approach are additional cost and weight. An extra set of wheels would add 80 kg of weight, significantly hampering progress on soft sand.
To go with just one set of tyres required some radical thinking and a few compromises…. all season van tyres ! We are hoping the casing is strong enough to cope with rocks and potholes, with a tread pattern that still provides good off-road traction while also be durable enough to survive protracted use on tarmac.
Our first choice was Michelin Agilis Cross Climate (click here) as they provide a great balance between wear resistance and wet weather grip. But it proved impossible to source a used set of 4 within our £200 budget. So we opted for Bridgstone Duravis (click here). This features a similar tread pattern to the Michelins and JTR tyres (based in Carlisle) were able to deliver a set to us well within budget.
We’re hoping they'll prove to be the ultimate all-purpose tyre for the trip, and will be uploading videos to the 'Updates" section of website documenting how we get on.
Wheels
Due to the harsh terrain we will be travelling over there is a chance we could damage the wheels. Alloy wheels are now the standard for modern cars, as they are light, strong and come in a never-ending range of styles. Steel wheels, once the standard on all but luxury cars are now limited to use as the ‘space saver’ (if your car even has one). The tough terrain we’ll traverse includes large rocks and potholes, which is enough to buckle any wheel. Although alloy wheels can be straightened this then leaves them prone to cracking – at best this could leave you stranded if they fail. So we’ve opted for steel wheels. Yes - they can still be buckled by big rocks, but unlike alloy they can be straightened. Furthermore, they can easily be welded in remote areas, which resourceful Moroccan’s can do using two car batteries!
We managed to obtain some used Ford Transit Connect wheels from a West London plumber who had upgraded his van to alloys. These wheels are a perfect fit on the Mk2 Ford Focus, although this particular set of wheels looked a bit rough.
Henry Ford is quoted for saying "80% of the beauty of the car is in its wheels"; so not wanting to let the car down we set about sprucing them up. Initial efforts to clean off years of grime with a wire brush proved futile, so the wheels were shot blasted and primed by Bulldog Blasters (on Facebook)
After light sanding, more priming, sanding, painting, more sanding and painting, masking and final painting; the wheels looked like this .
I was always a fan of BBS wheels ever since I made my first model of a Porsche 935 in the 1980s… the polished silver rim and gold hub simply looked right.
So this colour combination was my inspiration; but to finish off I added some rare BBS graphics sourced from ‘I Say Ding Dong’ (click link). Not the most obvious name for a company specialising in retro vehicle stickers, but the choice they provide is exemplary.
This is the final result. Overall we're pretty happy with it, especially as was my (RT's) first attempt at painting wheels in 40 years. It will be interesting to see how they stand up to the rigours of our trip...
Suspension
Ford optimised the suspension on our Focus Focus Sport for the daily commute, rather than Africa’s testing terrain. Potholes and boulders are just some of the challenges; so attempting to traverse the Sahara without modifying the suspension seems unwise. A key issue for our Ford Focus is lack of ground clearance. We were lucky enough to address this problem with the support of the Ukrainian company 'Lift Kit Car' (Lift Kit Car).
They manufacture an innovative suspension lift kit for the Mk2 Ford Focus, providing an extra 30 mm of ground clearance. This involves fitting spacers to the tops of the struts, the mounting points of the front wishbones and the rear trailing arms. It also re-uses the factory springs and dampers helping keep costs down.
What’s also clever about this approach is it maintains the original suspension geometry, so the wheels are aligned with the road in exactly the same way as a standard car. This prevents excessive wear to the tyre’s outer edge, while delivering much needed ground clearance.
The spacers are machined from AK-12 aluminium billet and then coated for corrosion protection. The quality is excellent, and the 5-year warranty reflects the confidence Lift Kit Car has in their products.
In addition to Ford, Lift Kit Car make suspension lift kits to fit all the major brands including Audi, BMW, Citroen, Fiat, Honda, Subaru, Tesla etc. Depending on the model they also offer different lift options to raise the ground clearance by 20, 30 and 40 mm. They sell via their eBay page and direct from their own website (Lift Kit Car).
Engine and maintenance
Our Ford Focus has a 1.6 turbo diesel engine delivering 110 bhp, which regularly returns over 75 mpg on long runs. Properly maintained these engines can be very reliable, however the timing belt is one of the key service items. According to Ford, this should be replaced at 144,000 miles or 10 years, whichever comes first. Our car has no evidence of this work being done, despite being more than 15 years old ! Failure of the cam-belt results in catastrophic engine damage so the belt will be changed (along with the associated water pump and tensioners) as part of our ‘precautionary work’.
Before we bought it the Focus was used as a ‘second car’, so had only covered 7,000 miles since its last service; which sounded great until we realised this was 3 years ago! So we opted for an oil change and oil filter, along with new air and fuel filters. From what we’ve read, regular fuel filter changes are important to reduce the risk of injector blockages, which can ultimately result in turbo failure. This proved to be a wise choice….
When the air filter was removed we found it half covered in oil . Even though the engine seemed to be running cleanly, oil had been sucked into the turbo (B). We believe the problem is a failed oil pressure relief valve (A), which we are in the process of replacing…
Sump Guard
When driving on rough and rocky roads the sump and gearbox are two of the most vulnerable parts underneath the car. Impact from rocks can easily break the mounts for the engine and/or gearbox, or puncture the sump resulting in rapid oil loss. Steel Sump Guard (Steel Engine Sump Guard), design and manufacture their own sump guards in Roumania, which are installed using factory mounting points. This means fitting does not require modification of the car, which can be an issue with other products. Steel Sump Guard supported our expedition by making a custom sump guard specifically for the trip. Our sump guard has no air vents and the sump access holes have been removed, giving the front of the car a strong smooth underside. Hopefully these modifications will help the car slide over rocks and boulders without damage and will reduce ingress of sand into the engine bay.
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