2011 Ford Focus SE 5 Speed - What can I do? - Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum

Miller88 · 02-03-2012, 03:08 PM

This is my first "fuel efficient" vehicle. My first car was a 01 Taurus and my Second, a Jeep Cherokee is lifted and has skinny mud tires on it.

The most I have been able to get out of this car on a trip (while trying to conserve fuel) was a legitimate 46mpg. On state highways, tires inflated to the max and hypermiling. My car has the taller 3:56 final drive ratio. Lowest I have got on a state-highway trip was 40mpg - 3 people, luggage and there was pulling some hills at 4000RPM.

I'm not sure if this car isn't aerodynamic of if running 2500 down the highway is hurting it but it doesn't get near as good of mileage on the highway going with traffic. I made a trip to Buffalo (I'm in Syracuse NY) a few months ago, on I90 with speeds ... higher than they probably should have been ... and the mileage was only 36 round trip.

Lately I have been averaging around 30 on my commute to and from work and after work errands - but I live in the city and have snow tires on. The longest trip I make is 5 miles to work. Occasionally I'll make the 70 mile trip to see my parents, but that's usually on state highways.

What can be done to get this car to get better highway mileage? Right now I have some tape covering the lower recessed grille opening for more heat - should I make something out of fiberglass so its flat?

How about clear tape over the "spokes" on the wheels?

There were some models with different bumpers and wheels .. this is what i have right now:

Sven7 · 02-03-2012, 11:51 PM

Block the top grille. With only 5 miles to drive it probably isn't warming up, and that's not good.

Smooth wheel covers will help a bit. Read this.
65+ Vehicle modifications for better fuel economy - EcoModder.com

Daox · 02-04-2012, 09:11 AM

Definitely block as much of the grill as you can. If you do that many short trips I'd put a block heater in for sure too.

As for highway driving, aero is by and far the king. Look through the mods list and see what you can do.

COcyclist · 02-04-2012, 10:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Miller88

The most I have been able to get out of this car on a trip (while trying to conserve fuel) was a legitimate 46mpg. Lowest I have got on a state-highway trip was 40mpg - 3 people, luggage and there was pulling some hills at 4000RPM.

I'm not sure if this car isn't aerodynamic of if running 2500 down the highway is hurting it but it doesn't get near as good of mileage on the highway going with traffic. I made a trip to Buffalo (I'm in Syracuse NY) a few months ago, on I90 with speeds ... higher than they probably should have been ... and the mileage was only 36 round trip.

Lately I have been averaging around 30 on my commute to and from work and after work errands - but I live in the city and have snow tires on. The longest trip I make is 5 miles to work.

Do you have a manual tranny? Trip computer? A ScanGuage can help you with your hypermiling. Unfortunately, I would say you are doing pretty well. As you have noticed, high speeds and cold starts kill fuel economy. Your car has pretty good aerodynamics. There are things you can do to make it better but it won't look like stock if you do some of the ones with the biggest benefit. That said, grill blocks, folded mirrors and a belly pan can be almost unnoticeable.

Arragonis · 02-04-2012, 10:34 AM

As per the others I would block the grill for aero and faster warm ups.

Also instrumentation, so you can see what works and what hurts - if you don't have that already.

And tyre pressures - go up maybe in 5PSI steps until the ride gets harsh and then back off - the drop in RR is detectable usually straight away.

aerohead · 02-04-2012, 02:48 PM

With a 5-mile commute on a 30-degree day,you'll only see about 73% of Summer city mpg.It takes 22-miles of continuous 50 mph driving to fully warm a car to its top equilibrium mpg,regardless of temp.
So your short drive is eating your lunch!
And it will be very hard to see benefits from mods unless you do a 22-mile pre-warming drive firsthand.

Miller88 · 02-04-2012, 10:40 PM

The 5 mile commute isn't really going to get any better. I'm more concerned with on the highway on long trips ... I do tend to take off and end up a few hundred miles away from. I have the 55 and under figured out excellent.

It's a manual and has a mpg gauge. I usually calculate by hand though.

I'd love to do a block heater, but I'm an apartment dweller

Tires on my vehicles are always at the max on the sidewall.

For the upper grille block, I'm going to put some plastidip on the grille and then clear tape around it ... that way I won't damage the grille. The lower grille - should I leave the tape on the inside of it or make a plexiglass thing so it's all flat?

Belly pan might be doable with a few sheets of plexiglass. Does it have to be under the whole car or just part of it?

FXSTi · 02-04-2012, 11:09 PM

I don't think you want a plexiglass belly pan, perhaps coroplast? Another thing to consider is pricing the parts from the sFe model. If I remember correctly, the sFe has active grill shutters and a belly pan.

A gauge will help you to know what is going on "real time" the average mpg doesn't tell you what is going on right now. If it is anything like my Fiesta the gauge is worthless if you pulse and glide with the engine off, as it doesn't record anything during the eoc portion. My last tank was a smidge over 50 mpg and my factory avg mpg showed 28ish. A ScanGaugeII or Ultragauge will also help you to accelerate at the right amount of load.

The other thing that will help you long term is keeping a mileage log. It will let you see how you are doing and is not dependent on memory. You can start a log right here on this forum.

Kirk

jsatter · 02-05-2012, 10:59 AM

A fully belly pan will net you a greater gain, but a partial will certainly help. Check into extending your air dam as well so that it's as low as the lowest component under the car.

A more permanent smooth wheel cover would be ideal, though with alloys, you'd probably have to find something you could screw into the wheel itself.

aerohead · 02-07-2012, 05:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Miller88

The 5 mile commute isn't really going to get any better. I'm more concerned with on the highway on long trips ... I do tend to take off and end up a few hundred miles away from. I have the 55 and under figured out excellent.

It's a manual and has a mpg gauge. I usually calculate by hand though.

I'd love to do a block heater, but I'm an apartment dweller

Tires on my vehicles are always at the max on the sidewall.

For the upper grille block, I'm going to put some plastidip on the grille and then clear tape around it ... that way I won't damage the grille. The lower grille - should I leave the tape on the inside of it or make a plexiglass thing so it's all flat?

Belly pan might be doable with a few sheets of plexiglass. Does it have to be under the whole car or just part of it?

As far as the belly goes,if you can get the forward 2/3rds very clean,you will have removed the lion's share of drag.
If you do the entire pan,the last section can be a diffuser,which will cut drag a bit more.
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If you want to push into 50+ mpg territory,you might want to shop for a sturdy bicycle rack onto which you could attach a removable short length boat tail.Full-coverage rear wheel skirts would be required for best results.