Great mpgs with a newer car!
 

http://images.dealer.com/evox/stills...st0640_089.jpg

I drove my buddy's 2010 Focus that looks just like the one pictured. It is an automatic, 2.0 I4. The thing feels weaker than my ZX2 with 270,000 miles! I told myself that the weakness equaled better mpgs :p

It was around 100 miles from Greensboro, NC to Smithfield, NC. The land was hilly towards the beginning and gradually got flatter. It is not a true test, as I could not figure out how to reset the dash readout till I was up to speed. Fancy new cars and their weird switch placement...

Anyhow, I managed to get 46.1! :D

I did have the gauge up to 54, but I gradually lost mpg as the hills smoothed out.

To make this more impressive, his tire pressure was 32 psi :eek::eek::eek: and zero aero mods of any kind. Just a gauge, a foot, and coasting whenever possible :thumbup:

I do know that the dash readouts are optimistic, but still, mid-40's with that thing?! I could not believe it.

I played around with the dash readout between Smithfield and our destination. At 45, the Focus got 52 mpg. At 50, it increased to 55 mpg. At 60, it was around 46.

Pretty impressive for an overweight slug with low air pressure!

What mechanically does this and your Scrote ('Friendly' for the old Escort here in the UK ;) ) have in common - looking at the pics your daily driver seems more aero oriented, and both have a Zetec ?

We didn't get that Escort here at all.

PS - Good figures for an Auto, I couldn't get the hang of mine.

I am not sure what my Scrote;) and the Focus have in common. The motor is the same size but completely different. The Focus weighs more, but got up to speed better than the Escort! Having 200,000 less miles has something to do with that :D

I thought Europe did get the Escort... RockAuto shows an UK flag next to some models.

Thanks! You have to be a Automatic Whisperer to do so ;) I really want to see what I am capable of in a manual, I hav not driven one in a long time.

The EPA combined is 28, so I was 64% over that!

Cool.

Euro scrote is different from US one (later being Mazda ?)

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Escort_(Europe)

I think we got 35mpg when we had one as a rental. My main complaint with any new Ford is lack of leg room, and that year focus was the most generic looking car since ford made the tempo

The Escort and Focus share nothing in common other than the MTX75 manual trans and the early Foci using up the last of the split port single can engines that the Escorts used. My 07 and the 08-11 Foci both have 2.0 Duratec DOHC engines but 2 people at my work have 09s and say they get high 30s for MPG where as I'm pushing my car to get that. Even though same engines, I swear there has to be something different in the engine or computer that has them getting better without effort. Of course, it could also be that they are not checking MPG correctly or consistently and are feeding me false information lol.

Great job with such high numbers in an unfamiliar car! I just stepped into the 40mpg realm and hope to stay there but seems the weather is a big factor with these cars.

Surely no one can design a car THAT ugly unless they're trying to make sure no one buys them? If it weren't for the badge, I'd have guessed it to be something from a first time manufacturer out of China.

I understand Ford US management got a little "criticism" from the US Motoring press as to why they spent on that redesign instead of adopting the European Focus instead.

http://motoryzacyjnie24.pl/ford_focus_mk2/2.jpg

Less radical than the original Focus but much better all round.

That is actually pretty to me. Much better than the USA Focus!

The Focus actually sold pretty well, at least in my area. They are everywhere.

And thank you Spif! I wonder why there is a variance in the different years of Foci? Could it be that sportier trims received richer tuning?

Due to the lighter weight of an Escort compared to the Focus, it might get some nice mileage figures with a Duratec swap. Or even with the engines used in the Fiesta...

Oh how I would love to get my hands hold of that new turbo 1.0 with cylinder deactivation, get inside that ECU and tune it with lean burn :) the swaps are interesting and I would love to do one one day. I want to see what the 2.0 Zetec is fully capable of with an economy minded tuning nutcase ahold of the reigns!

The Mk1 and US Facelift Focus are not bad cars by any means, but I bet local dealers had lots of incentives and deals to get them out of the door.

I have a friend who had a Mk2 Focus (the Euro one) and only very very reluctantly did he change it for a Mk3 (the one sold in the US as well). And now he is retired he is pondering a Fiesta (aka Fester) as a replacement for that but he is equally reluctant to let it go. As a result his pondering is very very slow ;)

I don't remember where I saw that quote, but the 1.0L Ecoboost has been very sucessful in the European market, to a point that 25% of brand-new Fords sold there have been fitted with it.

Yep loads of them about. Very few NA Fords sold here at all - mostly either TDCI (Turbo Diesel) or Ecoboost. NA models sell very slowly and lose value quickly.

I wonder if I can get a used 1.0 Ecoboost shipped across the pond for a decent price... sounds like the supply is high enough to drive prices down.

They are good little cars! The "control blade" rear suspension handles great with a rear swaybar, it has a timing chain - I do not trust belts - and very agressive DFCO. I have the "SE" model which had 3.58 'rear end' ratio opposed to the 3.8X SES model. Little less cruising RPMs.

I have had one or two 50MPG tanks in my 2011 5 speed when I had the stock tires on it. That was mostly open 2 lane roads, speed limit of 55. I was making very good use of the DFCO and rarely exceeding 45.

The cheap all seasons I put on last year kill MPG. I did get a bit of a bump when I had it aligned (the rears are ridiculously towed out from the factory). Even now, 38-40 is not out of the question.




They aren't bad looking cars, to me. Some colors are worse than others. The Sterling Gray color looks nice - especially in SES trim. It was also THE most popular car for Cash 4 Clunkers.


I have a 2011. It was significantly discounted. I bought it in March of 2011 ... for $12000. SE model (power windows / locks, AC) with manual transmission. $12K for a brand new car that I could get used for $15 ... don't have to tell me twice!



They sell the 1.0L here now. I want the MMT6. REALLY hate the MTX75 transmission.

The one I drove was an SE trim. It felt as if it was geared higher than my Escort, which has 3.73 gears. It did have a better DFCO than my Escort.

I think that they are nice cars, much nicer than what I am driving now ;)

Saw a new 2.0 Ecoboost for sale on Google Shopping... around $5500 :eek: I doubt the 1.0 will be much less in new form. Used in a JY would be a different story.

The only thing that makes me quite skeptical about the 1.0EB is the oil-bathed timing belt.

It is supposed to last the life of the engine. Except the "life of the engine" is undefined.

The engine being supposed to last the life of the belt would make more sense :p

The oil pump is belt driven too !

Depends on the life of the belt, which is also undefined. :rolleyes:

Unless it is a non-interference engine :D

Given the increased life of factory engines, I'd bet it is safe to say... 150,000 miles maybe?

Even if a sudden belt failure wouldn't damage the engine so hardly, let's wait to see the cost for a belt replacement. Maybe that is gonna kill the engine...

The belt is very surprisingly under $40. -> 1.0 timing belt

That does not include labor, and with it being sealed, you can guarantee it to be an all day job. 8 hours @ $40-$70/hour :eek:

Way too optimistic buddy. Ford never wanted my Focus or your Escort to last as long as they have. Cars that last lead to less new car sales. As reliable as cars are expected to be today, they OEMs are also trying to keeps sales up. I'm not going to start on about conspiracy theories and tinfoil hats we should be wearing but the ideal customer is someone that buys a new car, doesn't put much money into it assuming it is an indication of reliability, experiences catastrophic failure, thinks to the self "it was a good car until it died, I should get another" and returns to the dealer to buy another shiny new one. OEMs hate people like us who keep their cars going long after their life expectancy is up.

That oil bathed belt sounds like a recipe for disaster on top of the idea that turbos wear and develop excessive shaft play and intercoolers clog with oil from blow-by leads me to think that those cars/engines aren't going to last much past 125,000 miles unless religiously maintained. Junk yard puluts will probably not come with intercoolers and the turbos will need to be replaced or rebuilt, if that is possible.

Instead of blowing that money away on labor, could replace the belt as a weekend project, getting beer and some steaks for the entire weekend for those $320-$560.

Greensboro to Smithfield drops some 600+ feet in altitude.

My personal Ford experience with my 92 Crown Vic (bot new) is that the acronym "Fix Or Repair Daily" fits the product.

Can't find a price on the oil pump belt ...

I'm sure the perfect car from an OEM point of view would be one which lasts perfectly well throughout the warranty, costs nothing to service, and then fails expensively once the warranty has been over for what might be regarded legally as a reasonable amount of time.

Given how carp makers are with dealing with the 100 year old basics (rust, electrical failures, excessive wear, rattles, uncomfortable seats, safety recalls) I really doubt they could come up with such a design even if they tried.

Most makers would love a reputation for long life as most car purchases are replacements (both business - hire, lease, companies, and private) and not due to any growth in the market. Buyers who have been stung by a maker tend to avoid them from that point onwards, e.g. me and Peugeot have not had dealings since 1993, a situation unlikely to change given how carp their Edinburgh dealer was recently.

This costs makers - if Avis buys 10,000 Ford snoozewagon hiremobiles and has a big failure on them (as in cars repaired under warranty but not available for rent) then they might buy GMs or Toyotas or Hyundais instead next time or extract a massive discount from Ford for their next buy.

The same forces apply to lots of things - white goods, computers, TVs. No tin foil needed.

EDIT - This was a video I watched about it, OK he bashes union and some other stuff but quality comes into it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81ESBO3Mchs

i actually wernt to impressed when i drove the 2010 focus

Spif, I have to disagree with you. Catastrophic failure would be a reason not to go back to a manufacturer, especially if it was just after the warranty expired.

Good video, Arragonis. The brain juices are flowing after listening, and he makes good sense.

Rooster, I could not agree more :D $500 can throw a dang good party!

Richbim, welcome to Ecomodder! And I agree with you, it was not what I was expecting from a newer car.