Great mpgs with a newer car!

[BabyDiesel]

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

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!

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 and zero aero mods of any kind. Just a gauge, a foot, and coasting whenever possible

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

[BabyDiesel]

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!

[Arragonis]

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.

[BabyDiesel]

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

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!

[Arragonis]

Cool.

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

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

[Chrysler kid]

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

[spacemanspif]

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.

[oldtamiyaphile]

Originally Posted by BabyDiesel

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.

[Arragonis]

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.



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

[BabyDiesel]

Originally Posted by Arragonis

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.



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?