Edmunds dealer partner, Bayway Leasing, is now offering transparent lease deals via these forums. Click here to see the latest vehicles!
Options
Popular New Cars
Popular Used Sedans
Popular Used SUVs
Popular Used Pickup Trucks
Popular Used Hatchbacks
Popular Used Minivans
Popular Used Coupes
Popular Used Wagons
Comments
We purchased this 00' Focus ZTS w/91k miles in April after I totaled my '01 Prizm, and while the mileage isn't as good, the ride is far superior, so much so that we use it as our primary vehicle from time to time, depending on the situation. I NEVER had my little boys in the Prizm; it was just far too small.
Heading east on US 50 from Reno recently I was surprised to clock a tank at 38 mpg, the highest I have ever achieved with this car. Driving with the wind may have helped as I have noticed before that sometimes driving west to east with a noticeable wind coming from the west that I got better mileage. Dropping from the elevation near Lake Tahoe may also have been a factor.
On US 50 from Reno to Gunnison, Colorado I consistently clocks tanks at 34 to 36 mpg. I kept the cruise at 65 mph and cut the AC when going up grades.
The NY Times of 26 Jul page B1 has an article about how ethanol may reduce mileage with car with smaller engines. I suspect in Nevada and Utah that I was running 100 percent gasoline that got me those 34 to 36 mpg tanks. In South Dakota running with "corn pone" (as I call it) blend a tank dropped to 32 mpg.
Fact is that there is less energy in a gallon of E85 than was spent turning dirt and seeds in to E85 and getting it to your tank.
Corn farming requires fertilizer made from Oil.
Corn farming requires tractors that burn oil.
Corn has to be transported to an Ethanol plant by trains or trucks that burn Oil.
Ethanol requires production in a plant that uses Electricity made from Oil/coal
Ethanol then has to be transported by a truck or in a tank car by rail again burning OIL!!!!!
At every stage of production, Ethanol is less efficient than plain old OIL.
Corn can't be transported in Super Tankers or pipelines.
and neither can Ethanol.
Ethanol is a GIANT SCAM!
Mark
It's all good. Over the 40,000 miles of driving, I'm averaging slightly better than 30 MPG. The ST is still rock solid and a joy to drive. I decided to update today after realizing just how much fun the Focus ST is on a beautiful morning drive. It still makes me grin. No squeaks, no rattles. Perfectly composed handling and steering. Zero unscheduled maintenance costs. It still looks and performs as new. I've gone through P6 tires at about 30,000 miles for each set. I've used Valvoline pure synthetic oil. I've performed all factory scheduled maintenance. And that's it. Absolutely great car. I've since bought a 2008 Mercury Milan Premier with the same engine for my wife's primary car and it yields 27.7 MPG average in the bigger car with a 5-speed automatic. Very impressive. My experience matches the recent quality and reliability surveys that suggest that Ford is now on par with Toyota. The Focus is remarkably competent for an affordable economy car. The purposeful styling hides a driver's car that is truly a blast to drive and is still easy on fuel, more important now that gasoline is a $4.00 per gallon. I thank my lucky stars I test drove the Focus. I think it had languished on the dealer's lot because not that many people can drive manual transmissions any more. It fit me perfectly and was fun then. Nothing else I was looking at then would be saving as much money today and still be as much fun. Thank you Ford.
I used to drive for courier company in New Mexico, USA, and we use Focus ZX3 with 5 sp manual tranny. When brand new, they were rockets!! I was lucky that I wasn't caught checking how fast it would go on interstate, like some of other drivers did. But most of these cars were driven HARD, and I was able to make 33-35 mpg at 75 mph speed limit on freeway, which is where I always drove my car, with very little city driving. But that was because I always used gas additive to clean engine. I also changed oil myself many times, occasionally using "Motor Flush" to clean out oil completely. Some might feel I wasted my money, but I got the mpg I desired from it.
But even your car probably wouldn't gain great benefits from what I've described above. Seems like something else might be the problem, possibly mechanical. I know that automatic transmissions don't get as good mpg as 5 sp tranny's, but I've gotten my beatup 1991 Geo Prizm with 240K miles on it to go from 28 mpg to 35 mpg highway by cleaning up engine inside and out.
Only other suggestion I might make is to try Bosch "+2" plugs. They burn the gas mixture more effectively, and is what allowed my junker to finally achieve the 35 mpg on highway.
I'm not a mileage geek as portrayed on ABC Nightline a few months ago where one fella never exceeded 20 mph while driving to work in Chicago on tires 10 to 20 pounds over inflated. But I am curious if anyone has ever cracked 40 mpg in a Focus.
On the way back, I used gasoline from BP and got all the way back to Binghamton without having to stop for gas. I only used 8.8 gallons of gas for 382 miles so I got about 43 mpg. There were alot of stop and go construction on the way back on 80 E. I was amazed I could get so much mpg from a Ford Focus.
I didn't use the brakes very much and was able to coast down the hills without using the accelerator.
When I used to go 75-85 mph, I only got 30 mpg. When I went 95 mph, I only got 26 mpg. For regular city driving, I get about 29 mpg.
Mark
>>
Not odd, really. This actually sounds just about right. Don't underestimate the effect of excessive speed on fuel economy. You may not think 70 is excessive, but try dropping to 60 and see your fuel economy dramatically increase. I'd say about 10% better.
As of 11-21-08, with 29560 miles on the clock:
Best tank: 40.84 mpg
Worst tank: 29.66 mpg (first tank)
:shades: Average: 34.76 mpg
:surprise: Most miles on a single tank: 421
:mad: Total spent on gas over 15 months: $2,786.39
I re-set the digital gas mileage readout after the dealer filled the tank and also zeroed the trip meter.
Generally I don't have a special break-in routine, I believe that my normal commute, which combines about 10% city miles and 90% mixed freeway miles (high speed, slow and go, occasionally some stop and go) is a good break in routine, provided I don't lug it (let the rpm's go too low and then try to accelerate with heavy throttle, instead of downshifting) or use more than 3/4 throttle (and only use more than 1/4 throttle after fully warmed up).
Since I intend to drive from SF to LA this afternoon, though, I decided to try to accelerate the break-in period with some more aggressive driving than usual. I mention this because it drags down the gas mileage, which I will report in a moment.
To accelerate the break in period, I first varied my commute to include more city driving. I drove to a more remote on-ramp, which includes a hill climb. City driving has more acceleration and coast down (cool down) cycles and is supposedly better for seating the rings. It also varies the RPM, which is the only admonition in the owners manual (which basically states, don't drive too hard or at one constant speed).
Second, I accelerated more aggressively and ran the rpm higher during slow and go traffic and on the streets. Instead of limiting my self to 1/4 throttle, I ran it up to 1/2 throttle; instead of shifting at 2,500 rpm, I ran it up to 4,000. These brief, harder runs supposedly "buff" high spots (of which there are few in modern engines) without creating excessive heat or galling. Keeping the rpm away from the 6,500 rpm assures there is plenty of oil flow (after this is broken in, I will replace the factory oil with Mobil 1 full synthetic, which is reportedly very superior to conventional oils in maintaining an oil film if there is reduced flow at very high rpm, and it is also more resistant to thermal breakdown at high rpm when the operating temperatures can peak and there isn't a lot of oil flow to carry heat away).
My goal was to drive it harder than my usual break-in to accelerate break-in, but no so hard that I would be stressing the engine. In short, compared to my normal mild-mannered driving style, I drove the new car more the way the typical aggressive American driver drives routinely. :P
All of the above tend to reduce mileage, so I haven't been expecting much in the first couple of hundred miles, but to my surprise the computer is registering 34.5 mpg!
Well, I'll be putting about 800 freeway miles on it over the next three days. I'll report back on both computer indicated mileage and on calculated mileage. As the earlier poster notes, the sweet spot for mileage is usually 50-60 mph, but interstate speeds are more like 70-80 mph. I'll try to keep it down to 70, but almost all my other cars have been 2-4 mpg lower for interstate trips than for my commute (which has much lower average speeds).
Finally - my thoughts on break-in. In my experience, modern motors are still breaking in at 15,000 miles, but for all practical purposes (driveability, gas mileage, power) the process is mostly completely by 7,500 miles. Of the first 7,500 miles, the first 200 are MOST critical, but from 600 to 1000 miles any critical break-in buffing is complete and the car can be driven hard (many owner's manuals state a 600 to 1,000 mile "cautious" break-in period, followed by no precautions). So I'm going to take the next 400 miles "easy" and will welcome any pre-Thanksgiving traffic that will slow down the interstate. After I hit 600 miles - essentially for my return trip - I'll just drive it completely normally. If I don't run into Thanksgiving slowdowns today, I'll vary my interstate driving speeds by spending some time in the turtle - I mean truck - lane and some time in the car lanes, which gives me a range of from 50 mph to 80 mph to assist the break in process. I considered changing to Mobil 1 before the trip, but the Motorcraft 5-20 oil that Ford developed is such a superior lubricant that I think it will work just fine, if I keep my throttle, top speeds, and steady speeds in the break-in mode.
One thing I notice is that the car's self-proclaimed Average MPG is always over stated. It consistently says I'm getting at least 3 MPG more than I calculate at each fill up.
The MPG is "okay" in my opinion. Other cars that I considered (and test-drove) before buying Focus were the Honda Fit, Toyota Yaris and Corolla, and Nissan Versa. The Focus had the most comfort, quietest interior, and more features than the others for about the same price. So I'm happy overall. In fact, I love the little thing! Just wish the MPG were a little higher.
My experience with the trip computers ( in a ford probe ) some years back was similar to yours, actual mpg was about 3 less than indicated.
The Focus A/T is a 4-speed unit w/ overdrive, that is your 5th gear. The "green-zone" would be to keep to a reasonable speed on the Highway ( below 60 is probably dangerous today )
The RpM"s on my 2.3 ZTS would be about 2250 at that speed, which I think is about equivalent to top gear in the five-speed manual tranny.
EPA estimates will usually show MPG slightly better for M/T models. That does not mean that real world results will be the same. It is problematic at best, but most drivers do not use the tranny to optimize mileage. With an A/T the driver would only need to "train the foot" to apply as little throttle pressure as required to drive effectively.
mark
With the A/C not in use, the fuel economy for my commute is about 29 mpg.
With the A/C not in use, and coasting to stops with the transmission disengaged, my fuel economy is 32 mpg.
My commute is 13 miles one way, about half highway and half surface streets.
i reset it and when i turned it in it read 33.
it had a 4 speed auto. i was impressed, since my commute is less than 14 miles each way.
And even though calculating your mileage is simple (and something I do at every fill-up) a lot of people make basic mistakes when doing so. I recall one person who was looking for a new car, but wanted something that got the same mileage as her old one. She said she was getting 35-40 mpg on her old car, but there was no way that was happening since the EPA mileage estimates on that car were like 25-27 highway. What happened was the very first time she filled the car up, it took about 10 gallons of fuel, so she assumed that a fillup meant she had a 10 gallon tank. When she'd drive a tank almost dry, she'd fill up and then divide however many miles she had driven by 10. Problem was she had about a 15 gallon tank! So while she THOUGHT she was getting 35mpg, she was actually getting 23mpg.
But the basic calculation is simple. Fill up, drive, and at the next fill up, divide the miles driven by the number of gallons you put in the tank. Yes, you can get the occasional "short fill" when a pump shuts off short of really filling the tank which can give you a higher mileage number, but that will correct itself the next fillup when you actually do fill up completely.
I use the mileage calculation as a general guide to the health of my cars. If the mileage suddenly changes lower I sort of go on alert. If it stays low on the next fillup or tow, there may be some problem. But if it comes back to normal, it either was a fillup variation or some change in my normal driving patterns that caused the drop.
But back to my original point, I don't think there's any way that a pump is delivering 3/4 of a gallon less than it says it is. On a 10 gallon fillup that's a 7% error. Just not going to happen on a regular basis.
28,73mpg average
21,22 worst
36,61 best
I noticed that SVT's are fuel-intensive in town, usually getting 22-24ish on a commute cycle, though with some mild hypermiling I usually garnered in the range of 27-28 on my commutes. However, on extended freeway travel, knocking down 33-35mpg tanks wasn't that hard to achieve.
The car currently has about 70k and was bought new in 2004.
I had flashed the computer at the Ford dealer with the latest profile (I think sometime in 2005).
I've been averaging about 28-31mpg in mixed but mostly highway. Its usually consistently either 29 or 30mpg mixed. I usually drive at an indicated 70-75mph on the highway. I also drive very conservatively in the city and only rarely will I go past 4500k RPM.
Best I've ever recorded was 37mpg on a trip from NY to Boston. I didn't think it was possible but I traveled 283.3 miles on only 7.65 gallons. It was mild weather in the 60's, had the windows closed most of the way and kept the car mostly on cruise control at an indicated 65-75mph (my gps says my speedo is about 7% optimistic so my real speeds were ~60-72mph).
Is this the highest mpg seen on a SVT?
I have had this car for the last 4 days and used it for my usual commute. 40% is city, 40% is highway and 20% rural roads.
I drive 47 miles each way (75 Kms) and keep speeds at 62 Mph or less. Other than for accelerating away from a red light I rarely go over 2000 RPMs. When I accelerate I do it rather swiftly. No use of AC. Ambient temperatures between 45 and 71.
My average, not by the computer but by dividing gallons used by miles traveled is 42.
My my normal ride, a 2007 Nissan Sentra 2.0. S with CVT only achieves 37 MPG, probably because it is somewhat heavier.
Locally I can purchase a brand new 2010 Focus (AC/AT) for US$ 14095 plus taxes. Seems like a real good deal to me.
Good luck
Many thanks for the advice.
I have checked nearly every tank fill=to-fill for over a year noting the computer's stated MPG (reset every tank), gallons used, and miles. Here's what I've learned:
1. If the 89 octane ethanol blend is only 10 cents per gallon less, I save money by paying 10 cents more per gallon for the 87 octane without ethanol due to increased mileage. I run ethanol every fourth tank or so because the ethanol carries any moisture in the fuel system out the tailpipe (like Heet).
2. The MPG counter on my car is 5-15% optimistic. I have never had it come within 5% of calculated MPG, it's always high. It says 36 MPG, math shows 33.5. It says 42.5 MPG, math is 38 (roughly).
3. I get 400-460 miles per tank at 11.5 to 13.1 gallons per fill. High score was exactly one tank just a drop over 40 MPG so far, average is 30-34 winter, 34-38 summer. And yes, I've ran the 'MILES REMAINING' indicator up to 8 miles past zero. I know, I know, that's not good for the fuel pump...
In summary, I would recommend any 2003 or newer Focus to anyone shopping used that prefers to buy American (both of mine were built in Michigan). I have needed only maintenance, no repairs for 115,000 miles on the 2003 I sold in 2007 and 25,000 so far on my 2011.
In my '04 Focus with the 2.3 engine, I do about 2750 rpm, at 70mph, about 3100 rpm at 80. It has 118,000 miles which I have had since new.
It is returning about the same mileage now as new. It really depends on how aggressive I am driving. I will tell you that I am easily getting 27-28 in mixed driving if I drive reasonably. Some thing is not right with your tranny. Have it checked.
These new Focus's are known for fuel economy dropping off much quicker with increased speed than usual. They also seem to be more sensitive to fuel. On the other hand if you can manage to keep the speed under 60 on a highway trip you should see over 40 mpg...
mpg perflrmance should not be compromised going 65-70 mph in todays world.there are no indications of such in the Ford commercial boasting of 40 mpg vehicles. Holefully updating software will help my mpg performance issue. Thanks for your input.
We were so impressed that I looked into buying a similar car to replace an aging SAAB wagon.
But, here in the USA:
- no Diesel
- five speed gearbox
- harsh riding 18" wheels/tires if you want upscale features and a nicer interior
- also, no station wagon
I'll believe the "One Ford" slogan when they start selling Focus and Fusion (Mondeo) Diesel station wagons with six speed manuals. Until then it's just marketing B.S.
Not true. The 18" wheels are only in the optional Handling package on the Titanium trim. The Titanium normally comes with 17" wheels. You can also get most of the Titanium features in a fully loaded SEL which also has 17" wheels.
"I'll believe the "One Ford" slogan when they start selling Focus and Fusion (Mondeo) Diesel station wagons with six speed manuals. Until then it's just marketing B.S."
When diesels and wagons start selling well here I'm sure more companies will bring them here.
"One Ford" is open to interpretation. To me it means selling basically the same cars here and in Europe, not selling two or three similar models in each area. Compare the vehicles offered by Ford UK, Ford Germany and Ford USA.
In Europe Ford has abandoned cars larger than the Mondeo and most sedans, ceding those markets to GM, VW/Audi, BMW, MB, Toyota, Honda, Hyundai etc. Here they have given up on station wagons, are just beginning to offer turbos and Diesels are limited to trucks.
With almost all manufacturers except BMW and Mercedes dropping wagons in favor of higher profit SUVs in the USA it is less a matter of what people want to buy than of what manufacturers choose to sell. You can't buy wagons or Diesels if they are not available for sale
With gas prices over $4 a gallon and rising, the difference between "up to 40 mpg" and easily attaining 40-50 mpg in everyday driving becomes more and more obvious.
The last Diesel I rented in Europe was a Peugeot 407 wagon, about the size of a BMW 5 series. It delivered 50+ mpg overall in back road cruising in relatively flat areas. That the Focus only managed 43 mpg overall was because most of the driving was in congested city traffic or mountain roads. No USA Focus comes close to 43 mpg overall, much less the 55 mpg we saw at a steady 70 mph on highways.
I wish Ford well with their marketing plans, but remain disappointed at the range of models and drive trains available here.
Obviously I can't guarantee I will always get this MPG, but I am pretty happy about it.
-Dave
good. I was told that I needed to wait longer for the car to break in by the dealer. Up to the first service which is 7500. Is that right? The manual says that there is a 1K break in period. I get about 250 miles out of one tank.
I would suggest you continue to keep in contact with the dealership if your mileage does not improve. By their ( Ford) standards; do 5 fillups and document the mpg on each tank of gas and then divide by 5 the total miles to see what your average is then. The added frustration of the under-performance is seeing a ford add humpteen times a day on their 40 mpg cars. Argggg.
My commute to work is about 6 miles on streets. Actually that is not
100% true. Most of the mornings I do try to use the freeway but I'm only on that maybe 4 miles? I think I should see at least 27-28 not 20-21.
I was getting about 20mpg on my commute with my '08 Mazda Tribute V6 AWD, and getting 33mpg with the Focus now, a 65% increase. Applying that 65% increase to your Tribute's 14mpg, you should be seeing 23mpg with the Focus (14 * 1.65 = 23). But if your Tribute did not have V6 and/or AWD, you would be seeing less of a % increase, in other words closer to the 50% discussed above.
But to compare my Mazda with the focus is an unfair comparison. Two completely different beasts.
The posted EPA ratings for my Focus are 27 city 38 highway with a 31 mixed.
If I look on sites like Edmunds and feuleconomy.gov people are getting around those numbers.
My car is currently in the shop and I'm renting a 2012 Yaris and driving it the same way I do my focus along the same route and I'm getting 26MPG. So something else is going on with my car.
And no I don't think I'm expecting too much. I based my purchase like I think a lot of others do based on those MPG numbers.
If you have to drive with the AC off or the Windows open or you have to get out an push to get those numbers then they are not realistic.
The numbers shouldn't be from a test track or a Dyna machine, they should be real world.
To me and I've asked others, city driving means a lot of stop and go and short drive lengths between lights.
Highway is free flowing traffic allowing for the engine to work optimally at the 65MPH.
Mixed is a combination of stop and go and full flowing.
Anyways, there was a recall out to have the Power Train Module(PTM) and another module which I'm forgetting the name of to be re-programmed so I'm hoping that helps.
Also of note, i read on a forum that this recall notice was applied to a persons focus who was getting 29MPG and after the notice was applied they were now getting 20MPG. Hmmmm...