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Well come on now, do you always believe the marketing hype?
You must be in Canada. The Ford website for Canada does say "up to 54 mpg" or something like that. Which is ridiculous. You can average that high if you stay at a constant 50mph speed with no accelerations, etc. But in the U.S. no one advertises such an unrealistic number.
But at any rate, if you had done any additional research you would've seen that your average is right in line with the U.S. EPA combined rating, as well as the hundreds of Focus owners on www.fuelly.com. So feel comforted that you are in the norm.
1) Fill it up 100%.
2) Reset your trip odometer.
3) Drive until you get down to 1/4 tank ot 1/8th of a tank...or wait until the dummy/warning light comes on...have 1/4 tank (or less) left so you have used over 10 gallons of gas to "wash out" error due to not filling it the same exact amount each time. For example, if you fill it more the next time by 1 gallon, say 11 gallons, that means you only really burned 10gal (because you started 1 gal lower), but you think you burned 11, so you'd be off by 10%. 10% is not a huge error though (compared to the terrible mileage you saw), and it's not likely you'll refill it 1 gallon differently.
4) Put gas in it - fill it back to 100% so you're back to where it started.
5) Done. Now calculate the MPG.
I just bought a new Ford Focus Ambiente 1.6L six speed automatic, model year 2012. I have done 3500 kms and am faced with an unusual noise. It could be either the engine or the drivetrain, but it is a shrill and just audible. It is the kind of sound one can expect to hear when driving if the radiator cap came loose (thats not the case though), like a metallic vibration. It dies off when accelarating and is absent when idle, but is there when deccelarating or cruising.
I took it to the dealer, but they couldnt identify the problem. Can someone make any helpful suggestions on what could be the problem?
If Ford has maliciously cooked the books like Hyundai did, then yes they should be punished. But there's no evidence of that, and many Focus owners are routinely achieving the EPA ratings in their everyday driving, like me.
Hyundia was punished because they upset the apples to apples comparison that the EPA ratings afford. And that's all they afford. They DO NOT guarantee you performance. Many folks are lucky enough because of their driving habits and routes to actually achieve the EPA ratings, but many do not.
Hyundia tried to give themselves an unfair competitive advantage by making it seem like their apple (in the EPA apples-to-apples comparison scheme) was shinier and more red. Big mistake.
Well if you read through this thread and others, there people getting mileage just like me.
Again, time will tell.
Of course there will always be a relatively small number that buck the average for whatever reason. Unusual mechanical failure or whatever.
But the overall average of Focus drivers are hitting the EPA estimates. Just look at fuelly.com. The 424 2012 Focus owners there are reporting an overall average of 31.4 mpg, right on the money with respect to the EPA combined rating of 31mpg.
Whereas the 174 2012 Elantras reported on there are getting ONLY a combined rating of 29.8 mpg, relative to the higher EPA combined rating of 33 mpg.
Focus: 31 EPA combined rating - 31.4 real world average
Elantra: 33 EPA combined rating - 29.8 real world average
Hopefully it's clear to you now why Hyundai got into trouble and Ford will not.
The numbers you gave 424 & 174 are a small number out of the total sold.
Not a good comparison.
Not a good comparison."
Ever heard of statistics? That's called a sample. There's no reason to believe the data in fuelly.com does not represenent a fair sample of all Focus owners.
You need to know that, otherwise thats a small sample.
The minimum sample size for a 250,000 population (abt. the number of '12 Focuses sold) and 95% confidence level is 384. So I have 10% more than I need.
Will you stop the petty bickering now and accept the fact that you are in the vast minority of Focus owners getting crappy mileage?
Only when you curb your fan boyism and realize that there is a real concern for some of us. Maybe you just need to stop replying to these and move on.
That said, I'm interested in what happened to the guy who traded in his Focus for a Corolla.
Not fan boysim - rather a search for the truth. And I do realize there is a real concern for some of you. There probably are a few cars out there with some as-yet-undiagnosed mechanical problem affecting fuel economy. But I also realize, unlike you, that based on the hard real world data out there those with fuel economy problems are in the minority.
Maybe you just need to stop replying to these and move on.
Nah, your rash generalizations need a counterpoint for all of the current car shoppers coming on here to research the possibilities. They can read your and my comments and decide for themselves.
That said, I'm interested in what happened to the guy who traded in his Focus for a Corolla.
Well based on fuelly.com data, the Corollas for the past few model years are averaging right around 31mpg, the same as the Focus. So I wouldn't expect any dramatic increase in mileage. And just like the Focus, there are Corollas on there reporting averages in the low 20's. Just depends on driving habits and traffic condtions.
Then I will continue to be that squeaky wheel.
Don
It is not about the computer; ethanol is less efficient than gasoline, and that is why you get fewer miles to the gallon. It simply stores less energy than straight gas, and the more ethanol you put in the worse mileage you will get.
Some thoughts : Are these actual mpgs's or read outs from the on board computer? Is the driving patterns similar?. Weather is also a possible variable.
That said, if this was an older vehicle with dirty injectors which is e-85 capable, I would speculate that, although the e-85 is not as "energy rich", it is by its very nature a very good fuel system cleaner, and may have helped.
Anyhow any other thoughts on this ?
We got 36.3 mpg overall. It was a mix of city, interstate, and rural 2-lane roads doing siteseeing from SF to Portland OR. From the tripmeter, it appear we got close to 40mpg at times, running from 60-70 mph on the freeway. It would appear easy to get 38MPG on strictly freeway driving. Overall I was very impressed with the vehicle, from a ride, noise, and handling standpoint. Only major complaint was the armrests. I am fairly short, and the drivers door armrest hand opening was about where my elbow rested. The center armrest was fixed in position, and too far back for use in my driving position.
Other than that, I thought it was an excellent car for its size and price.
Any MPG quotes should be done with a calculation of the miles traveled since the last fill, divided by the gallons added at the present fillup, with at least 150 miles traveled for better accuracy. Relying on the trip computer generally will be overly optimistic, which is likely a feel good measure adopted by all car companies, and isn't required to be accurate by any regulations such as speedometer readings.
I have an accessory Ultragauge trip computer that is very accurate after calibrating; it matches the true MPG based on trip/gallons very closely. I generally just ignore the factory readout since it's not very accurate.
Couldn't agree more wingerr. I always do the calculation when I fill up and generally use the result as a measure of the health of my vehicle. Any sudden, significant change in mileage gets my attention.