My brother is thinking of getting a Focus. What is the best petrol engine for all round economy, performance, reliability, ease of service/repair etc. I would think the 1.4 would be underpowered, the 2.0 a bit thirsty. So that leaves the 1.6 and 1.8
What do you think?
|
The 1.6 without a doubt.
Avoid the 1.4, 1.8 less power than the 2.0 but pretty much same economy.
The 1.6 is surprisingly nippy and fun.
|
|
Adam, thanks. Would the 1.6 be ok for long motorway journeys at between 70 and 80 mph (in France)?
|
If I'm being honest, if I was going to make a habit of long motorway journeys (every day) then I wouldn't be choosing a 1.6. That being said, they are better at highish speed than some other people say and certainly are no slouch. Plus the fact, I've driven Fiestas that were comfy at 75mph so I'm probably being a tad unfair.
If you gave me a 1.6 and told me to go on a motorway journey, I wouldn't be dreading it. Even at 90+. Ideally you should take one on a high speed test drive and see what you think. Then weigh that up against the increased costs of the 2.0. I find the 1.8 and 2.0 a lot more torquey but the 1.6 still has a lot of power in the high revs and is good fun on the twisties too.
|
It would only have the occasional motorway trip so as long as it can sit at about 75mph in reasonable refinement then that would be fine. If it were me I would have the TDCi but my brother's as tight as Santa at Easter and wouldn't do the mileage to justify the extra purchase cost.
Thanks again.
|
|
If your brother is tight, he ought to get a diesel. The price of diesel is much less than petrol in France.
|
|
|
|
|
1.4 and 1.6 are sweeter revving though as Adam says the 1.8 and 2.0 are more torquey, I would go for the 1.6 unless performance is an issue, if so the 2.0 is pretty quick and no less economical than the 1.8.
|
|
|
|
Adam, thanks. Would the 1.6 be ok for long motorway journeys at between 70 and 80 mph (in France)?
Yes definately for a car of this size.
My wife has a newish 1.6 Zetec, and I find it to be a great car even though I drive a Turbo-Diesel Audi. My only real criticism of the car is that 5th gear is very 'tall' for all but motorway cruising, but this will be ideal for you. Ours doesnt even feel as though it is out of bed at 80.
|
|
The big disadvantage of the 1.6 I found on the A1;on the two lane sections,you're cruising along 60 to 70 mph in fifth,traffic suddenly drops to 50 and you slow down,it then speeds up,even the HGV's leave you behind unless you drop down to third;I got rid of it and am now back in TD.
|
|
|
SWMBO bought a 52 Focus Chic about 18 months ago when it had 12,000 on the clock. It's a 'special' edition (3 door, leather seats, nice alloys) based on the 1.6 Zetec.
It's a pleasure to drive - goes well, handles well and looks good. It averages about 37 mpg over a year and, if we take it steady, it'll do 43mpg. The 1.6 engine is fine - we liked the 1.8TDCi as well but, in a similar spec car, it was £2000 dearer. We've no regrets at all.
|
The 1.6 is NOT underpowered. The thing is, people are lazy. The Focus will sit at 70mph (and possibly 105mph, but I wouldn't know because that would break the law so badly...) with ease, thanks to a high fifth gear (mentioned as overgeared in HJ's C-b-C Breakdown). People are lazy because they refuse to drop to fourth and accelerate away (and it's still pretty quiet).
The 1.6 is good for...40 in first, 60 in second, 90 in third (so I've heard)... If you want power, then you just have to rev. But generally, it's fine. It's not a motorway potato, that much is certain.
|
1.6 would be the petrol engine of choice for me anyday.
The 2.0 is nice and powerful sure, but a fair bit more thirsty, and I could probably think of better cars that I would want to drink that much fuel...
The 1.8 seems pointless to me, not noticeably quicker around the doors and only a slight advantage over the 1.6 on the motorway, in exchange for this it guzzles fuel as quickly as the 2.0! No wonder it's been dropped from the new range.
Blue
|
Just realised I didn't really state properly that I also think the 1.6 is nice and revvy and quite quick enough when you want it to be.
Blue
|
Probably I'd go for the 1.6. If you change gear below 3,000 rpm it is a slug though; so don't - 4,500 rpm is quite restrained for this engine and even 5,500 is not pushing it. My parents have one and mpg is approximately 38 in fairly mixed use.
If you're looking at an older Focus, one good thing is that all 2.0 models have alloy wheels and ABS (and I think air con even on the Zetec) whereas most 1.6s won't have any of these except air con.
Agree that the 1.4 is disastrously slow and the 1.8 is pointless, so I'd pretty much rule out either of these unless a stunning bargain came along.
|
2.0.
Fair bit quicker than the 1.6, not that thirsty at least in my Mondeo. Can get over 40 to the gallon on the Motorway and 35-40 on regular roads. Not so hot around town, though.
2.0 Ghia's have the most kit as well.
|
|
Looks like the 1.6 has the vote then. Thanks everyone. I shall now enjoy the immense pleasure and rare sight of my brother's wallet getting exposed to daylight.
|
2 litre. I agree with MichaelR ~ and I find the seats of the Ghia much more comfortable than the other variants.
Recording every drop of petrol for 79k miles in 5.5 years and calculating the consumption monthly my 2.0 Ghia hatch has returned monthly averages of 34.6 mpg (worst winter month) to 40.2 mpg (best summer month).
9541.43 litres in 78854 miles = 8.26 mpl = 37.6 mpg overall.
These are genuine figures, not rough guesses.
--
L\'escargot.
|
|
If you're looking at an older Focus, one good thing is that all 2.0 models have alloy wheels and ABS (and I think air con even on the Zetec) whereas most 1.6s won't have any of these except air con.
Beware that none of the very early Foci had ABS because of problems of supplies.
--
L\'escargot.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
