Ford Focus - Motorway MPG

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Mon 14 Jun 2010 20:05
Ford Focus - Motorway MPG - eustace

Any idea what sort of MPG the various petrol engine options of the focus return, under motorway driving.

I am particulalry interested regarding the figures returned by the 2.0 engine and the 1.6 [115bhp] engine.

As per the Which Car road test:-

The figures for the 1.6 (100 bhp) is:-

urban 31.7; extra-urban 52.3; combined 37.2; motorway 30.7

The figures for the 1.8 (125 bhp) is:-

urban 29.1; extra-urban 47.9; combined 37.2; motorway 34

This indicates that the 1.8 gives better fuel economy in motorway driving. This would be because the engine has to work at a lower rpm to produce the same power / speed.

But does this mean that one can expect even better mpg from the 2.0 engine on the motorway?

Any feedback from owners of the 1.6 [115bhp] and 2.0 engined focus cars regarding motorway mpg, would be appreciated.

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Mon 14 Jun 2010 20:16
Ford Focus - Motorway MPG - Armstrong Sid
The figures for the 1.6 (100 bhp) is:-urban 31.7; extra-urban 52.3; combined 37.2; motorway 30.7

I'd seriously question that motorway figure

I have an 08 1.6 (100 bhp) Zetec. It's average urban mpg is around 32/33 so I'd agree with them on that.

A few weeks ago i drove from Nottingham to North Wales and back which is almost entirely motorway/dual carrriageway. It may be the way I drive, but on that journey I got around 53mpg

Edited by Armstrong Sid on 14/06/2010 at 20:18

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Mon 14 Jun 2010 20:23
Ford Focus - Motorway MPG - eustace

What speed were you driving? Were you doing just 60mph or were u doing around 75mph on average? I understand that the above figures are tested at sustained speeds of about 75mph.

Also the above figures for the '05 model. Not sure if Ford has improved the engine for fuel economy, since then.

Edited by rohann on 14/06/2010 at 20:30

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Mon 14 Jun 2010 20:54
Ford Focus - Motorway MPG - Armstrong Sid

I seem to be getting more relaxed as I get older......so maybe I've eased off since my youth.

On the dual carriageway/motorway sections I probably do around 70, but there's a couple of stretches (A50 through Stoke, and A51 west of Stoke) where the average comes down to about 40. The important thing is there's no hold-ups or slow crawls - the traffic is always moving.

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Mon 14 Jun 2010 21:03
Ford Focus - Motorway MPG - SteveLee
In the real world the 2.0 litre is a very efficient engine, especially at motorway speeds (better than the 1.8) if you drive gently it will return good economy and will be practically unburstable, with the added bonus of a decent turn of speed should you require it without much day to day punishment at the pumps.
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Mon 14 Jun 2010 21:47
Ford Focus - Motorway MPG - eustace

Hi Steve,

Do you have a 2.0 focus? What kind of mileage does it return on motorway runs at 70 mph?

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Mon 14 Jun 2010 22:26
Ford Focus - Motorway MPG - SteveLee
I don't own one but I used a friend's 05 2 litre for a month when I was in between cars. I managed about 44mpg on the motorway and 36 in town, brim to brim calculated figures. The good torque characteristic of the engine meant you could make good progress at low revs on light throttle openings. The only 2 litre petrol I've driven with better mpg was a Honda Civic where I managed 40mpg urban, similar to the Focus on the motorway.
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Mon 14 Jun 2010 21:04
Ford Focus - Motorway MPG - Roly93

Our 09 plate focus 1.6 petrol does about 43-44 mpg at a steady 70.

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Mon 14 Jun 2010 21:56
Ford Focus - Motorway MPG - eustace

Sounds good. Wonder if the Which Car testers got it wrong!

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Mon 14 Jun 2010 22:38
Ford Focus - Motorway MPG - eustace

People commenting on this post all seem to have had good experiences of fuel economy. But the backroom also has a lot of people commenting on the poor fuel economy of their focii.

Also the comments regarding the fuel economy of the 2.0 engine has generally been positive, contrary to the feedback on the whatcar website.

Anyone has experience of poor fuel economy on a 2.0 engine?

Also any comments on the motorway mpg of the 1.6 [115bhp] engine would be helpful.

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Tue 15 Jun 2010 10:06
Ford Focus - Motorway MPG - rcspeirs

Can I suggest that a very relevant factor is driving style. I've driven quite a few focuses (what's the correct plural?) recently as rental cars.

I find the petrol 1.6 to be hopeless on motorways. But I am driving in a manner where shortest journey time is my priority - not lowest fuel economy. To make progress with the 1.6 you need to wring its neck. Not pleasant - it's thrashy at high revs - it's relatively low geared - and as a consequence it chews the juice. I've never bothered to do a precise check on the fuel economy - but I would never have a 1.6 petrol for motorway use as the car is just too much like hard work if you need to make decent progress.

The diesels are my preference - just because they have more grunt and so don't have to be thrashed so hard.

But if you're driving style is more oriented towards economy rather than speed, I expect your perceptions and results would be very different.

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Tue 15 Jun 2010 12:00
Ford Focus - Motorway MPG - IainAhh

I have a mk1 focus 1.8 petrol

Not quie the right car but there is a huge difference in mpg depending how you drive it.

at 85-90 mph on motorway get around 30mpg.

Driving slowly 65 ish mph you can get 40-43 mpg.

Great car by the way.

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Sun 20 Jun 2010 22:29
Ford Focus - Motorway MPG - Roly93
I find the petrol 1.6 to be hopeless on motorways. But I am driving in a manner where shortest journey time is my priority - not lowest fuel economy. To make progress with the 1.6 you need to wring its neck. Not pleasant - it's thrashy at high revs - it's relatively low geared - and as a consequence it chews the juice.

We have a newish 1.6 Focus and I have to say it is thrashy at motorway speeds, I still dont thing the fuel cons is too bad though. I dont know why Ford have changed the Focus gearing so much. We had a 53 plate Focus 1.6 and this was so highly geared that motorway RPM was very low, but with resultant poor pulling power. On the new Focus they have swung too far the other way.

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Mon 21 Jun 2010 02:10
Ford Focus - Motorway MPG - eustace

Does anyone have any comments about the motorway driving characteristics of the 1.6[115 bhp]? Is its gearing and/ or motorway fuel consumption significantly different from the 100bhp 1.6?

From the above comments I get the impression that the 2.0 engine will give better drive and fuel consumption on the motorway than the 1.6?

However, the what car website advices that one avoid the 1.8 and 2.0 petrol engine focii. They describe it as pointlessly expensive. I wonder whether they are referring to buying cost or fuel consumption.

h*********************/car-reviews/used/ford/focus-hatchback/full-review/25391-5

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Mon 21 Jun 2010 22:28
Ford Focus - Motorway MPG - JohnM{P}

Focus fuel consumption has come up many times before. A Forum Search for Focus and mpg in the Motoring Discussions turns up over 300 hits...

Forgive me for not going through them all but here's a recent thread:

w w w.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=77236

From memory, the prevailing opinion is that the 1.6 115bhp TiVCT is preferable, in terms of both performance and fuel consumption, to the 100bhp 1.6

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Tue 22 Jun 2010 01:28
Ford Focus - Motorway MPG - eustace

I have actual done a search on focus mpg and read all the posts. However I could not glean the specific information that I was looking for from them; viz, the motorway driving (at NSL) mpg for the focus 1.6 [115 bhp].

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