New Focus Very Poor MPG

sovietspybob · 11 Jul 2013 at 21:14

I had a 2006 1.6TDCi focus, averaged 56mpg over the 50 odd thousand miles i had it for. Think back then the book figure was about 57/58 so i was pretty happy. Could get 65 if i nursed it but fuel was cheap back then so no need :cool:

Seems either the test itself or the way OEM's tune their cars purely for the MPG test has changed a lot in the last 6 or 7 years

On the note of running engines in, mine had 4k on the clock when i bought it so had good MPG from the get go. However our current work van, Nissan NV200 is getting pretty terrible MPG, its hovering around 43 which is bad seeing as
A: its as slow as a washing machine race and
B: we're always doing long trips on A roads which is usually the most economical.
Luckily the fuel is free so im not going to lose sleep over it.. Its just ticked over 2k miles so im very interested to see if it does improve significantly as we pile the miles on as i've never had a vehicle from brand new before.

Robdav · 11 Jul 2013 at 22:51

Rybo89 said:
Don't dirty diesels need at least 20k on the engine before the average MPG starts rising?

ok so my 1.6 tdci focus 2012 has done close to 30k now. when I first got the car the mpg was terrible - 45/46 mpg, now it's sitting at about 55 on average. if I do a tank being very careful I'm looking at 62, and on the other scale if I simple drive like I stole it I'm getting about 50.

Howard · 12 Jul 2013 at 09:36

Tom_ed1987 said:
I don't know how anyone can tolerate driving on a motorway at 60mph in a modern well insulated car. It's just the most boring thing ever. At least in an old car doing 60 feels comparatively fast.

It's no more boring than driving at 70mph, which is no more boring than driving at 100mph. It just takes a little longer. Mind you, I wouldn't ever sit at 60mph on the motorway unless I had to for some particular reason. I just drive at 70.

dave28 · 12 Jul 2013 at 09:41

Ford are the wrong pick for fuel economy, they are not know for it anyway

Zeed · 12 Jul 2013 at 10:03

Get it mapped

Dogbreath · 12 Jul 2013 at 11:56

pokerking said:

Don't put too much faith in the computed MPG reading, measure it properly.

pokerking · 12 Jul 2013 at 12:30

It seems very accurate from the miles I am getting out of a full tank, it is rising .1 every so many miles so I hope it gets better

tbh 48 I am happy with.

Can you even map these engines? Probably wont gain much.

Kel · 27 Aug 2013 at 09:29

First post on here and I found the site after searching for poor MPG Focus.
I have a 62 plate Focus 1.6 Tdci econetic estate Titanium model. The car it replaced was a 58 plate Mk 2 facelift Focus, which was also a 1.6 Tdci estate Titanium, so I do have something to compare my car against.

In the old Focus I used to get 45 MPG with my mix of commuting and motorway driving 80-85 mph. In this new model I was expecting much better given all the hype from Ford, however I am only getting between 40-42 mpg (even though the OBC is stating 45mpg, it's wrong, I clock it every fill up) and it is the same person driving it, same driving style, same cruising speed etc. I have had it into the dealer twice and I know the head technician, so I am not being fobbed off. They have had it on the diagnostics, first time they updated the software as it was missing a beat every now and again. This fault is recognized by Ford as lack of power, however it did not improve the MPG. Second time it went in, the diagnostics reported all OK. The car has now done 10k so I doubt it is going to get much better than this.

On the plus side it is better in every other respect than the old Focus, which was good and the interior is hands down better than the german marque equivalents. The ride is much quieter, so maybe I am driving faster without realizing, but I don't think so. It does seem to run better on BP than any other diesel, which I find strange, but there is a sign on the filler "Ford recommends BP fuel" !!.

I have since been back to Motorpoint, where than have loads of Focus' with this engine, I have checked the OBC on these other cars and all are showing between 45 - 52 (and I am presuming these are also inaccurate by about 3 mpg as is mine) So I guess in the real world, if you want to drive briskly 42 mpg is all you are going to get.

Anyone had similar experience, I would be interested to know.

Firestar_3x · 27 Aug 2013 at 09:33

acemastr said:
On the concept of stop start...

You're supposed to let a turbo cool for a minute or two, if you've just been hammering it around and stop at some lights, it turns off! Can envisage many a turbo going pop due to this

Electric pump(s).

Orch · 27 Aug 2013 at 09:34

I can only dream of figures in the 30's, let alone the late 40's!

eatcustard · 27 Aug 2013 at 13:11

I got 28mpg in my Mini over the weekend do I win a prize with that

I used to get mid 40s in my Focus 1.8 tdci (normal driving) but upto 55mpg gentle driving/motorway

MOOGLEYS · 27 Aug 2013 at 13:46

The new Focus Diesel has a DPF this kills the fuel economy as it uses fuel to initiate a burn. Depending on driving style this can happen once per tank of fuel.

My Vectra would average an easy 55Mpg but my new Astra only just scrapes 45Mpg.

Gaygle · 27 Aug 2013 at 13:59

The new Focus 1.6TDCI has such a poor engine, i'm not surprised it does terrible MPG. It is so woefully underpowered, that i imagine people have to put their foot down just to get to a reasonable speed, which means using up more fuel.

I bet the 2.0TDCI would be a much better car to live with and much more attainable MPG figures.

Janesy B · 27 Aug 2013 at 14:03

~50mpg out of a 99bhp, 105 ft-lb 1.6 petrol this weekend by cruising at 65-70. Average over 12,000 miles which includes town and motorway driving over 70 (by 10%)

is 41. I don't know why people bother with small diesels at times.

Kel · 27 Aug 2013 at 17:05

MOOGLEYS said:
The new Focus Diesel has a DPF this kills the fuel economy as it uses fuel to initiate a burn. Depending on driving style this can happen once per tank of fuel.

My Vectra would average an easy 55Mpg but my new Astra only just scrapes 45Mpg.

The old Focus had a DPF also.

Kel · 27 Aug 2013 at 17:10

Gaygle said:
The new Focus 1.6TDCI has such a poor engine, i'm not surprised it does terrible MPG. It is so woefully underpowered, that i imagine people have to put their foot down just to get to a reasonable speed, which means using up more fuel.

I bet the 2.0TDCI would be a much better car to live with and much more attainable MPG figures.

That's my issue, I had the MK 2 Focus, which had the same 1.6 engine, albeit with 110ps as apposed to the MK 3 having 115ps. But getting worse economy on the new car than the old !!

RedvGreenOLD · 27 Aug 2013 at 17:45

We will see if I achieve anywhere close to the BMW quoted figures of 61.4MPG Urban, or even 54.3MPG combined in my 330D when it is delivered next month. I'm guessing i'll average mid-40s.

pokerking · 27 Aug 2013 at 18:35

Just short of 7k now and sitting at 51.7

The MPG does get better with time. The engine is ok, not felt like it needs more power. Only sits on the motorway I dont use it to race at lights. It does the job and a very good one at that. Very good sound proofing and a nice interior makes journeys ok

Destination · 27 Aug 2013 at 20:39

Why do diesel engines take time to achieve their best MPG?
Is this due to other factors on the vehicle, tyre wear etc?

cuke2u · 27 Aug 2013 at 20:57

acemastr said:
On the concept of stop start...

You're supposed to let a turbo cool for a minute or two, if you've just been hammering it around and stop at some lights, it turns off! Can envisage many a turbo going pop due to this

Hi, not all, the ecoboost has water cooled turbo, Borg Warner Kp39,and the water pump is electric...