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Focus 1.6ltr poor mpg


mcouchard
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must agree about asda petrol i had carb problems on a older car what i had. started going to morrisons or Shell much more mpg

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it could but i wouldnt think its anything to do withthe maf simple things like air filter spark plugs etc are best to check first

Its been regularly serviced and only recently had one.

And I dont have any spark plugs - its a TDCi :)

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  • 2 weeks later...

I have a 2006 1.6 TDCi and I'm quite disappointed with its MPG.

I'm getting around 45 mpg with extremely conservative driving, and I would say 80% of this is fast road/dual carriageway conditions. The trip computer consistently states 5 mpg over (ie. around 49 mpg)

Its only recently had a service and has been serviced regularly throughout its life. I've heard such good remarks about how frugal the 1.6 diesel is, I was expecting low 50's.

I can hear a slight pinking on acceleration which I believe could be EGR and/or injector related so perhaps this is affecting the consumption.

Hi,

I also have a 2006 Focus 1.6 TDCI 110 BHP and my MPG is about 40 which I am not happy with. I was expecting 60 MPG as I used to get 48 from my 03 Mondeo 2.0 Diesel 115 BHP. What do I need to check?

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Hi,

I also have a 2006 Focus 1.6 TDCI 110 BHP and my MPG is about 40 which I am not happy with. I was expecting 60 MPG as I used to get 48 from my 03 Mondeo 2.0 Diesel 115 BHP. What do I need to check?

That's interesting, is the above replicating the exact same journey and driving style, and over the same weather conditions. I do think an annual comparison is the more reliable. But even so the lower consumption due to any weather conditions difference would not make a massive difference.So that said, I bet your miffed that a more powerful engine returns better consumption than your present TDCi. In that the 1.6 is 16.7% less fuel efficient than the 2.0L

Your personal findings aside are a debate in their own right.But I think what this thread shows is that official consumption figures be they for petrol or diesel are way of the mark. Artscot's reasoning summed it up nicely as to how those official f1gures are arrived at. Then adding on top of that all the variables that are down to the driver, style of driving journeys covered etc, are endless.

Though this thread is about poor mpg per say, what real life conclusions I have come to in my own set of circumstances are [i've just done another "brim" test, and that brim test and overall consumption whilst improving slightly, still gives a mean average of 31 mpg ] So going from a Volvo S40 2.0L Turbo Diesel with a Diesel Particulate Filter [the same engine as used in the Focus range] to a Mk2 Focus 1.6 Petrol, has meant I now get 8 miles less for every gallon of fuel I put in my tank.

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I haven't used a full tank in my Focus yet (I'm a low mileage driver) but so far I have cause to believe the manufacture mpg claims.

My gauge needle is at about halfway between the 3/4 & full marks, so guestimating that I've used about 1/8 of the tank, and with the trip computer telling me I've done just 80 miles since my last fill up, throwing together some quick calculations suggest I've got 54 miles to the gallon so far!

I actually think that is a little optimistic because I've done mostly town driving so far, with the odd country road thrown in, but even adjusting my calculations to say I've used 1/6 of the tank still comes up with just over 40mpg.

Of-course I'm not really going to be able to make a decent mpg calculation until I next fill up and get a reliable figure for the amount of fuel used, because it's a bit hit n miss reading of the gauge, but I'm encouraged that I'm hitting the mpg that ford say the car should do.

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I haven't used a full tank in my Focus yet (I'm a low mileage driver) but so far I have cause to believe the manufacture mpg claims.

Of-course I'm not really going to be able to make a decent mpg calculation until I next fill up and get a reliable figure for the amount of fuel used, because it's a bit hit n miss reading of the gauge, but I'm encouraged that I'm hitting the mpg that ford say the car should do.

Only true test is to do "brim the tank tests" and all two consecutive brim tests tells you is the mpg returned during those two brims. The longer the test period, and the more varied the driving environment the more accurate the findings.

And me being an information freak, I made a spreadsheet where I input the mileage at time of "brimming", units of fuel, price and date of purchase. This then automatically gives me two results:

1. The mpg achieved in the period defined between the last two "brimmed" tanks

2. The mpg achieved over the lifetime of the ownership of the car.

OK you can glean other info from that data. Such as holiday touring mpg and the like, all you have to do is record the mileage when you brim the tank before you start such trips and brim it on your return.

Remember you don't always need to brim the tank. You could say brim your tank today [record the data] visit the petrol station 10 times putting only a tenners worth in [no need to record mileage just units of fuel on the spreadsheet per visit] Then whenever you want to find out the average mpg, next time you visit the fuel pump just brim the tank. Record the mileage, enter said mileage and units of fuel used into the spreadsheet. Job done, reliable mpg figures that cannot be disputed.

Here are the results I gleaned from the period covering 9th Jan 09 to 28th Sep 09 miles covered 5,108 in my Volvo S40 2.0D SE

1. 1065 mile touring holiday to Dorset from North Yorkshire [mostly motorway @ 75 mph] 44.60 mpg

2. 896 mile touring holiday to Devon ditto ditto ditto 43.47 mpg

3. average mpg over the 5,108 miles was............................................... 40.42 mpg.

Fuel used 126.36 gallons fuel costs £575.88, hence average cost per gallon of diesel over that 9 month period was £4.56

Whilst my overall fuel running costs for the Volvo S40 were 11.274 pence per mile.

For my Focus 1.6 Zetec petrol, having covered 1,529 miles since ownership and up to the last tank brim on 28th March. Average fuel costs per mile are 14.389 pence. Price paid per gallon over that period averaged out at £4.46

Int data mining great :ph34r:

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I personally never fill the tank more than half way. I have found that the MPG is better due to carrying less weight. If your wife has a full tank then she is doing those short journeys with around 55 litres in the tank. This can weigh upto 6 stone (the weight of a small person). She basically has a passenger all the time... I also feel it gives a better ride around the curves due to weight.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Finally got to the fuel light... took me over 6 weeks since my last fill up!

Anyway... after a few calculations to work out how much fuel I'd used, and how far I'd driven on it, the results are 417.6 miles of mostly town driving (with the odd country road thrown in) at 39.4 miles per gallon.

I mixed some careful short shift driving (which was actually counter productive at times because I accidentally stalled it at low revs pulling out of junctions) with some more frisky driving at times.

Since the specs say 39.2 mpg for urban driving, I'm fairly pleased with this result.

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Well mine (1.6 16v Petrol, 99bhp) returns around 22-26mpg in town according to the computer and I am inclined to believe it too. This is mostly very short journeys. I still think this is shocking. Its been serviced very recently. I am fed up with it. It had been 7 years since I last had a Ford, I'm now thinking this wasn't long enough. I am actually appalled at the way the 1.6 drinks fuel. I drive like a nun, but nothing makes any difference. It's even crap on a long run. I'm desperate to get shot of the damn thing now. I had a 1.9TDi Octavia before this which was MUCH better on fuel.

Dave

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Nice to see you have these sort of constructive conversations on this site ( as a member of loc it might amuse you to know we have members over there who struggle to get 70 miles from £20 in a lexus is200 2.0 six cylinder petrol)

which does not make even your worst figures quoted here too "unlivable" albeit not close to official quoted figures in some cases - all good info here and good reading for someone thinking of sliding over to a mondeo diesel

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Nice to see you have these sort of constructive conversations on this site ( as a member of loc it might amuse you to know we have members over there who struggle to get 70 miles from £20 in a lexus is200 2.0 six cylinder petrol)

which does not make even your worst figures quoted here too "unlivable" albeit not close to official quoted figures in some cases - all good info here and good reading for someone thinking of sliding over to a mondeo diesel

You will no doubt know the Mondeo and Volvo S40 share the same diesel engines.

Dee, obviously anybody going from a diesel to a petrol engined car will be disappointed in fuel economy. But for my part with my mileage 5.5k, and even taking into consideration dearer Road Tax, but cheaper servicing costs [no DPF etc] running the 1.6 petrol is cheaper. As there is not the diesel preimum to pay at point of purchase. For example with the difference between buying new a 1.6 petrol as against a 1.6 TDCi in cost to purchase. At my mileage it would mean I would have to run the TDCi for 7 years, to save in fuel costs what I paid out extra in the diesel purchase premium. Say for similar spec'ed 2008 on 57 plate second hand cars, it would be 3.5 years of annual savings to pay for the diesel purchase premium.

Obviously it all depends on the annual mileage you do at 10.5K per annum it stacks up at 3.8 and 1.9 years respectively.

At 15.5k per annum it stacks up at 2.6 and 1.3 years respectively to save the diesel purchase premium. For higher annual mileage drivers diesel starts to make sense sooner rather than later.

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Or if you go about it the way I did, and buy a used car of 5+ years old, you've got yourself a car that still drives well, but without the hefty "diesel premium".

For town driving my fuel consumption in the 1.8 Focus TDCi may not be drastically better than my 1.6 Petrol Fiesta of the same age, but it certainly isn't any worse. Much better for the longer haul, cheaper road tax, and with petrol and diesel having such similar prices at the pumps, the better economy turns into less money spent per mile.

So even as a mostly short haul town driver.... I have now got car that costs less to run. Sure, the Finance deal to buy it kind of negates that for a little while, but I'm sure I could do something to pay it off quicker.

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