Ecoboost engine worth going with - Mk7 advice needed

[m1tch]

Hi all,

I might be looking to swap out my current car - 56 plate Ford Fiesta with the 1.4 TDCi engine, its been really reliable but looking to swap to petrol for the next car, I am tempted to jump a few generations and go with a newer Fiesta with the Ecoboost engine - I can see that there was the facelift with the Aston Martin style front grill in 2014.

I am tempted to go with one of those - budgeting around £6k but I notice that there is a newer model out so prices might come down next year when I am looking around.

Just wondering if there is anything I should know about the Ecoboost engine, I know some of the early ones had a few issues - are all of the Ecoboost engines the same and its simply a remap to increase the power or are there internal differences with the 99bhp unit vs the more powerful ones?

Worth noting that this will be my daily drive, looking for fuel economy but also a bit of fun every now and then - currently building a mk3 MR2 at 400bhp per ton so don't really need anything fast, just something economical when needed coupled with a bit of power when needed as well.

Also wondering if I should look at getting a pre facelift Mk7 or a post facelift Mk7 - think I might stretch and go with the newer facelift model though, I like the styling and the interior looks good.

 

[Bobr]

I have a 2013 Ecoboost 99bhp and it drives like a 1.6.   Very stable car and very economical.   In town it averages 36 mpg and on the motorway I can get 60 mpg if I'm careful and 55 if I'm not.

[Eric Bloodaxe]

As @Bobr says, the ecoboost drives very nicely, though as often mentioned it won't do "eco" and "boost" at the same time! I feel it has an almost diesel-like pull low down, so you might feel at home with it. 

You'll be aware of the various issues from the forum, which seem to have affected cars as recently as 66 plate (a friend of mine has a 65 plate with the rusting turbo coolant pipes issue).

These days I'm in a position where I probably won't need to keep my car outside warranty. If I was looking at buying an older, out of warranty car and was faced with a choice between say a nice late Zetec S 1.6 or an early ecoboost, I dunno, I might well go for the 1.6.

 

[m1tch]

2 hours ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

As @Bobr says, the ecoboost drives very nicely, though as often mentioned it won't do "eco" and "boost" at the same time! I feel it has an almost diesel-like pull low down, so you might feel at home with it. 

You'll be aware of the various issues from the forum, which seem to have affected cars as recently as 66 plate (a friend of mine has a 65 plate with the rusting turbo coolant pipes issue).

These days I'm in a position where I probably won't need to keep my car outside warranty. If I was looking at buying an older, out of warranty car and was faced with a choice between say a nice late Zetec S 1.6 or an early ecoboost, I dunno, I might well go for the 1.6.

 

Thanks for that, will look into the issues further, but I am guessing there are probably fixes for most things by now, I am quite hands on and would always go through any car I buy to check if there are any issues and fix where needed.

I notice that the Ecoboost's MPG is very good of around 65mpg (although much higher when looking at Autotrader!), I have actually found that with a bit more power and better throttle response MPG improves as you don't need to thrash the car around anywhere. My current 1.4 TDCi is averaging around 65mpg with mixed driving, edges low 70s on a long run if I am careful.

I am basically just looking to get a newer car with a nicer interior (although nothing really wrong with the current Fiesta I have) - coupled with simular MPG, need to work out what works best in the long run as I could get a more expensive but economic car vs a cheaper car that isn't quite as economical with the overall cost being the same.

I do like the idea of the Ecoboost though, small engine for economy and boost when you need a bit of power - as you say its not eco and boost at the same time!

I have noticed however that the MPG isn't coming up anywhere near claimed (or even close!) so I am now considering my options on this.

[cjay1]

It is very economic if driven correctly currently I'm averaging 52.4 mpg urban driving average speed 16mph. Roll up to lights / junctions and gentle throttle. Give it the beans and 38 mpg is more realistic.

[m1tch]

5 minutes ago, cjay1 said:

It is very economic if driven correctly currently I'm averaging 52.4 mpg urban driving average speed 16mph. Roll up to lights / junctions and gentle throttle. Give it the beans and 38 mpg is more realistic.

Thanks for that, I drive fairly economically, was amazed when I had a look at the Honest John 'Real MPG' report for average vs claimed MPG, coming from a diesel background I am usually concerned if it ever drops below about 55mpg. Owing to diesels being phased out coupled with the fact that modern diesels aren't as reliable as they used to be I figure I would be ok with say 50mpg from a petrol. It would seem that a fair few petrol hatchbacks seem to only manage around 40mpg which is a bit disappointing really but I figured I might be able to go with a small 1 litre engine with boost.

My commute has mainly A roads and other national speed limit roads so I usually get fairly good MPG for my 55 mile round trip - got excited when I saw on Autotrader it was showing over 76.3mpg ultra urban (guessing that would be with stop start or an error etc) - so for it to drop so much in the real world was slightly disheartening.

I might still look at getting one though but might wait for the price to come down a bit - I see that there is a new Fiesta out now so hopefully the previous models will start to drop in value a bit more to make it slightly better value to buy. Might look to keep my current Fiesta for 1 more year before I swap over perhaps, its currently on only 148k miles, have seen one at over 300k miles so the engine itself is ok for higher mileage.

[Bobr]

22 minutes ago, m1tch said:

My commute has mainly A roads and other national speed limit roads

At the rate you should have no problem getting 50mpg from the Ecoboost 99.

[cjay1]

best summed up as you can have eco or boost you must pick one as you can't have both.

[m1tch]

Are all of the Ecoboost engines the same internally? Just a case of various ECU tunes and maybe OEM intercooler upgrades etc?

Still quite interested in the engine - good to know that the engine can actually be economical - as well as boosty!

[auldreekie]

I have a 2014 1.0l Titanium ecoboost and I find it quite economical, when visiting family up north just short of 200 miles away travelling on the A9 I have had in excess of 65mpg, most of the journey up the speed limit is 60 mph apart from the odd short stretches of dual carraigeway and motorway for the first 1/4 of the journy. enforced by average speed cameras so I suppose that helps.

I just put the cruise control on at 60 and that is fast enough for me.

City driving it usually around 40-42 mpg, I'm not one for booting it around, these days are well gone.

I had a 1.8 focus tddi before the fiesta and to be quite honest I find the fiesta just as nippy as the focus, only down side is some sharp left turns which with the focus I could go round in third gear without a problem, same corners on the fiesta they need 2nd gear, otherwise a great little buy for me.

[m1tch]

7 hours ago, auldreekie said:

I have a 2014 1.0l Titanium ecoboost and I find it quite economical, when visiting family up north just short of 200 miles away travelling on the A9 I have had in excess of 65mpg, most of the journey up the speed limit is 60 mph apart from the odd short stretches of dual carraigeway and motorway for the first 1/4 of the journy. enforced by average speed cameras so I suppose that helps.

I just put the cruise control on at 60 and that is fast enough for me.

City driving it usually around 40-42 mpg, I'm not one for booting it around, these days are well gone.

I had a 1.8 focus tddi before the fiesta and to be quite honest I find the fiesta just as nippy as the focus, only down side is some sharp left turns which with the focus I could go round in third gear without a problem, same corners on the fiesta they need 2nd gear, otherwise a great little buy for me.

Thank you for your experience, this was exactly what I was hoping to hear, I remember years ago when Top gear did a fuel economy test around a track, BMW M3 vs a Prius, the Prius used more fuel as it was being ragged around - eg its all down to driving style.

I am like you in terms of not really booting the car around, no point really due to all the traffic/pot holes/speed cameras etc, I have my MR2 for the track/drag strip.

Looks like I might go with an Ecoboost after all :)

[zain611]

12 hours ago, m1tch said:

Are all of the Ecoboost engines the same internally? Just a case of various ECU tunes and maybe OEM intercooler upgrades etc?

Still quite interested in the engine - good to know that the engine can actually be economical - as well as boosty!

I think from what I remember the higher hp 1 litre ecoboost engines have a different head gasket and have a map on it. The 140hp version I'm sure is mapped by mountune. I'd myself go with the 120hp version. It's in the middle and the 140hp isn't really faster. 

[m1tch]

5 hours ago, zain611 said:

I think from what I remember the higher hp 1 litre ecoboost engines have a different head gasket and have a map on it. The 140hp version I'm sure is mapped by mountune. I'd myself go with the 120hp version. It's in the middle and the 140hp isn't really faster. 

Thanks for the info, will see which engines I have in my search when I do look for one within budget, I guess I am not really looking to increase the power much as my MR2 will be running 3 times stock power when its done - current 1.4 TDCi is something like 70bhp so I am fine with lower power for the daily.

[statts]

Hi

I have an ecoboost 125 and currently i am getting 31.5 mpg around town with 15 mph average speed. stop/start cuts in most of the time and on my last fill up got about 240 miles out of 3/4 of a tank. i thought i would get more mpg than i am but as everyone says you cant have 'eco' and 'boost' at the same time.

[cjay1]

just shows what a difference driving style makes as I have the same car as statts

[iantt]

and my heavier focus 1.0 ecoboost with economical driving gets up to 73mpg on computer and tank to tank fill up calc of 68mpg at present. thats a and b roads 14 miles each way to work.

but round the town driving it drops to 45mpg ish. 

[jace1969]

8 hours ago, cjay1 said:

just shows what a difference driving style makes as I have the same car as statts

It sure does,i don't have the ecoboost i have the 1.6 2011 titanium and i can get very local driving around 28mpg,what i can see and read on here

the ecoboost is better on a run as i don't think a lot of cars are A1 on very local stop/start all around the 32 to 38 as is my friends 1.0 ecoboost 125bhp.32 to 36mpg local.

Which aint that bad for me.

[Dee_82]

11 hours ago, iantt said:

and my heavier focus 1.0 ecoboost with economical driving gets up to 73mpg on computer and tank to tank fill up calc of 68mpg at present. thats a and b roads 14 miles each way to work.

but round the town driving it drops to 45mpg ish. 

Thats impressive, has anything else been done to it to errr… help achieve those numbers, or was it all down to your right foot? 

[iantt]

down to my right foot and reading the road ahead. 

[Crasah1974]

I recently bought a 1.0 ecoboost 123 bhp and i love it. 

MPG i got 55 on a decent run to the coast averaging 42 mpg on daily commute to work and back as still cant resist beating these boy racers in corsa's from the lights. All in all a fun car love it!!

[fiestalux]

My own experience is with the 100HP Ecoboost engine (2014), I will occasionally get up to about 55mpg but generally its down at 47-50 which although not anywhere near promised is ok. The same numbers seem to apply in the tests on Youtube conducted by credible reviewers doing "normal" driving. If you are getting above that then you are probably doing doing something almost perfect.  Also I live outside the UK where the speed limit is 80mph  (130kph), and I have noticed that anything above 70mph (approx) does have quite a negative impact on fuel economy.... But that shouldn't be a problem in the UK as no one speeds in my homeland 🙂

Fuel economy aside they are great fun to drive and good for even moderate motorway trips.  I did a few cross EU border ones recently 3-5 hours trips and it was fine. Handling is sharp but never rough, so it's both fun to drive and comfortable. The only issue comes on German autobahns where there are no speed limits, after about 140kph you start to notice a real drop in ride quality and handling becomes a much more nervous experience. I have done 170kph in it and it'sot something I would recommend as it feels too strained. A Merc is much better for such high speeds 🙂

[auldreekie]

A amendment to my previous post, I just did the same journey as above today ...almost,  the above  journey mpg was what showed on the computer thingy was above 65 mpg. This time I  topped the tank up to the first click and zeroed the trip meter, got to my destination 197 miles away later and topped the tank up to first click again, fuel consumption worked out at 58 mpg. That was a mix of motorway, dual carriageway and A roads speeds ranging mostly from 60 - 70 mph and cruise control wherever possible.

So average mpg on dashboard computer is not accurate but not too far off. Hope that helps.

[jace1969]

11 hours ago, auldreekie said:

A amendment to my previous post, I just did the same journey as above today ...almost,  the above  journey mpg was what showed on the computer thingy was above 65 mpg. This time I  topped the tank up to the first click and zeroed the trip meter, got to my destination 197 miles away later and topped the tank up to first click again, fuel consumption worked out at 58 mpg. That was a mix of motorway, dual carriageway and A roads speeds ranging mostly from 60 - 70 mph and cruise control wherever possible.

So average mpg on dashboard computer is not accurate but not too far off. Hope that helps.

Around 50mpg to 60  on mainly motorway and roads where you go around 60mph is around right i would say for the ecoboost.

If on very local journeys like a few miles and its around 50mpg or above it just don't seem right,by the way i don't have a ecoboost

but i know a few who have and reading topics on here and never get close to 50mpg on very local drives stop and start and that's slow driving.

Auldreekie........You are right............Dashboard read out i never go on always online and Dashboard one and get a good answer.