ST Line x 140 after 1 month of ownership.

[Matthew McGuinness]

So ive had my brand new st line x 140 for just over a month now. Absolutely love the car, ive driven it 1200 miles. It has the power when needed and is a great handling car. My only problem with it is fuel economy, i can only seem to manage average around 40 mpg (in eco mode basically all the time, with smooth driving etc). I used to have a mk7.5 titanium fiesta 1.0 100bhp, which with the same roads and route being taken weekly would average around 48 mpg (and quite a lot of the time i floored the throttle to get away from junctions or lights). With my car being so new will i have to wait a little for the fuel economy to increase? Or do you think i should try different fuels (e.g. Shell fuel save, texacos normal fuel etc)

[Alex.S]

47 minutes ago, Matthew McGuinness said:

So ive had my brand new st line x 140 for just over a month now. Absolutely love the car, ive driven it 1200 miles. It has the power when needed and is a great handling car. My only problem with it is fuel economy, i can only seem to manage average around 40 mpg (in eco mode basically all the time, with smooth driving etc). I used to have a mk7.5 titanium fiesta 1.0 100bhp, which with the same roads and route being taken weekly would average around 48 mpg (and quite a lot of the time i floored the throttle to get away from junctions or lights). With my car being so new will i have to wait a little for the fuel economy to increase? Or do you think i should try different fuels (e.g. shell fuel save, texacos normal fuel etc)

I’ve got a month old focus st-line x 182. Getting 29 mpg ! Although longer motorway journeys I’m getting 40 plus. 1200 miles on the clock. Last car was an Astra Sri 1.6 , it was a bit better averaging 38 mpg. Not had a proper road trip yet but expect much better figures. I’ve heard economy can increase after a few thousand too. Bit dubious about that. 

[Eric Bloodaxe]

Thread after thread on here about mpg, such as this one:

I did find the engine took a few thousand miles to loosen up, but found no improvement in mpg, probably because I was just driving it a bit harder😀. I've averaged 45 mpg over 9,000 miles btw, never used eco mode, usually turn off stop-start, rarely drive on motorways/dual carriageways or in heavy traffic, mainly single carriageways with frequent gearchanges.

[Alex.S]

I did one day on eco to see its average mpg , got about 5 miles more . Thought **** that , back to normal and sport at any worthwhile opportunity. My conclusion is these cars are built to be driven enthusiastically. My Astra Sri disappointed me every day. The focus pleases me every day. 

[Blatto]

 

2 hours ago, Matthew McGuinness said:

So ive had my brand new st line x 140 for just over a month now.

I've posted quite a bit on this topic in various threads but since I have got the exact same car as you and also had it for just over a month I'll give share my experience of the first month or so.

Got my new MK 8 ST-Line X 140 in the first week of October was a replacement for my  MK7.5 2016 ST-Line 140 which I also had from new.

My MK 7.5 was getting around 46 mpg for the first few thousand miles  finally settling at a consistent 48-52 mpg on the same daily commute. 48 was the average winter consumption and 52 for the summer months. Did just over 31,000 miles in it before I got the MK8, I think it was about 5-6000 miles before it gave me the best figures but it was only 2-3 mpg difference, after that it stayed pretty consistent.

I've now covered about 1900 miles in my MK8 and am getting about 46.5 mpg. I'm not using eco mode and generally have the auto stop/start turned off. It's not too far off the 48 mpg I was getting on my MK7.5 for this time of the year so I'm fairly happy with that. As mentioned in previous posts I was anticipating it would be about 3mpg or so down on the MK 7.5 as the MK8  is almost 100Kg heavier. I've also gone for the Space saver spare wheel option which along with the Jack probably adds another 20Kg or so.

I tried the premium fuels experiment on my previous car and after a few tankfuls I was getting slightly better mpg (1 or 2) but the extra cost outweighed the benefit and I had to go about 8 miles out of my way to find a garage selling it.

The last 6 trips into work I have been experimenting with the eco mode. The weather has been pretty similar over those 6 days with my morning start with a slight frost, 2-3 degrees C air temp and the drive home about 8-10 degrees . I'm driving the same as near as I can on all the trips, reaching an indicated 75mph on the motorway section and generally just keeping up with the flow of the traffic. Did 3 days with  eco mode on, I was getting 45mpg,  3 days with it Off I was getting 46.5mpg. Not a very scientific test I know, but it seems the eco mode On is worse for me. As the car is much nicer to drive with Eco Off, I'll probably be leaving it that way.

My next experiment is to see if Cruise control on or off on the motorway section is better or worse for mpg. My guess is I'll be able to beat cruise control in the mpg competition.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Piston Head]

Mine has covered about 2600miles now and doing between 44 and 45mpg. Ive never used eco mode and on my commute stop start rarely activates.

A few annoying things about the mark 8 include

- driving position too high even on lowest seat position

- auto wipers too sensitive no matter what the setting (my old mk 6 had the best autowipers)

- rear disc brakes seem to have scored up already

- opening the tailgate after rain can cause water to be deposited in the load space

- paint thin / soft and already suffering from  chipping

- slight hesitation / misfire during full throttle acceleration (crap petrol?)

- sync 3 is rubbish even with the latest software

- mirrors too small - thank goodness for BLIS

- LED headlamps could do with more range on full beam and the auto dip is too slow to respond

- luggage compartment hooks are too shallow (mk 7.5 much better)

- clutch is sharp (mk7.5 was too)

Good stuff 

- suspension setup and Michelin Pilot 4's 

- performance is pretty strong and good for 3rd gear overtaking

- good looking in magnetic 

- quiet at a cruise

- seats comfortable especially with lumbar support

- nice driving environment

- climate control seems to work ok and warms up fairly quickly

- gearchange is smooth and positive

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Alex.S]

I think cruise control is worse for mpg as it’s unnecessarily braking then accelerating to stay at the exact set speed. 

[Blatto]

8 minutes ago, Piston Head said:

A few annoying things about the mark 8 include 

- driving position too high even on lowest seat position  - I thought that at first but I've got used to it now and don't notice

- auto wipers too sensitive no matter what the setting (my old mk 6 had the best autowipers) - Seem a bit inconsistent to me sometimes too sensitive then sometimes not enough

- rear disc brakes seem to have scored up already - Not noticed anything in my 1900 miles but I'm a very light braker anyway

- opening the tailgate after rain can cause water to be deposited in the load space - Been raining every day since I had it not noticed this

- paint thin / soft and already suffering from  chipping - Not noticed this on mine so far

- slight hesitation / misfire during full throttle acceleration (crap petrol?) - Not tried full throttle yet 🙂

- sync 3 is rubbish even with the latest software - Had a few glitches with the sat nave and can't get Android Auto to work well

- mirrors too small - thank goodness for BLIS - They look small but I don't find them any worse than my MK7.5, don't have the BLIS

- LED headlamps could do with more range on full beam and the auto dip is too slow to respond - N/A

- luggage compartment hooks are too shallow (mk 7.5 much better) - Never use them 

- clutch is sharp (mk7.5 was too) - Mine seems fine, so was my MK 7.5

Good stuff 

- suspension setup and Michelin Pilot 4's - Yep, they are very good

- performance is pretty strong and good for 3rd gear overtaking - I miss the 3rd gear flexibilty of the MK7.5 5 speed box but it's still pretty good

- good looking in magnetic - Had my MK7.5 and My MK8 in Magnetic 

- quiet at a cruise - Definitely quiter than the MK 7.5

- seats comfortable especially with lumbar support - Could still do with more lateral support if you are cornering hard

- nice driving environment - I agree

- climate control seems to work ok and warms up fairly quickly - Much quicker warmup than the MK7.5

- gearchange is smooth and positive - It's ok but I preferred the MK7.5 box, but the 6th gear was needed

My thoughts on those comments are in the Bold text 

[matteo10]

Just now, Matthew McGuinness said:

So ive had my brand new st line x 140 for just over a month now. Absolutely love the car, ive driven it 1200 miles. It has the power when needed and is a great handling car. My only problem with it is fuel economy, i can only seem to manage average around 40 mpg (in eco mode basically all the time, with smooth driving etc). I used to have a mk7.5 titanium fiesta 1.0 100bhp, which with the same roads and route being taken weekly would average around 48 mpg (and quite a lot of the time i floored the throttle to get away from junctions or lights). With my car being so new will i have to wait a little for the fuel economy to increase? Or do you think i should try different fuels (e.g. shell fuel save, texacos normal fuel etc)

Hi there,

Having a 125hp 1.0 Ecoboost ST Line MK8, averaging 14-14.5 km/l on a short 7 km commute ( each way), 99% of that is crossing rural towns.

Highway driving at 100-110km/h 19-21 km/l are possible, but I get that only when I'm not in rush mode. Otherwise with a more heavier foot I get between 15-17 km/l ( still under the speed limits, above that it drops significantly). 160-165 km/h I get 7-7.5 lts x100 as average.

Eco mode helps a lot, but without it the car is way more agile, fast and responsive.

I came to the conclusion if you want to spend the minimum on fuel you need to switch to something CNG powered. The savings you get with the petrol engine are all about insurance, maintenance and lower buying costs, not on filling up.

It also depends where are you located, since local taxes could change that situation very easily...

[mitch84]

15 hours ago, Piston Head said:

Mine has covered about 2600miles now and doing between 44 and 45mpg. Ive never used eco mode and on my commute stop start rarely activates.

A few annoying things about the mark 8 include

- driving position too high even on lowest seat position

- auto wipers too sensitive no matter what the setting (my old mk 6 had the best autowipers)

- rear disc brakes seem to have scored up already

- opening the tailgate after rain can cause water to be deposited in the load space

- paint thin / soft and already suffering from  chipping

- slight hesitation / misfire during full throttle acceleration (crap petrol?)

- sync 3 is rubbish even with the latest software

- mirrors too small - thank goodness for BLIS

- LED headlamps could do with more range on full beam and the auto dip is too slow to respond

- luggage compartment hooks are too shallow (mk 7.5 much better)

- clutch is sharp (mk7.5 was too)

Good stuff 

- suspension setup and Michelin Pilot 4's 

- performance is pretty strong and good for 3rd gear overtaking

- good looking in magnetic 

- quiet at a cruise

- seats comfortable especially with lumbar support

- nice driving environment

- climate control seems to work ok and warms up fairly quickly

- gearchange is smooth and positive

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Can you turn auto dip off? a lot of cars are slow to respond with that feature, I would rather do it manually.

Im getting a fiesta st line x soon with the LED headlights, do you know how you replace them if the LEDs fail, is it a single bulb or a complete unit that would need replacing?

 

[Piston Head]

1 hour ago, mitch84 said:

 

Can you turn auto dip off? a lot of cars are slow to respond with that feature, I would rather do it manually.

Im getting a fiesta st line x soon with the LED headlights, do you know how you replace them if the LEDs fail, is it a single bulb or a complete unit that would need replacing?

 

Yes you can turn it off and I know lots of cars do the same but its still a disappointment that it doesn't work 'properly'

Regarding the LEd headlamp option I don't believe the individual LEDS are replaceable but they should last much longer than a halogen or Xenon unit

[Guy Heaton]

Trouble with ECO mode is because it dulls the throttle response you end up pressing the throttle harder anyway.

[mitch84]

1 hour ago, Piston Head said:

Yes you can turn it off and I know lots of cars do the same but its still a disappointment that it doesn't work 'properly'

Regarding the LEd headlamp option I don't believe the individual LEDS are replaceable but they should last much longer than a halogen or Xenon unit

 

Thank's, I suspected that it was a complete unit, as you say they should last a lot longer though, be interesting to find out how much it is to replace them, guessing you can only get the led unit from Ford.

[mitch84]

52 minutes ago, Guy Heaton said:

Trouble with ECO mode is because it dulls the throttle response you end up pressing the throttle harder anyway.

Anything that says Eco mode is the first thing I turn off or never use, its a bit like a new TV that always has the eco mode picture as default, it looks rubbish and no one uses it.

[Blatto]

4 hours ago, Guy Heaton said:

Trouble with ECO mode is because it dulls the throttle response you end up pressing the throttle harder anyway.

I think you may be right. With eco mode switched on I was pressing the go pedal and then realising it wasn't going as much as I'd like pressing a bit more then overdoing it a bit.

Maybe with a bit more familiarity I could get used to it but I get the impression it won't make much of a difference if I did.

 

[Blatto]

6 hours ago, Piston Head said:

Yes you can turn it off and I know lots of cars do the same but its still a disappointment that it doesn't work 'properly'

Been using my auto main beam/dip lights and so far they seem to be working fine. 

[Mavroz]

Never had an issue with the auto dip headlights, they are very useful and very reactive.