1.0 ecoboost accelerator pedal

[krisjones2312]

hi, iv had the eco boost 125 for a few weeks now and i do love the look of the zetec s body kit on it. the mpg is a bit poor compared to what ford say. my question is  iv had a diesel for years now and they do have sluggish accelerator pedals. so you go to rev and it slowly goes up the rpm guage. my missus has a petrol 1.5 swift and the accelerator is very responsive. is the eco boost ment to have a slow accelerator pedal? im not trying to rev the guts out of it, but it seems like its a bit lazy to rev up, almost like its got a little bit of delay ? 

[danboy1981]

Hey hi the accelerator shouldn't be stiff it should he pretty responsive I have a 2014 focus 1.0 ecoboost zetec s and it was responsive I have now had it remapped with a K and N cold air feed filter and the 1st and 2nd silicone hoses on it and it is pretty quick now so you could look in to doing this to.

[Botus]

modern turbo diesels have negatively impacted driver skills and altered expectations of necessary mid range acceleration

its a bit like a baby in the womb, and why they get noisy and agitated when first outside the cooker.  I say it to my mate, he's addicted to an unnecessary surge of acceleration, he's on off the throttle more times than a drummer.  The traffic jam in front isn't going anywhere but he's repeatedly on a rush wasting 200 ft lbs of torque he didn't need.

When you swap to a NA petrol this rush is absent and people get funny about it, so then we invented small turbo petrol's to fill the gap.  But if you use a petrol to get your tractor based drug rush, it will eat fuel big time...  So the emission / planet saving idea of a small turbo petrol didn't actually work out.

I don't think the OP is saying the pedal is stiff more a lack of response.... sadly that's likely to always be the case and one reason Petrol is nicer to drive than a Tractor, turbos reduce responsiveness and modern (turbo's and software affected) power curves make it feel even worse.

There have been various gadgets out there for years that can re do the feel of the throttle pedal by telling the fly by wire system a different story.  Never tried one but I can see on some vehicles it might be a good idea and if cheap enough worth a try

 

https://www.pedalbox.com/en/

 

[Eric Bloodaxe]

Yes, with a modern "drive by wire" system your foot is no longer directly connected to the engine as it used to be in the old days of throttle cables, all you're doing is sending a request to the ecu and after considering the various factors it decides what it will let you have. Only takes milliseconds, but sometimes feels longer to the driver.

The pedal boxes and similar devices can "fool" the system into giving a faster response, in a similar way to a tuning box. Unlike a tuning box they won't give any more power, but let you access what you have more quickly. They seemed very popular a few years back (particularly with the VW/Audi fraternity), but don't see much about them nowadays, though as @Botus says, they are still available.

 

[TomsFocus]

The Japanese love small, revvy NA engines coming from a biking background! 

The 1.0EB won't ever rev like the Swift does I'm afraid.   It's just part of the engine design, length of conrods and crank dictate how light and revvy an engine will feel.  The 1.0EB is designed to feel more like a diesel with low end turbocharged torque...but tbh even that's disappointingly meagre in a heavy Focus when you're used to diesels. 

[Eric Bloodaxe]

32 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

low end turbocharged torque...but tbh even that's disappointingly meagre in a heavy Focus when you're used to diesels. 

Yes, the 1.0 ecoboost has something like 170Nm of torque, a half-decent turbodiesel has double that, and it's the torque that gives you the "hit" as @Botus mentions above..  The Japanese certainly do make revvy engines - I've had bikes where nothing seemed to happen until at least 10,000 rpm. The older Swifts were certainly in that vein - I think the current model though, like most things these days, is a turbo triple on most versions (turbo 1.4 on the Sport).

[TomsFocus]

17 minutes ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

Yes, the 1.0 ecoboost has something like 170Nm of torque, a half-decent turbodiesel has double that, and it's the torque that gives you the "hit" as @Botus mentions above..  The Japanese certainly do make revvy engines - I've had bikes where nothing seemed to happen until at least 10,000 rpm. The older Swifts were certainly in that vein - I think the current model though, like most things these days, is a turbo triple on most versions (turbo 1.4 on the Sport).

Yep...  My Golf has ~320Nm torque as standard...  I thought the 1.0EB Focus was stuck in limp mode when I finally got one!   I am one of those torque-addicts Botus mentioned...not in traffic though, it's for effortlessly overtaking farm machinery & cyclists on the backroads!  

The 1.5 Swift would be the older NA model but that could've been a typo of course.  The tech in the latest 1.0 BoosterJet (semi hybrid) is all pretty interesting as well...makes the 1.0EB seem a little outdated already!  My Mum and sister both drive Swifts and I have to say they're far more reliable and better on fuel than the Fiestas seem to be...cheaper too!  Just a shame they're a bit lacking in the spec department...even on the top model there was no auto wipers or auto dimming mirror for a start and I can't say the interior was particularly refined! 😮 

[Eric Bloodaxe]

5 hours ago, TomsFocus said:

The 1.5 Swift would be the older NA model but that could've been a typo of course. 

Yeah, I assumed the OP was talking about the earlier  (2004-2010?) generation as well.

To pull myself vaguely back on topic, I suppose the Ecoboost is a good all-around compromise which obviously suits many people. If you get your kicks from a big slug of torque, or like a really free-revving motor, it's not going to hit the spot for you. Must admit I like a torquey diesel myself, just can't justify it on my mileage nowadays. The mild hybrid tech in the Swift sounds very similar to the mhev Ecoboost coming first in the new Puma, which I believe is then going to be rolled out in the Fiesta and Focus, but I think even that is only about 210Nm (240Nm on 155ps version).

Perhaps a full electric car, with maximum torque available from the get-go, might be satisfying for a former diesel fan, but not at current prices/range.

 

 

Edited December 29, 2019 by Eric Bloodaxe
Torque figure for 155ps mhev added

[krisjones2312]

yeah botus was bang on there with the explanation. its a slow rev instead of the touchy rev of the swift. thanks for the info, 

i was going to go for  a diesel but i dont do the milage to justify it. im well pleased with the ecoboost. 

[olei]

What's the mileage on your car?

 

[krisjones2312]

the car is on 76000 its running fine and seems to take off in first quite nicely. but its almost like a slow rev. like a diesel. like the last couple comments say my mrs swift you can tap the accelerator when not in gear and it revs up in seconds. but the focus seems to be a little slower. all good tho