Mk8 ecoboost 125 suggested gear change

[Majortom89]

Hi all

I have just bought a 18 plate fiesta with the 1.0l ecoboost 125 and have noticed that if you follow the suggested gear change arrow the engine makes quite a loud lagging noise at around 1500-1700rmp which then goes as it gets above this. It seems almost all of the suggested changes put it into this range too. When doing this it pulls fine, it just doesn't sound happy. My question is whether this is normal and the gear change arrow is stupid (which people suggest it is) and I just need to ignore it or there is something more wrong which I need to get the dealership to look into?

Thanks in advance

Tom

[Guy Heaton]

My advice is to get a piece of black tape and cover the display.  Another mandatory feature from the EU.

We have a 1.0 100 and if we were to follow the arrow the engine would labour too.  These engines dont like being below 2000rpm, especially if in 4th gear or above and asked to accelerate.

It is a completely and utterly pointless feature.  In fact, it is beyond pointless, it is dangerous to engines.

[Eng_Ahmad1986]

have you tried changing to a better fuel grade or a higher octane ? 

[Majortom89]

Thanks both, that was my thinking, however, never having driven one of these before felt it was better to check. 

I think I will stick to the tried and tested method of feel and listening to the engine

[Eric Bloodaxe]

Never had one of these indicators that was of any use. Far better to go by your experience, ear and rev counter. 

In normal driving I change up between 2,000 and 3,000 (higher if "making progress"😃) and like Guy, find the engine unhappy below 2,000 unless rolling gently along on dead flat or slight downgrade.

[Blatto]

11 minutes ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

In normal driving I change up between 2,000 and 3,000 (higher if "making progress"😃) and like Guy, find the engine unhappy below 2,000 unless rolling gently along on dead flat or slight downgrade.

I never bother with the indicator either but depending on the requirement I change up at about 1500 in the first 3 gears and about 2000 for the rest. Obviously as Eric says if I'm needing to get a move on I'll use whatever rpm is required. I'm not so sure that what you perceive as the engine labouring at around 1500 rpm is correct. I think it's more to do with the fact that this is a 3 Cylinder engine which is a little unbalanced at lower rpm, my ST-Line 140 certainly pulls fine from 1500, Max torque for these engines is quoted to be at 1400 rpm.

 

[Eric Bloodaxe]

7 minutes ago, Blatto said:

Max torque for these engines is quoted to be at 1400 rpm.

 

And yet if you look at a "before and after" torque curve from one of the tuners, peak torque is shown way higher than that. The Superchips Bluefin "before" curve for the 125 shows peak torque at 2,665 rpm for example. Who to believe? 😃 

The sound and feel of these little 3 cylinder engines does take some getting used to if you're more familiar with larger 4 cylinders though.

[Blatto]

I have a vague memory of seeing a you tube vid of a guy from Ford talking about the ecoboost engine and it's various innovations. Was a really good vid but it got taken down about 3 months after I watched it. I seem to recall him saying that 95% of the max torque was available from 1400 rpm so maybe that max at 2665 you suggested is the other 5%?

As you say, who knows?

All I can say is that mine seems fine from about 1500 although it can sound a little laboured I think it's just the slight roughness of the 3 cylinder at low rpm.

 

[Majortom89]

thanks all. It sounds like its fine. I think it may be the unbalanced at low revs i am hearing as it doesnt feel laboured (as i say it pulls fine) but has a loud hum at that rmp

[Eric Bloodaxe]

1 hour ago, Blatto said:

I have a vague memory of seeing a you tube vid of a guy from Ford talking about the ecoboost engine and it's various innovations. Was a really good vid but it got taken down about 3 months after I watched it. I seem to recall him saying that 95% of the max torque was available from 1400 rpm

 

Ford literature never seems to quote a figure for claimed max torque at certain rpm, just the max torque figure itself. Like you, I've seen elsewhere (but can't remember where😃) that the claimed maximum (170Nm for a 125) is available 1,400-4,000 rpm giving the impression the torque curve is completely flat. I guess its more likely a case of not less than the claimed figure over that rpm range, but there may well be several peaks within that range. The Superchips graph for the 125 I mentioned actually shows a max of 183Nm @ 2665 rpm.