Hi all - looking for some advice from the learned community here please. I’ve recently traded in my 2010 1.6 tdci focus zetec (which I loved) for a 2017 st line 1.5 petrol ecoboost. I’ve obviously picked up some bad habits driving my diesel for the last 6 years, especially gear change. I used to change gears on the diesel around 1500 - 2000 revs and I guess being a diesel there was power there at lower revs. With this car being a 6 gear and petrol I need to adjust my gear change timings. Can I ask what revs do people change gears up in a 1.5 petrol? I’m never really ‘flooring it’ but like to keep a brisk pace. The gear change indicator seems to come on too early - tells me I should be in 6th at 45mph - so I’m ignoring that. Would I be right in thinking I should be aiming to change gear at around 2,000 - 2,500 revs? And question 2 - what speed would you guys use 6th gear? Most of my driving is dual carriageways and single lanes to work so never really ‘cruising’ for any great length of time so generally do you use 6th above say 50 (road conditions dependent).Thanks in advance

Best getting up the gears as quick as possible especially past 1st and 2nd gear as they are rev limited normally. The sigma engines like to be revved so from 3rd up to 6 you can batter the rpm. 6th gear yes over 50 it makes the engine less noisy and is more economical than running in 5th.

18 minutes ago, F0CUE said:

Best getting up the gears as quick as possible especially past 1st and 2nd gear as they are rev limited normally. The sigma engines like to be revved so from 3rd up to 6 you can batter the rpm. 6th gear yes over 50 it makes the engine less noisy and is more economical than running in 5th.

Thanks mate - was concerned about damaging engine if I shift up too early, I’m still struggling with a smooth shift from 1st to 2nd but sort of getting used to it now. Really surprised at the difference in fuel economy vs the diesel - but then the flip side is this one has some go when you need it. Would you say 2000 -2500 revs is a good spot to aim for from 1st to 2nd? The revs drop a lot when changing 1st to 2nd and I’m trying to slow down my gear change (as my brother said - “you change gears like you’re in Fast & Furious - slow it down and it will be smoother”. Thanks for the reply and advice FOCUE

35 minutes ago, Focus Newbie said:

Thanks mate - was concerned about damaging engine if I shift up too early, I’m still struggling with a smooth shift from 1st to 2nd but sort of getting used to it now. Really surprised at the difference in fuel economy vs the diesel - but then the flip side is this one has some go when you need it. Would you say 2000 -2500 revs is a good spot to aim for from 1st to 2nd? The revs drop a lot when changing 1st to 2nd and I’m trying to slow down my gear change (as my brother said - “you change gears like you’re in Fast & Furious - slow it down and it will be smoother”. Thanks for the reply and advice FOCUE

I'm sure the limit is 6500 so 2000-2500 should be fine. You won't damage the engine shifting up early the suggested shifting on the dash is for economy wise. People buy short shifters to be able to get up the gears quicker. 

Thanks mate - I’ll try that! Used to 5 speed diesel so need to adjust my driving. Appreciate you taking the time to help

7 minutes ago, Focus Newbie said:

Thanks mate - I’ll try that! Used to 5 speed diesel so need to adjust my driving. Appreciate you taking the time to help

I went the opposite way from a 5 speed petrol to a 6 speed diesel and it did take me a while to get used to it but you do eventually.

I have the Mk4 1.5 petrol with the newer Dragon engine so the comparison might not be the same plus the gear ratios might be different as well but I would never change up a gear until the revs were over 2500 rpm. If you change too early then not only will you put a lot of extra strain on the engine components but just as important the Drivetrain as well, including the Clutch. It is little wonder people suffer premature clutch failure when you see how some of them use their gearbox.

Not a direct comparison again with your car but 20mph=2nd gear, 30mph=3rd gear etc. I never change up to 6th until 60mph.

For my engine the Max engine speeds are 6300 continuous and 6500 Intermittent. If your car did have a GPF (luckily your one does not) then Ford recommend driving with varying revs in the 1500 to 4000rpm range from memory to clean the GPF when it becomes clogged. I normally do that anyway and have never had a clogged GPF.

I also came from the exact same car as you having driven Diesel cars for a long time but the changeover was easier for me because my works pool cars were mostly small petrol one so I was used to revving the guts out of them.

The short answer is to use the gears exactly the same way as you would if you were riding a Bike, if you change too early something will break.  

Thanks for the advice guys. Very interesting especially re using the revs more - something for me to adapt to. I spent a fair bit (for me) on this car so I don’t want to be damaging it because I am driving it wrong. The car itself tells me to change gear very early - around 1,500 revs (which I get is for economy) which even a non mechanically minded person like me thought that was too early. I’ll play around with changing 2,500 + revs. I generally do 0-10 - 1st, 10-20 - 2nd, 20-30 - 3rd, 30-40 - 4th, 40-50 -5th and figured 50+ - 6th. Seems 2,500 revs at least is what I will try and adjust to for changing gear. I have never heard of a gpf!! One of the reasons I switched to petrol was so many people I know having trouble with dpf - gpf is new one on me. I drove a mk4 1.5 st line - even had a deposit on it - loved it - very very nice car to drive - but it wasn’t to be (long story) so ended up with the 3.5 (?). Thanks again (thinking should have just got an automatic 🤣🤣🤣).

Like I said, if the max engine speeds are over 6000rpm then I don't know why some people break out into a cold sweat when the revs hit 2000.

All the Mk4 petrol engines have a GPF as far as I know and any newer car that you buy in the future will most probably have one as well. I have done a bit of Live Monitoring of my GPF Soot Loads and Exhaust Gas Pressure and have had no problems with them driving the way that I do. There have been a lot of reported GPF problems with the 1.0 engine cars and I don't know whether it is a problem with that engine or with the way that they are being driven. The truth is likely to be somewhere in between.

Incidentally I think the gear changes on the Automatic cars are tuned for economy and emissions, so are not likely to be ideal unless they are driven in Sport Mode. That is just my opinion though.   

TBH you just know when to shift as you can feel it needs to once you get used to the car.

2 hours ago, F0CUE said:

TBH you just know when to shift as you can feel it needs to once you get used to the car.

That’s how I’ve always done it mate. I never got my head around the mechanics of it (so when people talk about ‘matching revs’ I look at them like a goldfish looking at a housing benefit form). Always just had a feel for it and after 6 years in the old car it just became instinctive - which is probably why I’m unsure now coupled with 6 gears vs 5 and petrol vs diesel. I will try the higher revs thing over the next week or so on my way to and from work. Huge thanks for taking the time to give me advice - really appreciate it and nice work with getting the mark 4 - I really did like that car when I drove it.

On 12/1/2021 at 7:25 PM, Focus Newbie said:

Thanks mate - was concerned about damaging engine if I shift up too early, I’m still struggling with a smooth shift from 1st to 2nd but sort of getting used to it now. Really surprised at the difference in fuel economy vs the diesel - but then the flip side is this one has some go when you need it. Would you say 2000 -2500 revs is a good spot to aim for from 1st to 2nd? The revs drop a lot when changing 1st to 2nd and I’m trying to slow down my gear change (as my brother said - “you change gears like you’re in Fast & Furious - slow it down and it will be smoother”. Thanks for the reply and advice FOCUE

What's the fuel economy like on the 1.5 ecoboost?

16 hours ago, kingsblue said:

What's the fuel economy like on the 1.5 ecoboost?

Ahhh touchy subject this week! As a comparison my 1.6tdci I used to get around 52-55 mpg according to onboard computer. I used to fill up every 16-18 days and generally filled up when the gauge got to 1/4 fuel left (give or take). This car - had to fill up after 9 days!! Current fuel economy showing as 37.5 mpg. I don’t cain it by any means but maybe was less economy minded as was having a bit more ‘fun’ with it as a new toy. I’m also getting used to the differences with driving a 6 speed petrol vs my 5 speed diesel. The performance is significantly better (150 bhp vs 110 bhp on the diesel - and at 2k revs you can feel the turbo kick in), but seems it’s considerably less fuel efficient that what I had before. I’m now going to drive more economically and see if I can get that up to 40+ mpg. Hope that helps (my driving is mixture of town driving and A roads on my commute to work.

Sorry just to add - you just need to look at the accelerator on this car and it goes - whereas on the diesel you almost had to floor it to get acceleration - again something I need to adjust to which no doubt has an impact of fuel economy 

Quick update for anyone interested re fuel economy. Drove it very much with economy in mind (instant mph screen up on dash) and managed to get it up to about 44mpg. Not as fun to drive but just shows it can return decent figures if you drive it in an economical way