Need help with choosing my first focus good mpg

[Herrwibi]

Hi all,

 

So currently driving a cupra 300 i love it but my circumstances have changed and maybe once or twice a month i'll be needing to drive down to Southampton this will be roughly 472 miles each way. This might not be every month but apart from that my average daily commute to work and gym is around 14 miles and even less if i'm off work. 

 

I've been looking at the 1.0 ecoboost 125 st-line x . A friend of mine has one who travels 30 miles each way to work and averages around 49-52mpg , i'm more concerned if the 1.0l engine would handle those kind of miles or would i be better looking at the 1.5 diesel or 1.5 petrol 182 and going down that route? I'm not sure how good the mpg are on the 1.5 182 ecoboost.

 

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. 

[Eric Bloodaxe]

Hi Mark,

Not sure what age of Focus you're looking at but there are numerous threads on here concerning issues with the 1.0 and 1.5 ecoboost as used in the Focus Mk 3/3.5 up to 2018, which you may want to have a good look through.

I'm guessing though, that as you've put "2019" you are looking at the current Mk 4/4.5 which has revised engines which do not (as yet) seem to have the same issues. There have been lots of reports of software issues on the 1 .0, though, throwing up messages in respect of clearing the gpf. These seem mostly to have been dealt with by a software update. The 1.5 3 cyl does not seem to have had the same issues and is generally well-liked by owners on here, though it is no longer available new on the Focus.

If you are seriously looking at good economy diesel may be the better choice, (and there certainly seem less reported issues with the 1.5 diesel) though other than your Southampton trips your projected mileage is pretty low. I ran diesels for some years but I was doing 30k + per year - the fuel cost/tax situation was much more favourable then and there were no dpfs to bother about in those days, either.

Purely personal opinion, but taking into account the cost/hassle of swapping cars, particularly if you love what you have now, I'd think carefully about hanging on to the Cupra and going easy with the right foot!😀  

 

 

 

[unofix]

Roger has made some very good points above.

My advice would be to stay well away form any Ecoboost engine especially the 1.0

If you still feel the urge to have crazy ecoboost thoughts 🤔 then don't buy any that are 2014 or older.

[Herrwibi]

5 hours ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

Hi Mark,

Not sure what age of Focus you're looking at but there are numerous threads on here concerning issues with the 1.0 and 1.5 ecoboost as used in the Focus Mk 3/3.5 up to 2018, which you may want to have a good look through.

I'm guessing though, that as you've put "2019" you are looking at the current Mk 4/4.5 which has revised engines which do not (as yet) seem to have the same issues. There have been lots of reports of software issues on the 1 .0, though, throwing up messages in respect of clearing the gpf. These seem mostly to have been dealt with by a software update. The 1.5 3 cyl does not seem to have had the same issues and is generally well-liked by owners on here, though it is no longer available new on the Focus.

If you are seriously looking at good economy diesel may be the better choice, (and there certainly seem less reported issues with the 1.5 diesel) though other than your Southampton trips your projected mileage is pretty low. I ran diesels for some years but I was doing 30k + per year - the fuel cost/tax situation was much more favourable then and there were no dpfs to bother about in those days, either.

Purely personal opinion, but taking into account the cost/hassle of swapping cars, particularly if you love what you have now, I'd think carefully about hanging on to the Cupra and going easy with the right foot!😀  

I love my cupra but its far too thirsty on fuel no matter how easy i am with my right foot haha, I've done the journey once and only averaged around 40mpg . Is there any fiesta's you would recommend ?

Sorry i should of mentioned its the 4 and up i'm looking at . So your suggestion is stick to the 1.5l ecoblue 120? Has there been any reports from the 2.0l ecoblue 190 diesel ? It has good power and the mpg doesn't seem too bad and with being at a constant speed of 70mph on the motorway i can imagine the mpg wouldn't be too bad?

I would be looking to do around 17k miles a year with traveling down south and daily commutes, i also don't want to hammer the miles on my cupra as it has a coolant leak but i refuse to pay for it with trading in the car in the foreseeable future anyway. 

Thank you for your response. 

5 hours ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

 

 

 

 

[unofix]

50 minutes ago, Herrwibi said:

Has there been any reports from the 2.0l ecoblue 190 diesel ? It has good power and the mpg doesn't seem too bad and with being at a constant speed of 70mph on the motorway

Gets around 56 - 58 mpg

[Tizer]

44 minutes ago, Herrwibi said:

I love my cupra but its far too thirsty on fuel no matter how easy i am with my right foot haha, I've done the journey once and only averaged around 40mpg . Is there any fiesta's you would recommend ?

Sorry i should of mentioned its the 4 and up i'm looking at . So your suggestion is stick to the 1.5l ecoblue 120? Has there been any reports from the 2.0l ecoblue 190 diesel ? It has good power and the mpg doesn't seem too bad and with being at a constant speed of 70mph on the motorway i can imagine the mpg wouldn't be too bad?

I would be looking to do around 17k miles a year with traveling down south and daily commutes, i also don't want to hammer the miles on my cupra as it has a coolant leak but i refuse to pay for it with trading in the car in the foreseeable future anyway. 

Thank you for your response. 

If you are doing that sort of mileage and journeys it would be silly not to go for a Diesel. I used to do twice monthly journeys down south as well and it gets boring so you tend to go as fast you can when you can safely, plus in the busier parts it is difficult to keep a constant speed so you use more fuel.

Your friend is lucky to get that sort of consumption and that maybe because of the type of roads he drives on.

I still have a Mk4 Brochure and here are some of the consumption figures. I have the 1.5 Petrol 150bhp model and my running average is about 43mpg. That is nearly all running around town.

I did have a 1.0  140bhp Fiesta Active courtesy car for six weeks and the difference in consumption was only about 1 or 2 better despite it being a smaller car and a lot of that mileage included a run to Staffordshire. 

All the figures are for Manual 5 Door cars.

1.0 125bhp - 46.3 to 49.6

1.5 150bhp - 44.8 to 46.3

1.5 182bhp - 43.5 to 44.1

1.5 120bhp - 57.6 to 62.8 Diesel

2.0 150bhp - 54.3 to 57.6 Diesel

If I was still doing a lot of mileage I would love the 2.0 Diesel. The speed times are almost the same as my Petrol but it has loads more Torque. Having said that I am very happy with my 150bhp Petrol car, I would not be happy with a 1.0 Petrol but that is just a personal choice.

[Eric Bloodaxe]

 

3 hours ago, Herrwibi said:

I've done the journey once and only averaged around 40mpg . Is there any fiesta's you would recommend ?

As John mentions, most people don't get much better mileage from a Fiesta compared to an equivalent Focus. Everybodys circumstances/driving styles are different, but for reference I don't get much better mpg from my current Fiesta (mid 40s to low 50s) than I did from my previous 180 Leon FR. 40 from a Cupra sounds pretty good to me, tbh.

However, on the diesel front, and speaking purely personally again, I would certainly prefer a 2.0 litre in a Focus size car. The 190 version which has been mentioned (no longer available new) was only available in the ST version of the Focus which might suit as you like your Cupra. 

If you are looking at a Fiesta (which is an enjoyable drive it you don't need more space) you are limited to a 1.5tdci if considering a recent car (Mk 8), though the diesel option is no longer available new and used ones are not that common compared to petrols.

Point to note is the Fiesta kept the wet belt ecoboost longer than the Focus, so you need to be looking for an MHEV (125 or 155) (early 2020 on) to be sure of the revised version, If looking at petrols.

 

 

[RMurphy195]

mines a 1.5 ecoblue diesel.

Day-to-day mpg is around 55mpg.

A long motorway trip will reliably give me 65-70mpg. With a light right foot I have had 72mpg on such a run but this is rare.

A recent trip to Donegal from Brum, mixed motorway (up to Carlisle), then A roads and equivalent gave me 62 mpg there, and again 62mpg back. To Cairnryan from Brum it was 68mpg, came down to 62mpg for the whole 480 mile journey, going around the north coast of NI before heading for Letterkenny where I refilled the tank with 35 litres of fuel.

Your monthly round-trip will keep the DPF clear I would think. But you would need a good run on the motorway for 1/2 hour every 2 or 3 weeks if you don't do the long runs, using the instructions in the owners manual Engine Emission Control section of the handbook even if you don't get a warning light (call it "preventative Maintenance"! DPF

[TomsFocus]

13 hours ago, Herrwibi said:

I love my cupra but its far too thirsty on fuel no matter how easy i am with my right foot haha, I've done the journey once and only averaged around 40mpg . Is there any fiesta's you would recommend ?

Is it manual or DSG out of interest?  I briefly owned a 2.0 TSI (190) FR Sport a couple of years ago.  They're DSG only which turned out not to be suitable for me.  But I was amazed how good it was on fuel...  It was delivered half way across the country, having averaged nearly 50mpg in Eco mode!  It also did better on local roads than the 1.5 EcoBoost (150) Focus that replaced it, and albeit a much shorter test, the 1.5 TSI (150) in the Mk8 Golf as well.  The 1.0 EcoBoost MHEV (155) that then replaced that managed slightly more MPG, but really enough considering it's only half the capacity!  

 

[Wino]

You DO NOT NEED A LONG RUN in the Mk4 diesel to eliminate the dpf issues. A steady title around town for 15 to 20 minutes is easily enough.

Fir the distances you travelling I'd be looking more at comfort spec  but out of the two I'd probably go with 2.0l 150bhp rather than the 120bhp ( which I currently have).

[Frowma]

Hahaha, 1.5 182bhp - 43.5 to 44.1 I flippin wish. Well, on the motorway yes it'll do that, but once you average in all the stupid little round town / stop / start sections that soon plummets.

I have a 2019 ST-Line X auto estate with the 1.5 182 engine, it's really great to drive, I love it.

Recently I had to collect our daughter from Heathrow, we live in Kent, it's about a 105 mile journey. I zeroed the trip when I brimmed the tank, the journey to Heathrow was really clear (had to be there at 1:30pm). Steady 70ish all the way, no stop start traffic, I was gobsmacked. The computer showed 48.9mpg when I parked up. The return trip wasn't so good, big tailbacks at the M3 and then where the M26 merges into the M20, the computer showed 45.2 when I got home.

Now that I'm generally doing round town and a smaller portion of motorway journeys it is hovering around the 40mpg mark. I reckon a more realistic average is 38 - 40. I drive in Eco mode pretty much all the time as well, Sport mode only ever engages when I have to overtake on a country road. If you drive a bit spiritedly then you'll be lucky to hit 35.

For your use case it'd have to be the stinky diesel. 

[Tizer]

5 hours ago, Frowma said:

Hahaha, 1.5 182bhp - 43.5 to 44.1 I flippin wish. Well, on the motorway yes it'll do that, but once you average in all the stupid little round town / stop / start sections that soon plummets.

I have a 2019 ST-Line X auto estate with the 1.5 182 engine, it's really great to drive, I love it.

Recently I had to collect our daughter from Heathrow, we live in Kent, it's about a 105 mile journey. I zeroed the trip when I brimmed the tank, the journey to Heathrow was really clear (had to be there at 1:30pm). Steady 70ish all the way, no stop start traffic, I was gobsmacked. The computer showed 48.9mpg when I parked up. The return trip wasn't so good, big tailbacks at the M3 and then where the M26 merges into the M20, the computer showed 45.2 when I got home.

Now that I'm generally doing round town and a smaller portion of motorway journeys it is hovering around the 40mpg mark. I reckon a more realistic average is 38 - 40. I drive in Eco mode pretty much all the time as well, Sport mode only ever engages when I have to overtake on a country road. If you drive a bit spiritedly then you'll be lucky to hit 35.

For your use case it'd have to be the stinky diesel. 

The Book figures were for 5 Door Manual cars as stated. Automatics, Estates and Active cars have worse fuel consumption figures.

[Tolly]

I'm delighted with my Mk4 2.0 150bhp diesel estate.  58 mpg on a recent 450mile run to Glasgow including the inevitable bits of stop/start on the M6, decent economy around town too.  Have had no dpf issues but I do have a good mix of journey types -  a 50 mile motorway trip most weeks.  Good performance as well.  The computer mpg seems pretty accurate when I've checked on refilling the tank etc, unlike my old Golf diesel that was very optimistic in its calculations.

[BertieB82]

I have a 2009 Zetec S 125bhp

I have an ongoing fault I can't seem to bottom, it's going in for diagnostics this week. Basically on startup the engine fires up and then dies almost immediately, 2nd turn of the key it stays on and runs, however my economy is awful. 

 

Recent 200mile trip it averaged 33mpg,I reset the counter before setting off, around town its in 20's so my running average is at 30.3 right now. 

My wrx wasn't this thirsty and that used to take some boot 😂