On the topic of gear ratios I was wondering how many revs at 30mph in 3rd gear are the 140's doing???   I'm doing about 1800 in my 125 and that is not enough to pull me up a steep hill at 30mph meaning I either have to speed or drop down to 2nd!!!

Never really noticed the rpm on our 140 Ecosport, if I need to put my foot down to get up a hill I just do it.

 

Trouble is down Devon there are some steep narrow twisty hills where its dangerous to speed.  

Using gears and revs should easily be able to get up a hill and not speed. Ignore the re counter and do what you need to do to make progress.

For example I need to crawl up one particular hill at say 20mph max to be safe and it just won't do it in 2nd.  I either have to boot it upto 30mph which is unsafe or go up in first at like 8mph!!!  I'm told the 140 has shorter gears, so do the focus 6 speeds. 

I'm considering buying a mk8 actually so need to look into that, I'm guessing they are six speed. 

5 minutes ago, Splatman said:

For example I need to crawl up one particular hill at say 20mph max to be safe and it just won't do it in 2nd.  I either have to boot it upto 30mph which is unsafe or go up in first at like 8mph!!!  I'm told the 140 has shorter gears, so do the focus 6 speeds. 

First gear will still do about 20mph, but it will be reving quite high and the trouble your describing is the same trouble most other vehicles have in Devon just because of how steep the hills are. I know in my friend's toureg (forgive the misspelling, and that vehicle has a towing capacity of over 3000kg) it was still having similar issues with 3 people in the car and nothing else on some Devon hills.

My dad's pug 308 1.2 gets up easily but it's 6 speed auto 

1 minute ago, Splatman said:

My dad's pug 308 1.2 gets up easily but it's 6 speed auto 

There is a key word in what you said, auto, an auto can cope with hills a lot better because the connection between the driving wheels and the engine doesn't have to be a rigid connection and an auto is better at picking the correct gear for the load than a human (unless it's a ford dual clutch power shift transmission, they are awful and best avoided)

I upgraded my brakes to st180 278mm discs because of the steep hills which was a good improvement cost me 700quid mind 

18 hours ago, Splatman said:

I'm considering buying a mk8 actually so need to look into that, I'm guessing they are six speed. 

All except the non-turbo 1.0 versions are 6 speed, 140 has lower gearing overall.

Mph per 1,000 is as follows (140 in brackets):

1st - 5.4 (4.84)

2nd - 9.5 (8.45)

3rd - 14.5 (12.99)

4th - 19.56 (17.59)

5th - 24.6 (21.6)

6th - 29.3 (26.16)

Figures for the 1.5 ST are virtually identical to the 140.

 

Have you got the figures for the mk7. 5?

39 minutes ago, Splatman said:

Have you got the figures for the mk7. 5?

Afraid not. They've probably been posted somewhere on here at some time. Alternatively if you could find a magazine road test from the models introduction around 2012/3 you'd probably find them there. The Autocar tests tend to be good for that kind of info.

I find the 5 speed in my fiesta awkward in 30mph zone hill traffic. Always feel like im straggling inbetween 2nd and 3rd gear so if the car in front of me slows down even a bit im dropping below 1500rpm and I end up changing down but if I speed up slightly I could change up lol. tbf it can get up the hill fine around 1500 but the engine doesnt sound too happy

Yeah the engine is bogging down under 2000rpm 

I think they are geared for economy hence the zero road tax but I find it an awkward set of gear ratios for climbing hills 

I wonder if you're overthinking this a bit.

We're similarly blessed with steep, tricky hills in parts of Yorkshire, in particular, where we've had our caravan for the last 20 years. Access is via a 1 in 4 up, followed by a 1 in 3 descent, and the reverse when leaving. Over the years we've done it (in no particular order) in:

Audi A3 2.0TDI, LR Freelander 2.2 TD4, Ka 1.3, Fiesta 1.6tdci, Fiesta 1.25, Fiesta ecoboost 140, Fiesta 1.5 ST, Seat Leon 1.8, Seat Mii 1.0, C-Max 1.6 182, and Focus 2.0 tdci. They've all struggled to some extent - just a case of finding a gear (usually first) that will actually get you up/down and adjusting speed to suit.

3 minutes ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

Access is via a 1 in 4 up, followed by a 1 in 3 descent, and the reverse when leaving.

Very impressed that you reverse up and down the hill with a caravan 😂

2 minutes ago, unofix said:

Very impressed that you reverse up and down the hill with a caravan 😂

Lol, it's a static, we only have to get the car in (thank heavens). The procedure when an old van is taken off site and a new one is delivered is something to behold, though!

On 1/20/2024 at 11:40 PM, Splatman said:

I upgraded my brakes to st180 278mm discs because of the steep hills which was a good improvement cost me 700quid mind 

Slightly off topic, but, how much?! 😮

I don't really want to go all the way up in first but that may be the best way in future.  I used to get up in 2nd OK in my mx5  with higher gearing (shorter gears) 

3 hours ago, mickywrx said:

Slightly off topic, but, how much?! 😮

Yeah they fleeced me a bit there.  New calipers,  carriers, discs and pads would of come to around £550 max so £150 to fit was a bit steep