Hello, I have owned a 2014 B max Ecoboost 1l for about 4weeks now and it is a really nice car, well looked after, full service history and had the wetbelt done in 2021 however I am finding that It takes longer to get through my gears than my other car which is a 2010 1.25 fiesta zetec is this right due to it being a smaller engine and a bigger car? and if it is any tips on how better to drive it so its not so noticable? I checked forscan and no errors and a big part of me is just thinking its a slower heavier car.

You need to drive it on boost, higher up the rev range, if you want to make better progress.

The engine being smaller capacity is negated by adding the turbocharger.

The 1.0 EcoBoost also comes in different power levels.  The 125bhp version would be better suited to the heavier B-Max than the 100bhp version.  You could have it remapped if you like, the engines are the same mechanically.

9 minutes ago, lordoftime79 said:

is this right due to it being a smaller engine and a bigger car?

Yes.

4 minutes ago, unofix said:

Yes.

I disagree.  The B-Max is only around 100Kg heavier than the Fiesta.  The most powerful 1.25 only has 82bhp, whereas the smallest 1.0 EcoBoost has 100bhp.  So the 1.0 still has a better power to weight ratio.  I suspect the gearbox and final drive are also making it feel slower though.

1 minute ago, TomsFocus said:

The B-Max is only around 100Kg heavier than the Fiesta. 

Trusting that is correct, 100Kg is not insignificant and it is taller and has a greater drag coefficient than a Fiesta. Personally I have generally found that smaller engines with turbos can only match a larger non-turbo engine if you are prepared to drive it like a 'get away' driver, otherwise they are quite lethargic.

I'd always opt for a larger non-turbo engine and just be able to drive it as and how I wanted with out feeling the need to take it towards the red-line just to be able to change gear without getting that deflated feeling when changing up.

 

We'll have to agree to disagree there.  I've found several large non-turbo petrol engines to be awful in large cars.  The 2.0 Duratec in a Mk3 Mondeo was horrific. 1.8 VVTi in an Avensis was horrific.  Even the 1.8 in a fairly light 306 was still slow compared to anything turbocharged...including the much less powerful diesel version.

Personally I'd always go with a turbo diesel over a large non-turbo petrol...and would never choose another small non-turbo petrol.

2 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

Personally I'd always go with a turbo diese

I'd agree with you on that. Something like a 2.0 EcoBlue 😉

1 minute ago, unofix said:

I'd agree with you on that. Something like a 2.0 EcoBlue 😉

But what about the wetbelts? 😮 

so would I be better turning off the gear change promts and driving it by engine tone like I have done every other car Ive ever had? (Mostly Escorts and Sierras)

I don't think there'd be a lot in it tbh. We don't know if the OP has a 100 or 125 but Ford quoted 0-62 times of 13.2 and 11.2 secs respectively. A 1.25 Fiesta was 13.3 secs.

Weight wise, the B-Max was quite a bit heavier - Ford quoted 1279kg against 1041kg for a 1.25 Mk 7 Fiesta. I guess that clever sliding door arrangement on the B-Max weighed a lot.

The Fiesta would "feel" quicker by virtue of its lower weight I think.

3 minutes ago, lordoftime79 said:

so would I be better turning off the gear change promts 

IMO, yes. They're generally pretty useless. In other cars, I've found the 1.0 Ecoboost needs to be kept over 2,000 rpm to "make progress", btw.

9 minutes ago, lordoftime79 said:

so would I be better turning off the gear change promts and driving it by engine tone like I have done every other car Ive ever had? (Mostly Escorts and Sierras)

They can't generally be turned off.  But they are designed for maximum efficiency.  So if you want more speed then you have to ignore them.

1 minute ago, TomsFocus said:

They can't generally be turned off. 

I assumed Adam meant just ignore the thing as most of us do. But if he found a way to turn them off on previous cars as mentioned, it would be interesting to know how!

pretty sure i saw an option for it in the settings so will report back when less hung over!

so I have spent sometime today getting better acquainted with the B max and I found this in the spare wheel well...  

what is it?

It's a tuning box.  Cheap alternative to a remap.  Looks like you're not the first owner to notice the lack of power on this car.  

40 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

It's a tuning box.  Cheap alternative to a remap.  Looks like you're not the first owner to notice the lack of power on this car.  

do these things actually do anything? I always thaught they was just snake oil with flashin lights?

1 minute ago, lordoftime79 said:

do these things actually do anything? I always thaught they was just snake oil with flashin lights?

The original ones were just a resistor in a box, fooling the engine into over-fuelling.  However the modern ones are slightly more sophisticated with a couple of chips on a PCB.  They still basically only fool the PCM into increasing fuel pressure and turbo boost though.  They'll never be as good as an individual tailored remap perfected using a rolling road.

16 minutes ago, lordoftime79 said:

I always thaught they was just snake oil with flashin lights?

Looks like a previous owner tried this to increase performance, discovered it was snake oil, and chucked it in the boot.😀

Never tried one myself, but some years back certain of these things seemed to have a decent reputation, though, particularly in VW/Audi circles. Tunit is one name I recall.

3 hours ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

Tunit is one name I recall.

Still around it seems. Not cheap either these days, by the looks of it!

https://tunit.com/results/?id=14505

1 hour ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

Still around it seems. Not cheap either these days, by the looks of it!

https://tunit.com/results/?id=14505

Wow!  Looks like the OPs cost less than £100.  Though it doesn't specify any actual bhp figures, just an 'up to' percentage...

 

so should i plug it in? see what happens?