1L or 1.6L Ecoboost?

[Arwen]

Hit here, 

I am looking for a new car, and feel myself very drawn to the focus, especially the titanium spec ones. They seem to be a very nice place to be. I test drove a 2012 1.6 ecoboost (150) and really liked it. It felt smooth and the power was a very nice upgrade from my lethargic 56 plate 1.2 clio. 

The stated MPG figures for the 1.6 are ok in my books, I can live with slightly less. The 1l ecoboost figures however seem very high! And for 25hp less, seems daft for me not to consider it. So, for people who have driven both, or have one.
What do you think of them?
Does the 1l lack power at all?
What is the real life mpg figures for both? I tend to drive mostly around town, 7 mile each way commute on 30-50mpg roads. 
Are there any issues that are found more with one engine than the other?

 

I done a search for this info, but cannot find much "real life" info on the 1.6 ecoboost. 

[AJHMIDSUK]

hi

I chose the 1.6 tdci 2012 focus after looking at the mpg range I thought great on a good long journey I've pushed 70mpg but as an all-rounder getting to and from work I'm getting about 44 to 47 max which is along way off what's advertised as European mpg. The petrol models may be better I don't know to be sure but it depends on how many times you start stop, how many hills you go up if you can get up to max speed in the highest gear without having to give it much on the gas pedal that's the point I find you get the most mpg. To sum up I think you may find you may get less out than is advertised the figures for my car when I purchased it were 74 , 67, 58 hope that kind of helps all the best

[alexp999]

Don't get a diesel for a 7 mile commute, you'll have nothing but problems.

The 1.0 125PS 6 speed, is great fun, my mum has it in her car. Very light and playful front end.

The 1.6/1.5 has more power and is a bit more flexible but I don't find it as fun as wringing out the 1L.

For me personally, the 1.0 better suits the standard Focus character and the 1.6/1.5 left me feeling like I wanted an ST, which I ended up with, lol.

Ideally you need to test both, to be able to make up your own mind as it is ultimately a personal choice.

Don't believe the amazing MPG figures on the 1.0 though. It will do better than the 1.6, but not as good as the figures suggest. I reckon on a 7 mile commute you'lll get high 30s to low 40s from the 1.0 and high 20s to low 30s from the 1.6, depending on how you drive.

[Tom-B64]

This is probably completely irrelevant as I own a fiesta and not a focus, but with my 1.0 EcoBoost (I assume it's the same engine in the focus) I get 39 mpg and all I do is town driving with some 20-30 minute journeys here and there on the weekends.

[Arwen]

Thanks for the feedback. Yea I have discounted the diesels as they are not suitable for me in my view. My clio gets around 37mpg, I guess it is too good to be true that the 1.6 ecoboost would get around the same.   
I'm trying to arrange a test drive of the 1l, will see what it feels like. I guess I am worried that the 1l will feel very sluggish with a full load. Although it is not too often I carry a lot of stuff, and the 1l does seem to be more readily available on the second hand market. 

[alexp999]

You could make the 1.6 do 37mpg on your journey but you'd have to be off boost so you wouldn't be able to use any of the performance, which seems a bit counter productive.

I was designated driver in my mum's 1.0 and we had five of us in the car and it had no problem accelerating up the hill on a NSL.

You could always bring some friends/family long and try the car with and without it loaded.

It's not fast, but you honestly won't believe what Ford have got out of that little 1.0 until you try it. There is a good reason it won engine of the year 3 times in a row.

[mjt]

You've also always got the option of a remap. I looked at Superchips and it gets the 1.0 litre close to the 1.6 (unless you remap the 1.6, obviously) and with the lighter engine should be as good if not better.

[artscot79]

engine of the year till it broke lol the 1.0 isn't without its issues turbo issues being a high one as most people dont let them cool before switching the ignition off add to that its a 3 cylinder and needs revved which may effect how Lon these engines will last again adding remaps I'm skeptical the engine will survive long but alternatively try both they both have their merits and disadvantages

[alexp999]

Any engine has its issues.

They fit electric pumps to them now for cooling the turbo.

 

 

 

[Arwen]

When did they fit pumps to cool the turbo? Or is it simply a case of looking in the engine bay for it? (A picture would be great if someone can show me)

Is there a way to test turbos to see if they are ok, or going to fail soonish? I've never had one before...

 

 

[alexp999]

I'm not sure when it started.

They are on all facelifts. There is a small pump which you could probably spot if you knew exactly where to look.

They also have to be fitted to any car receiving a towbar (although obviously only Ford dealers would know this).

[JW1982]

Until 05-05-2014 the electric coolant pump is installed on the 1.0 ECOboost with a factory fitted towing hook only. After 05-05-2014 all 1.0 ECOboosts have the electric coolant pump as standard.

The electric coolant pump is only activated after the engine is switched off while the engine is still above a certain temperature value. These conditions usually only occurs in extreme conditions like during pulling heavy loads. In normal conditions the pump should not be activated. However this also depends on the PCM software version. On some software versions the pump is activated sooner/more often than on other software versions.

The electric coolant pump can easily be retrofitted. You only need the pump itself, a mounting bracket, a wiring loom and a few hoses. After these parts are installed the PCM needs to be reprogrammed.

 

The 1.6 ECOboost is a nice engine but personally I prefer the 1.0 ECOboost 125 HP. My parents own a 1.6 ECOboost 150 HP which I also drove a few times. My experience is that my 1.0 ECOboost is more quiet and uses a lot less fuel. There also are no big performance differences.

 

[alexp999]

My dealer quoted about £300 for the coolant pump to be fitted.

[mayo10uk]

1.5/1.6L ecoboost for sure !

Have fun and good economy !

Sent from my iPhone using Ford OC

[james1089]

I will never buy another small engine, it's just 2 much effort, comes with small nasty clutch as standard, if your holidaying and driving there, hire a car.

[alexp999]

Gearbox is the same in the 1.6 and 1.0 125 so wouldn't surprise me if clutch is same too.

1.0 punches weigh above its weight has to be driven to be believed imo.

 

[mjt]

4 hours ago, JW1982 said:

My experience is that my 1.0 ECOboost is more quiet

I find our 1.0 EcoBoost 125 is quite noisy when accelerating compared to the diesel it replaced and our 1.8HE petrol but ok when cruising.

[artscot79]

whichever you go for check it over thoroughly they aren't without their issues

gearbox clutch and dmf issues seem to be stacking up as is failures with surprise the dash cluster usb issues require a software upgrade and stop start problems

[kpg]

I'm interested in this also. Can't decide between the 1.6 or the 1.0 for purely performance reasons. Getting a bit sick of the sluggish tivct.

Sent from the pub with a pint in the other hand.

[mjt]

18 minutes ago, artscot79 said:

gearbox clutch and dmf issues seem to be stacking up

Does the 1.0 EcoBoost have a DMF? I thought that was only fitted to diesels. If it does I wonder if the noise I hear during acceleration is the DMF. If so I'd like to get it back to the dealer while it's still under warranty.

[artscot79]

The 1.0 125bhp has a dmf mates garage has seen a few with failures around 10-35k as for the dash cluster again a few which were referred to ford something to do with low voltage to the cluster despite being fixed it came back

 

the Ti vct is quicker Tha the 1.0 125 bhp on both paper and real life driving I've had a 1.0 for a week its decent enough but you've got to red line it to get the most out of it and hit a hill and watch it struggle I missed my ti vct if youres is sluggish you must have an issue

[TomsFocus]

Some petrols have DMFs these days, it's needed to stop all the torque wrecking the gearbox.  Old NA petrols don't have enough torque to worry about lol.

3 cylinders have a certain 'rough' noise though, heard it described as a 'thrum' before, which maybe what you're hearing. 

[kpg]

The 1.0 125bhp has a dmf mates garage has seen a few with failures around 10-35k as for the dash cluster again a few which were referred to ford something to do with low voltage to the cluster despite being fixed it came back

 

the Ti vct is quicker Tha the 1.0 125 bhp on both paper and real life driving I've had a 1.0 for a week its decent enough but you've got to red line it to get the most out of it and hit a hill and watch it struggle I missed my ti vct if youres is sluggish you must have an issue

I'll admit it's not as bad as it used to be. That's since the PCM update has made a dramatic improvement. It just doesn't feel fast :-/

Sent from the pub with a pint in the other hand.

[mjt]

8 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

3 cylinders have a certain 'rough' noise though, heard it described as a 'thrum' before, which maybe what you're hearing

It's more like a quite throaty growl. I know that with 3 cylinders the combustion cycles will be uneven but this was rather noisier than I was expecting. The reviews said the balance was pretty well sorted and it does seem to be, it's quite smooth..

[TomsFocus]

People spend loads at Powerflow and K&N for a noise like that...  

They are a bit growly but I admit I haven't spent enough time in one myself to know if it's annoyingly loud or not.