Ford Focus Titanium 2012 1.6 TDCI MPG not as good as old 1.6 TDCi 2010

[Woodehlol]

Hello all,

Basically I loved my 2010 FORD FOCUS DIESEL HATCHBACK 1.6 TDCI STYLE 5DR [110] [DPF] MANUAL and had it up to 119500 miles. It regularly got up to 54-56 mpg when commuting 5mins on country roads, 20mins motorway driving. It was sitting at 53.6mpg when I sold her privately last night :(

After a year of looking and waiting for the right car/deal I decided the time was right to upgrade and bought a private 2012 FORD FOCUS DIESEL HATCHBACK 1.6 TDCI 115 TITANIUM 5DR MANUAL (ECOnetic) version. It has 69000 miles, full service history and last weeks MOT shows 0 advisories. I am only getting 48mpg :( I am gutted about this. When asking fellow focus mk3 1.6 diesel users they are also getting 48/49mpg.

I regularly use the cruise control at 70/74mph on motorway driving and think I drive efficently. The last service was 6months ago by a small garage in lancaster where i bought it. Is there a good chance the MPG on my new titanium focus will improve if I put the car through an arnold clark full service? I also miss the 2010 style's steering options of comfort, standard and speed :(

I am wondering if I can do anything to improve the MPG? without doing silly stuff like driving down hills with no accelarator etc.

Let me know if you need more information.

Thanks very much

Shaun

 

[FatHead1979]

18 minutes ago, Woodehlol said:

Hello all,

Basically I loved my 2010 FORD FOCUS DIESEL HATCHBACK 1.6 TDCI STYLE 5DR [110] [DPF] MANUAL and had it up to 119500 miles. It regularly got up to 54-56 mpg when commuting 5mins on country roads, 20mins motorway driving. It was sitting at 53.6mpg when I sold her privately last night :(

After a year of looking and waiting for the right car/deal I decided the time was right to upgrade and bought a private 2012 FORD FOCUS DIESEL HATCHBACK 1.6 TDCI 115 TITANIUM 5DR MANUAL (ECOnetic) version. It has 69000 miles, full service history and last weeks MOT shows 0 advisories. I am only getting 48mpg :( I am gutted about this. When asking fellow focus mk3 1.6 diesel users they are also getting 48/49mpg.

I regularly use the cruise control at 70/74mph on motorway driving and think I drive efficently. The last service was 6months ago by a small garage in lancaster where i bought it. Is there a good chance the MPG on my new titanium focus will improve if I put the car through an arnold clark full service? I also miss the 2010 style's steering options of comfort, standard and speed :(

I am wondering if I can do anything to improve the MPG? without doing silly stuff like driving down hills with no accelarator etc.

Let me know if you need more information.

Thanks very much

Shaun

 

Just compared the 2 models on Parkers.co.uk and officially they should perform very close the each other (in terms of performance and efficiency).  Unfortunately I don't have any personal experience of driving a MK3 1.6 TDCi regularly so don't know if you're experience is the norm.  If anything the MK3 should be slightly more efficient because the engine was revised and the car is actually slightly lighter than a MK2.

You mention about full service history, when was the last time it had a proper service i.e. including the all important fuel filter?  Modern diesels REALLY don't get on well with manky fuel filters.

[Woodehlol]

see above service history. Havent got the manual to hand so cant take a better picture until I get home tonight. Do you think a full service from Arnold clark would improve my MPG? especially if I mention the poor MPG performance to them and make sure they include the all important air filter in the service?

 

Cheers

Shaun

[FatHead1979]

I'd be more bothered about the fuel filter TBH, they don't take long to get all crapped up and can significantly impact engine performance.  I'm lucky that my 1.8 TDCi uses a simple paper cone fuel filter which costs £6-7 (even for a decent brand).

Might be worth ring the garage you carried out the last service to conform what should have been done.  My I bought my car a few years ago I called the Ford dealer who had done all the servicing for the previous owner and they were quite happy to answer questions are what work had previously been done on the car.

[andypsp]

hi shaun i do the same type of driveing as you 10 mins down country lanes and 10mins on the motorway each morn and afternoon i get 55.8mpg . why not try resetting the stored settings and give it 2 weeks and see what you get now your the new driver. your car hasn`t been serviced since last may. so start by looking at the air filter to see what state thats in (you never know they may not have changed it at last service). get the oil and oil filter replaced, and the important fuel filter (£23 and 15 mins to replace if you know a good indy garage) 

[Woodehlol]

Thanks very much for the replies and suggestions guys. When I picked up the car the previous owners were on 49mpg average. I asked them what sort of driving they were doing and they said mostly town driving so presumed my mpg would go up to 55-58 when I hit the motorway.

i reset the mpg counter the day I bought it however still on 49mpg.

i’ll reset Again, give it a couple of weeks and if I’m still under 50mpg i’ll Take the car to a garage and start asking about the air and fuel filter

 

any more suggestions appreciated 

thanks again

shaun

[andypsp]

take the air-filter houseing off tomorrow only 4 screws holding it down and have a quick look at the air-filter you`ll soon see if it`s clean or dirty  best speed to do is around 55mph.

have you tried putting a bottle of fuel cleaner into a full tank af fuel (wynns, redex etc)

[drsdriver]

I used to own the same model and year as you last year. Owned it for 3 years . 

I always used Shell v power, tyres pumped up to 35 psi all round, and 6 monthly oil changes. 

Fuel filter and air filter changed annually. 

I did find the motorway used more fuel than A roads due to the higher speeds involved.

can try keeping your motorway speed to 65 - 70 max. 

I used to achieve 650 miles to a tank , but that’s being careful with acceleration and not over speeding. 

[FatHead1979]

10 hours ago, andypsp said:

best speed to do is around 55mph.

Aye, it's the best speed to do if you like being overtook by 82 years olds towing a caravan 

[Randoms]

Hi Shaun,

I have the same car as you and get around the same mpg as you mentioned.

I'd try air/fuel filter change as mentioned by others.

Also put a can of BG244 (sell it at kick for, £20) in the tank the next time you fill up.

I've tried redex & wynns before but never noticed any difference.

BG244 on the other hand definitely improved my mpg & made engine run smoother so I use it twice a year.

Ford were ambitious with the 60+mpg quotes for the MK3 I think.

Mind having said that I once got 61.4mpg from Newcastle to Inverness with a full car (4 persons, dog & boot full to window).

 

[madmole]

I average around 55 on trips similar to you with my 115. However its chipped to 153 8-) which improved the economy. Going carefully I have managed 70mpg on a 300 mile motorway trip at 70--75

For a start you need a level playing field so new air filter and Fuel filter required. 

Then put a bottle or Archoil 6400-D through it to clean it all out (great stuff)

Then allow for its winter and we are on winter diesel at the moment which is crap for economy anyway

Plus the car needs to learn your new style of driving and reprogram itself

 

Maybe worth plugging in Forscan and trigger a relearn of all the values