Ford Focus: MPG-Real World Numbers

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177 messages, Last post on Mar 11, 2013 at 8:18 AM

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What is this discussion about? Ford Focus, Ford Focus SVT, Fuel Efficiency (MPG)

#41 of 177 2007 Ford Focus ZX4 ST 2.3l manual by waynebengston

Mar 18, 2007 (10:59 am)

Replying to: basiliskst (Oct 18, 2006 7:55 am)

I've got 9950 miles on my 2007 ST.

The comments on the 2005 ST also pertain to the 2007. It is a wonderful little car, IMO, the best "bang for the buck" in compact cars today. If I could change one thing, it would be to make it RWD. I traded a 1999 Miata in for the Focus, and the Focus is as much fun, in it's own way. If it were convertible and RWD, I'd not miss the Miata at all.

I've only made 2 modifications to the car. I replaced the stock rear sway bar with one 1mm larger, which gave the car near neutral handling, and replaced the mediocre Pirelli P6s with Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3s, of the same size as stock. Those two things really transformed the car.

I have kept very detailed records of fuel economy.

Overall is 27.01MPG with roughly 75% of that on cross country trips.

Worst fuel economy has been 20.41MPG with pure short trips and lots of idling. The next tank under the same conditions got me 21.96.

Normal Houston city commuting has been in the 24-25 MPG range.

Highway fuel economy has been higly dependent on speed.
Best has been 32.33MPG keeping speed in the 65-70MPH range.
70-75 usually gets 29-30MPG, while 80-85 nets 27-28MPG.

Looked at on a graph, fuel economy has been steadily climbing, especially in the first 5000 miles.

I wish the car had a higher final drive like the 2004s. I'm sure the fuel economy would be a good deal better, and I doubt acceleration would be hurt much, as the engine has torque to spare.

#42 of 177 Re: 2005 Ford Focus ZX4 ST 2.3l manual [basiliskst] by dball1

Apr 21, 2007 (10:19 pm)

Replying to: basiliskst (Oct 18, 2006 7:55 am)

Ditto to most everything written here. I too bought a used 05 ST with 25775 miles on it. My mileage has been consistently at 29.8 for the past three months. I gave up a fully loaded 05 Altima and paid cash (11288 incl tt&l)for this car and I absolutely LOVE it. I had a 96 Escort all the way till last summer when someone hit my daughter on the highway at 70 mph ad spun her. She was hit two more times by two other cars before coming to a stop. She had a cut on her foot and her two passengers were uninjured. The car was a total loss but actually, still started one more time even with the pulleys on the right side of the engine smashed in! I carry a piece of the front grill in the trunk of my Focus. I know, that's nuts but I can't help it. The car had 160000+ on it and still had the original clutch! I had recently replaced the original hoses and radiator on the car... Original hoses!!

This ST is like the Escort on steroids. Very fun to drive, loaded like the Nissan was and I'll take Ford reliability over Nissan any day. If you're thinking Focus, you owe it to yourself to test drive an ST!

#43 of 177 Focus mileage by lee292

Jan 27, 2008 (5:00 am)

We have two Focuses (Foci?). The '07 SE with standard engine, 15" wheels and auto gets between 27 and 33 mpg, while the '01 ZX3 with the Zetec engine, 5 speed and 16" wheels varies between 24 and 35 mpg. They have 48K and 85K miles, respectively.

#44 of 177 Re: Ford Focus Owners: MPG-Real World Numbers [KarenS] by jimtx

Feb 08, 2008 (2:55 pm)

Replying to: KarenS (Sep 02, 2005 8:22 am)

I drive my 200 ZX3 a mix of city and highway, mostly to work and back, and have consistently gotten an average of 29.5 mpg. I tend to drive at about 70mph on the highway and could probably improve my mileage by slowing down a bit. On the other hand, I have gotten 80,000 miles on my first set of front brakes, so I must not be wasting too much gas mileage to braking.

#45 of 177 2001 FOCUS LX SEDAN 33 MPG by mark1960

Mar 22, 2008 (6:48 pm)

I purchased a used 2001sedan LX earlier this year. White in colour and very clean, although I have found out it has had a respray, it had 105,000 miles on it. I purchased it after seeing it advertised online from a five star dealership ( Chrysler ) after running a carfax report on it which turned up no nasties. I paid $3900 plus fees and tax. I am very impressed with the economy, I drive 125 miles a day to and from work, and about 70% of my miles are freeway, and after five tanks of gas I am getting 33.4 MPG overall which is excellent.
A nice easy car to drive and park, smooth manual gearbox, an all round nice economy car. So far very pleased.
Mark.

#46 of 177 Great gas mileage on 2008 Focus by leroyan

Mar 26, 2008 (5:51 pm)

I have about 2,000 miles on my Focus now and bought it Feb 13, 2008. I average about 35 mpg. I wanted to get a car with good gas mileage and able to fit a lot in the trunk and the Focus does that. I have a 5 speed transmission which is the first vehicle I have owned with a manual transmission. My last tank I got 450 miles on the tank. I have noticed that with a strong head wind driving 65mph the mpg does drop down to 32 - 33. I also did some experimenting and noticed that driving 40 mph I get 45 - 50 mpg. Of course no one drives at that speed much but it tells you what speed differences do. At 55 mph I get 37 - 38 mpg. Back and forth to work I get about 35 mpg. That includes interstate at 65 mph, two lane road at 55 and a small amount of town driving. My 97 Taurus that also does good on gas mileage only averaged about 27 mpg going back and forth to work. I also like the Sync which is really cool. Nice car so far.

#47 of 177 2000 ZX3 by rincon1840

Apr 16, 2008 (4:00 pm)

Usually between 27 and 31. Pretty good for a 124K car.

#48 of 177 2007 Focus SE Great MPG by gearslammer1

May 05, 2008 (6:09 am)

I bought my 2007 Focus SE 2.0l about 2-3 months ago when it had about 1200 miles on it. I have been getting about 34-37 MPG with about 80% highway. I had one trip on the interstate where I did get 40 MPG. I have a little over 4000 miles on it now and I wonder what kind of mpg I will see in the future. This is a big improvement over my 2003 Ford Ranger I was driving it was getting around 18 mpg. Since I drive over 80-100 miles a day this car is paying for itself in gas savings alone. Its always nice to give your money to someone else or save it instead of giving it to the oil companys. I am also a big guy and having a car that gets good gas mileage and is comfortable I thought was going to be a challenge but not with this car it has plenty of room.

#49 of 177 Low Fuel Light ?? by randomness

May 27, 2008 (8:24 pm)

Do ALL the focuses have the "low fuel" light?

I always refill my tank around 293 miles because that's when it's practically on the E. Once I let it get lower and at one point while driving it seemed like it was going to run out soon it was acting werid.

Also I average about 26mpg with my 05 Sedan...mostly highway driving and I tend to speed but I don't do a lot of braking or stop and go.

#50 of 177 Averaging 37.5 by carlt1

Jul 04, 2008 (3:09 am)

My 08 Automatic SE has 3500 miles on it and gets better and better mileage. On a 60 mile trip to New Haven (mostly I-95 rolling hills) I hit 50mpg at the end of the trip just as I got to the slow down at the usual construction slow down outside the city. I drive very carefully to maximize efficiency. Passing up a Prius ws not that bad an idea since most of my trips are short.
carl

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