Ford Focus. MPG

disley

The best my Ford Focus 1.4 on short runs gets is 24 MPG is this the norm ?

timmywex

dunno, but short runs have a lot of accelerating which uses a lot of petrol/diseal,

sounds bad all the same

bazz26

Even on short runs 24mpg sounds pretty poor for a 1.4 litre petrol car to me.

Might be worth bringing it to a garage and get it hooked up to a diagnostic computer.

maidhc

What is a short run?

If the car was doing nothing other than 2 mile trips to the shop with stop start driving, then it is surely conceivable that it would be pretty uneconomical.

Tipsy Mac

Most likely you are looking at the total mpg of the car since it was last reset, so the current trip is not accurate. Usually it's reset by holding down the trip/mpg button until it resets.

maidhc

I don't think any 1.4 Focus has a trip computer.

Marcus.Aurelius

a 1.4 used on short journeys could easily get that low. If the car doesn't get warmed up, this could happen. I had a Corolla that did around 28 when it was used for v short trips. Hope this is of some help. If you could take it for a good long drive, it would clean all the built-up polycarbon deposits and free up the engine. Should be much better after a good run. Low MPGs could also be caused by unequal tyre pressures or heavy loads.

Shane™

disley wrote:

The best my Ford Focus 1.4 on short runs gets is 24 MPG is this the norm ?

I had a loan of my mothers for a week, and on all motorway journeys after resetting the trip computer I managed to get 28MPG!!, that's with cruise control, 27 without, and it was 13 on the clock when I got it off her first.

Altreab

Shane&#8482 wrote:

I had a loan of my mothers for a week, and on all motorway journeys after resetting the trip computer I managed to get 28MPG!!, that's with cruise control, 27 without, and it was 13 on the clock when I got it off her first.

Dear God tell me theres something wrong with the car ....no WAY should any modern 1.4 LT car be that thirsty!!!

TychoCaine

I used to get 38MPG out of my old 1.4l Focus, and average in the low thirties pottering around town. If you're only getting 27 then you need to get it checked out. It could be a dodgy airflow sensor throwing the ECU out, or maybe even poor wheel tracking.

milltown

Tipsy Mac wrote:

Most likely you are looking at the total mpg of the car since it was last reset, so the current trip is not accurate. Usually it's reset by holding down the trip/mpg button until it resets.

I know nothing of the Focus but I would have thunk the opposite. The longer the time since the mpg has been reset, the truer the average mpg displayed. If the OP resets (if there's an OBC) and continues with the short trips it's likely to report a worse figure.

Or is this one of those hilarious April Fool's threads?

jesus_thats_gre

milltown wrote:

I know nothing of the Focus but I would have thunk the opposite. The longer the time since the mpg has been reset, the truer the average mpg displayed. If the OP resets (if there's an OBC) and continues with the short trips it's likely to report a worse figure.

Or is this one of those hilarious April Fool's threads?

Yeah but he is specifically talking about short journeys..

milltown

I may be wrong but I took the tone of the OP to be wondering if it was normal to be seeing such poor mileage from a small runaround. The slant of the thread seemed to be either what others were getting on small journeys or how to disprove the low figure. Tipsy's suggestion would only make the news worse. That's all I'm saying.

OldmanMondeo

Get the coil packs checked. We had a similar problem on the Wifes Focus. Car was driving very poorly and drinking the juice. Do not leave it to long, like we did. Ended up having to replace the Cat, Lamba Sensor as well as the coil pack. Cost well over €750. If you get the coil pack in time, it should cost around €150-200.

sneakyST

On short runs I get 20mpg from my ST. Somethings not right there. Get it checked

BrianD3

How old is this Focus? Our 1.4 Focus II bought new was thirsty for the first few thousand kms. I never worked out what it was doing but I'd estimate it was no more than 35 mpg and 90% of that driving was long journeys.

Henry Ford III

I have a 1.6. Getting 37.7 mpg on average. More longer trips than shorter ones, at around the speed limits.

TheDriver

Trip computer on zetec or LX (depending on year). I get roughly 600km for 45 euro and thats every sort of driving. Thats about 37 mpg I think (2006 1.4)

Our man in Havana

My 00 Escort 1.4 estate will give me 36 odd normally, 31 when fully loaded. And I thought it was bad.

mik_da_man

Hmmm..
I must check mine a bit more
Seems like I only get around 26 MPG if the trip computer is correct
on a 1.6 Ti-Vct 2006 Focus

Mainly to and from work - roughly 15 min spin
8 on a good day

Mik