except that to maintain the 70mph you need to change gear smart arse !

“i do wish that cars manufacturers would try to lighten their cars a bit more. i feel there should be a bigger version of the aygo. cut most of the dash away, slim down the seats, use more composites, smaller engines with big turbos, remove carpets minimize the amount of windows (as glass is pretty heavy) and maybe get rid of electric everything as motors are pretty heavy too. maybe a golf at under a ton? “

i like your thinking !

i do wish that cars manufacturers would try to lighten their cars a bit more.

All the modern safety kit adds weight plus you’d expect a heavier car to be safer than a light one (everything else being equal) – for passive safety anyway.

My old motorhome had 90bhp (2.0TDi Fiat based) and at 3500kg was very slow.

That does sound a bit weedy 🙂 Mine’s 90hp (or at least that’s what it claimed to have when it was new 18 years ago…) but MTPLM is a mere 2500kg. Racing weight 🙂

My 1968 beetle had a 44 bhp engine, which simply wasn’t up to the job.
It’s now got a 115 bhp engine and I feel much safer when driving it 😆

But I am lucky to get 20mpg with those lovely twin 40s sucking in the juice

except that to maintain the 70mph you need to change gear smart arse !/quote]
Well it’s never been out of 5th on a motorway’s or DC (unless it drops to car park speeds) and I’m rarely out of 5th on A roads either, and it’ll overtake just fine without changeing gears

That does sound a bit weedy

It was. It couldn’t maintain 70mph up any kind of incline on the motorway and it had to be driven with the right foot planted to the floor most of the time and with lots of changing down for hills.

The Ford based on is much better – quite capable of holding 85mph+ on the autobahn. Not that you’d want to as it’s thirst for diesel at those sorts of speeds has to be experienced to be believed.

i do wish that cars manufacturers would try to lighten their cars a bit more

Most of the weight is safety cage I reckon. Look at the size of the A pillars on old cars – they are like matchsticks.

It’s now got a 115 bhp engine and I feel much safer when driving it

That is an illusion 🙂

errr care to get with the program – i have specifically said im talking about a 1.4 focus not the **** 1.6 you have ! i said above already that the 1.6 is infact a nice car to drive compared to the 1.4 !

Duty-wise my Focus 1.6 TDCI is £0 per year, so still can’t see a lot of reason to try this 1.0l version if the mpg is that much worse.

I’ve just found the reason to buy a one litre weedy engined car, it won’t go fast enough to crash like a proper car 😛

So errr…. back to the original question, has anyone got any actual experience of the 1.0 ecoboost?
I’m not really interested in whether people think small turbo petrol engines are any good or not (I’ve had bigger petrols and diesels before and I’m perfectly happy with the 1.4 tsi in the golf 🙂 ), more whether the little Ford motor compares well.

Duty-wise my Focus 1.6 TDCI is £0 per year, so still can’t see a lot of reason to try this 1.0l version if the mpg is that much worse

1) lots of short trips
2) reduced cost of failure (although not as much as a normal petrol, since it has a turbo)

Although I would like to point out that a Prius is better still on emissions, power and size 🙂 Costs more tho.

Glen, as I mentioned before, I’ve driven one. Nice, responsive, revvy, but a bit more thirsty than I’d either like or expect. Doesn’t feel under-powered, certainly doesn’t feel like a 1.0.

i do wish that cars manufacturers would try to lighten their cars a bit more. i feel there should be a bigger version of the aygo. cut most of the dash away, slim down the seats, use more composites, smaller engines with big turbos, remove carpets minimize the amount of windows (as glass is pretty heavy) and maybe get rid of electric everything as motors are pretty heavy too. maybe a golf at under a ton?

Errrm, they did that in the 80’s, things have moved on slightly.

Thanks nick

My dad bought a new focus last year, and was invited down yesterday to test drive this 1.0 litre thing.
He was very impressed, and even rang me to tell so.
As a bit of history my old man’s background is bigger torquey diesel cars, I have his 2.0 tdi mondeo now.
He told the ford chap who took him out, he would leave it another year to see if there were any problems with them..
Get thee down there and test drive.

Skywalker, are you 12 and get all your info from car magazines?

Lots of us on here are grown ups and we actually own and run cars. Me in my own stupidity has owned over 30. From Morris to Porsche, petrol to diesel.

Come back in 10 years when you have passed your test.

I’ve not driven the 1.0 ecoboost, but I’ve driven a Fiat TwinAir which is similar small engine turbo engine.

Before I’d driven that, I’d have said that it was a silly idea. Low power, won’t accelerate and have to thrash it everywhere all the time. But if Ecoboost is anything like the Twin air (bigger, heavier car admittedly) then I’d seriously consider one and I think lots of people would be impressed. I loved it, it was genuinely fun to drive!

Not masses of power, but you get the power through more of the rev range which makes it faster in everyday terms.

Although they claim 60-65mpg for the Fiat Twin Air and I haven’t heard many people getting above 50.

What Car really rate it. I’ve go a Skoda Yeti 1.2. TSI and really like the engine, but will look at the Focus when it’s time to change.

Skywalker, are you 12 and get all your info from car magazines?

Lots of us on here are grown ups and we actually own and run cars. Me in my own stupidity has owned over 30. From Morris to Porsche, petrol to diesel.

Come back in 10 years when you have passed your test.

I’m 39, been driving since I was 18 and have definitely owned more than 30 cars. Currently drive a TVR Cerbera and a Focus RS.

Come back when you have some experience, boy.

Yawn

trail_rat – Member

focus is a big car to haul round with 125bhp

Just to add another -1… My dad’s hatch has the old, peaky 1.6 in it, makes just shy of 100bhp, not fast obviously but perfectly acceptable. Likewise my estate with its 90bhp endura TDDI bilgepump. Both pretty entertaining to drive, too (and at legal speeds) though mine does corner with all the elegance and accuracy of a spacehopper thrown down an escalator.

As an aside, I think this thread now needs some custard.

Why can’t cars be sold as a cheap no frills form of transport instead of all of the other bull that the marketing man try’s to sell us.
A car for me should be cheap, economical, able to carry 4 people with luggage and above all be fun to drive.
You don’t need lots of power and crap like leather seats, front fogs, climate control thick carpets and fancy cup holders.
Put the seats close to the ground, strip out the sound proofing and fit narrow tyres and 30mph becomes fun.
Ever driven a mini?

There really are some prize ***** posting (well 2 noticeable ones). What is it about car threads that brings out the gobshites?

Our 2 diesels are good only after 10 miles or so. These new turbo petrols warm up more rapidly so for shorter runs are better.

Plus on diesels factor in cambelts, DPF, DMF, and the higher cost of diesel. The modern VW TSI units do away with cambelts.

I do about 25k/year so a diesel makes sense (I can get high 30s out of my T5) but my wifes 8k a year makes less although for the first two years of ownership her VW was doing more. It’s paid for so no point in changing just yet.

Making some very interesting reading here folks………….. If anyone lives in the Wakefield Area and fancies a go a 1.0 ecoboost Focus inbox me, as I think you’ll all be very surprised how powerful it really is.

Spot on mikertroid, the true cost of running a derv can be significantly higher, especially the new ones with the particulate filters.

If buying new the the Derv car are probably ok but buying 3 year old with 60 k miles thats a different story.

I drive 40 miles a day to/from work along a quiet A road, so Derv is the only way to go, i get 70 mpg on a good day. Wifes car is also Derv but she does 1-2mile trips around town and get 30mpg at best. A petrol would be no worse.