Ownership Verified: My new 2015 Ford Focus EcoBoost

sicnarf_1978

Active Member
Joined
Mar 22, 2009
Messages
231
Location
St-Jérôme, Québec
Car(s)
2017 Buick Regal and 1997 Peugeot 106
My dealer send me a letter where they say that they had great deals and thousands of $ of rebate... so I went there to see what they were offering. The result... 6000 $ off (more than 25 %) on a new 2015 Focus SE EcoBoost. It is in my driveway !

For the European people here, Ford introduced the 3 cylinder EcoBoost engine in the North American Fiesta in 2014 on a very basic trim only with manual transmission. In 2015, they do the same in the Focus, but on a different package. 4 doors sedan (no hatchback) 6 speed manual transmission only, 17 inches mags, bodykit, fogs, rear spoiler. You only choose in a restricted colour choice. Mine is Tectonic silver (or how to call a beige car silver). Ford 2016, this engine is availlable in every Focus in the SE trim, manual or automatic, sedan or hatchback, but only with 16 inches wheels and without bodykit and spoiler. That makes the 2015 version unique.

So the engine is a 1 liter 3 cylinder engine. With a turbo. That makes 123 hp... not a lot on a car of the size of the Focus, but it performs surprinsingly well due to a good 6 speed manual transmission. Same number of hp than my previous Fiesta, 150 more kg... and more performance and a better fuel economy. The engine is very quiet and the car is very smooth.

Proof of ownership...

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Overview...

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Details...

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Inside...

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I really like the current Focus. I drove one when it first came out in Europe some years ago, a Titanium wagon with the 125hp ecoboost and six speed. I really liked the car and not having driven a downsized turbo before, the engine really surprised me. I also remember flooring it out of a roundabout and smacking my face right in the rev limiter. :lol: I'm used to more cylinders and my ears told me I had several thousand rpm's left to wind out before it was time to change gear.

The biggest reason I never considered buying one was because I don't need a manual transmission, and you couldn't get the 3-cylinder with Powershift back then. As a matter of fact, I seem to recall a newspaper ad like last week that said that the 1-liter Ecoboost was available with an automatic. It took them, what, three years to get that powertrain combo out the door? :p
 
For me, they didn't have to put an automatic transmission... I don't like them. :p

But I compared back to back 3 different packages. My previous Fiesta with a 120 hp 1,6 liter 5 speed manual, the Focus with the 123 hp EcoBoost 6 speed manual and the regular Focus with the 160 hp 2,0 liters engine 5 speed manual. With the 2,0 engine, the Focus is like a big Fiesta. Both gearboxes are almost the same and works exactly the same way. No surprise. If the interior were the same colour, I would not notice a lot of difference, except for the power. More power than the Fiesta. The test with the 2,0 stopped too early... on the side of the road... no more fuel in the car 1 km from the dealer. With the Ecoboost, I feel more power than the Fiesta even if it is heavier. The gearbox makes it easy to find every hp of the car. And as you get more rpm, the car want to become a sport car. It probably want to be like the RS (my dealer already sold the only one they will get this year)... but it can't. But nice try. Like the Fiesta, handling is very good for this kind of car. Thank to its German background, the Focus is playing with the best handling cars in North America with the Golf and the Mazda 3.

With my Fiesta, in 42 000 km, I got an average fuel economy of 6,8 l/100 km. With 1200 km in the Focus, I have 6,6 l /100 km... but i got the car at 100 km with an average of 12,2 and I got 2 snowstorm since I got it (not very interesting when you have to drive 45 km to go to job in rural roads and bad condition with summer tires). I expect it to stabilize around 6,4-6,5. So less than the Fiesta for a bigger and heavier car.
 
123 hp seems a little underpowered considering what a heavy brick the Focus is, but I guess the turbo'ed torque makes up for that. How's that figure?
 
123 hp seems a little underpowered considering what a heavy brick the Focus is, but I guess the turbo'ed torque makes up for that. How's that figure?

Before the roadtest, i was thinking that those 123 hp were not enough for a Focus. The 120 hp of the Fiesta were just enough. But the torque and the gearbox do some magic. I would say that the turbo and the gearbox gives the feeling of a 140 hp car.
 
If you compare your manual to an ancient four speed auto, then I guess it's an advantage... but I don't see how it "gives the feeling of a 140hp car".

I went from a 140hp volvo to a 210hp turbo volvo, back down to a 122hp turbo Skoda. I lost 88hp but I didn't miss them as much as I thought I would because the little turbo 1.4 still pulls from low revs. This is what I learned to appreciate in the 210hp Volvo. I suspect that's what you're feeling in the Focus too.

tl;dr: turbo ftw.
 
If you compare your manual to an ancient four speed auto, then I guess it's an advantage... but I don't see how it "gives the feeling of a 140hp car".

I went from a 140hp volvo to a 210hp turbo volvo, back down to a 122hp turbo Skoda. I lost 88hp but I didn't miss them as much as I thought I would because the little turbo 1.4 still pulls from low revs. This is what I learned to appreciate in the 210hp Volvo. I suspect that's what you're feeling in the Focus too.

tl;dr: turbo ftw.

That's probably that... it's my first turbo.
 
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