MK1 Focus Petrol, £1k budget. Which engine is best, 1.6?

[sparks_E39]

I'm admitting defeat (possibly), the 528's fuel bill is burning a whole in my pocket that I can no longer justify with todays prices, I could keep it, it's a great car and it's had a lot of work but at £1.44 a litre I find that I just don't want to drive it as much. I'm thinking I can probably get a grand for it and get a Focus for the same money, perhaps a 1.6. The MK1 Focus is a car I like, my mate had a 1.6 and it was a great car. Obviously quality will be down on the BMW but I can live with that. What sort of town MPG can I expect? The 528 will not better 23-25 at best around town and 30 something on a longer run.

[bigdom]

Your not going to realise much more, maybe 20% on the BMW, the 1.6 is underpowered.

[PaulGT3]

The 1.6 isn't underpowered, it's not a sports car and thus suits it well.

[snotrag]

All the Zetec engines are good, 1.8 best compromise as the 2.0 is not a whole more powerful.

However - Zetec petrols are not very good on fuel. Overall running costs on a focus should be bare minimum as there good cars with few faults and very cheap parts - but I dont see you getting a whole lot more economy than what you get in your BMW. Mid 30s max really.

If you can get one of the old clunker 1.8 tdDi cars then they are rock solid but basic, rattly old diesel engines - the tdCi engines are much more modern but less reliable and pribay more expensive to buy.

[VolvoT5]

I can't see a 1.6 focus doing much better than 30mpg around town and 40mpg ish on a good run.

So you would have to be covering a fair few miles to make a significant saving.

What is the cost to change going to be? If you can do a straight swap then why not, if you are having to spend 1k + your current car then I can't see the value myself.

edit:
I also agree with the previous poster. I had a 98 escort with the 1.8 zetec engine and it was not great on fuel, mid to high 20's around town.

[TheTurbonator]

As others have said if you're trading in your BMW just for petrol you'll hardly notice any difference.

I had a 1.6 Focus and it was great and in 7 years it only needed an Alternator belt.

However it only got around mid 30s in MPG which isn't a huge increase compared to what you're already getting.

[Jazoli]

I went from a 528 to a focus 1.6, my mpg average went from 22 to 34, quite a difference really, with 40mpg easily achievable on a run.

The 1.6 is not underpowered, it will feel it after driving a 2.8 but it's more than adequate for hauling the relatively light car around with passengers in it.

I like mine, cost me a grand for an 03 with all the toys, aircon, heated screen etc, with 90k miles.

Stonking value and fun to drive.

Edited to add parts are silly cheap, I got a full exhaust new for under £50 and discs and pads for £35, a bit better than BMW spares prices, its a refreshing change, I'm not worried about things going expensively wrong as I was with my other cars, my 540i E34 and 528i E39 cost a bomb to run comparatively.

Edited by Jazoli on Sunday 8th April 13:44

[sparks_E39]

Jazoli said:

I went from a 528 to a focus 1.6, my mpg average went from 22 to 34, quite a difference really, with 40mpg easily achievable on a run.

The 1.6 is not underpowered, it will feel it after driving a 2.8 but it's more than adequate for hauling the relatively light car around with passengers in it.

I like mine, cost me a grand for an 03 with all the toys, aircon, heated screen etc, with 90k miles.

Stonking value and fun to drive.

What sort of driving do you do? Mine is 70% town.

[Jazoli]

95% town journeys, the missus uses it to drive 8 miles to work and back, and ferry the kids around

[Blue Oval84]

My gran had one, whenever I used it around town I could not get more than 30mpg out of it. I used it on a motorway run once and think I got about 36mpg from it as it needed working so hard.

Please don't make the switch thinking that you'll see a big increase in economy as I really doubt that you will!

[sparks_E39]

Sounds good. I don't think people realise the 528 will not avaerage mid 20's around town unless there is no traffic. The only time it gets great MPG is on a long gentle run, of which I do about 1 a month!

[Jazoli]

sparks_E39 said:

Sounds good. I don't think people realise the 528 will not avaerage mid 20's around town unless there is no traffic. The only time it gets great MPG is on a long gentle run, of which I do about 1 a month!

I could get 27ish around town in the BMW but no matter how hard I tried to explain how to my missus all she ever got was 22

It was the same on longer runs, I could get 36-37, she never ever got more than 30, same journey, same journey time.

So I got rid and now she has the Focus, which seems to do similar mpg whoever is driving.

[Zwolf]

I bought the wife one of these a couple of years back to hack to work in. It averaged 33-35mpg as a 1.8 and most of the route is sparsely trafficked 40mph+ stuff with a mile of urban roads either end.

The 323i gets her 29mpg +/- 2 and me 33 with the same spread and cost similar to buy and run. The Fives I've run have cost more in upkeep, but barely more in fuel and they're a lot nicer to get about in.

It seems not to matter which of the petrol engines you go for in a MkI Focus, so I'd seek out a 3 door 2.0 ESP.

The 1.6 does feel a bit flat in them, the 1.8 strikes the best balance.

[Frik]

Over 40k miles, my 1.6 mk1 Focus averaged 36mpg. This increased to 39/40 as my motorway mileage increased before the end of my tenure.

Fantastic car IMO. Buttons to run and much more fun than it should have been.

[Baryonyx]

I used to have a 1.6 Zetec Focus, an Ebony special edition model. Funnily enough, I still look back on it and think 'what a great car'. Economy was not it's strong point, I was regularly getting around 30mpg or around town and a bit more on a run. With 99bhp the engine feels pretty gutless too, but it should do for day to day driving. I'd say the 1.6 is the best of the bunch for the petrol engines, the 2.0 barely feels any faster and is much, much worse in terms of economy.

[vrsmxtb]

I very consistently got 42mpg from my 2001 1.6.

Fab car, only complaint was long 5th gear so needed frequent downchanges on motorways.

[carmadgaz]

Bought my 1.6 Zetec last May as a stopgap for a few days (wrote off car, needed wheels until new car) and it's still here (well I part-exchanged it yesterday but it's still here).

Has all the toys I want, cheapish to insure and great to drive

Not the most economical car (early 30s are the usual). Had a go in a 1.8 which was noticeably quicker and also a 1.8TDCi LX which was

a) Quicker
b) A LOT better on juice
c) (IIRC) Cheaper on the tax etc

So I'd stretch the budget slightly and go for a TDCi if I was out look out for a Focus.

[Zwolf]

E36 318iS.

Just sayin'.

[CYMR0]

VolvoT5 said:

I can't see a 1.6 focus doing much better than 30mpg around town and 40mpg ish on a good run.

From experience of owning a 1.6 Focus and a 523i simultaneously, this.

Roughly speaking, even at current prices, you'll save 5.5p per round town mile on the Focus, maybe 4.5p on A roads, and if you drive gently and use cruise control, probably zero pence on the motorway.

Assuming 3k miles in town and 4k of each kind of driving, that comes to £225 p.a. £19 a month, or 1.5 pints per week in the pub difference to drive an E39 rather than a Focus - it might matter to you, but I expect that the difference in fuel economy will be more psychological, i.e., you will feel like you can afford to use the smaller car, do so, and then wonder why you actually spend more cash on fuel.

[Kong]

My GF has a 1.6 focus and the mpg isn't great.

Have you considered the Skoda Fabia 1.4 16v?