Can I ask what model and engine the Focus was?

 

200 seems very low. My somewhat thirsty 2.3l gets about 350-375 a tank before I decide to fill it, and thats leaving a couple of gallons in.

 

200 seems very low. My somewhat thirsty 2.3l gets about 350-375 a tank before I decide to fill it, and thats leaving a couple of gallons in.

That would mean you're getting 35-37.5 mpg, which dosent really fit the description of "thirsty".

12gal tank - "a couple gallons" = 10 gal.

375 miles/10 gal = 37.5mpg

 

Oops. It's an SE sedan, I think 2004 (rental car with only a few thousand miles on it). The paperwork they gave me doesn't say much, and there's no owners manual. I don't know what's under the hood, but I had a 2.0 in my 99 Escort and I can tell you it doesn't look anything like that(if that helps at all

).

 

I have a ZX3 w/ Zetec and I get 250-320 miles/tank till the gas light comes on. Depending on how I drive. Correct me if I'm wrong but doesn't the light come on with 2 gallons left?

 

12gal tank - "a couple gallons" = 10 gal.

14 gal tank. And I'm guessing at gallons left. Somewhat thirsty for me is around 28-29mpg.

But I still stand by my point that 200 seems low for punching it.

 

I don't know what's under the hood, but I had a 2.0 in my 99 Escort and I can tell you it doesn't look anything like that(if that helps at all

).

If it looks like an engine with a scalloped valve cover, its the SPI.
If it looks like an engine, its a Zetec (says Zetec too).
If it looks like a bowl of spaghetti of wires and hoses, its a Duratec.

 

never heard of a non-SpI rental...so that's my guess

 

wow, i do a lot of street driving and about 50 miles a week of highway driving and i only seem to get about 230-240 before i get a gas light

 

You probably have an SPI, if you look on the engine it'll say split port injection somewhere, can't remember the exact spot.

Also is it a sedan or a zx3/5?

You should get around 250-350 driving(city/highway)

I get that in my SVT,
The tank is 12.9 gallons or 13.9 can't remmber off the top of my head.

Anyways, give us some more information, and we can help you out.

You should stop by a dealer and test drive a SVT if you're impressed with a basic focus

 

I rented a 2.3 at Budget.
At Hertz I had a Zetec.

Jason

 

It's kinda dark out now, so I doubt I'd be able to read much under the hood, but it did look "scalloped." So most likely an SPI. And 13-14gallons, that's a decent size. I should be able to get 300 easy then, maybe more. I'm still trying to adjust to these short-rangers and don't want to run out of gas in the middle of the desert in the middle of the night, but it sounds like it shouldn't be a problem. I know there are a lot of gas stations out there, I'd have nobody to blame but myself!

It's about time for me to hit the road though, I'll be back after the weekend to let you know what I think.

Have a good holiday weekend everyone, thanks for the help.

edit: just saw rw's post, the car is from Budget.

 

yeah, the budget here has a few zetecs and I know of at least 1 2.3 What an ugly engine. the car was a dirt colour too. the zetec I had was a CD silver.

Jason

 

Only Dirt color Focus I know of is the Kona...

 

12gal tank - "a couple gallons" = 10 gal.

14 gal tank. And I'm guessing at gallons left. Somewhat thirsty for me is around 28-29mpg.

But I still stand by my point that 200 seems low for punching it.

When Did the focus get a 14 gal tank?

 

12gal tank - "a couple gallons" = 10 gal.

14 gal tank. And I'm guessing at gallons left. Somewhat thirsty for me is around 28-29mpg.

But I still stand by my point that 200 seems low for punching it.

When Did the focus get a 14 gal tank?

With the PZEV

 

12gal tank - "a couple gallons" = 10 gal.

14 gal tank. And I'm guessing at gallons left. Somewhat thirsty for me is around 28-29mpg.

But I still stand by my point that 200 seems low for punching it.

When Did the focus get a 14 gal tank?

With the PZEV

Another reason I hate you guys.

Joe, I agree 28-29mpg is somewhat thirsty. There are days where Some of us get get less than 100 miles to a tank...

I think my personal best is 8 or 9mpg...

 

Only Dirt color Focus I know of is the Kona...

Arizona Beige is pretty dirty.

 

arizona beige is pretty

 

I'm baaaaaack!!

Wow! This thing rides NICE, and sticks to the road like it's on rails! I drove a little over 1700 miles this weekend, and I'm really impressed with this car. I was in a couple situations that required some drastic maneuvering to avoid an accident or very solid rock wall, and the Focus(and it's driver

) performed flawlessly. I know if I had still been in that Grand Am, there would have been nothing left but a twisted pile of metal(or two). It's no surprise at all that the Focus was(or maybe still is) the best selling car in the world.

As far as comfort goes, the seat is great. It's very much like driving my Golf- you just wish the road would never end. And the car rides great in the 90-100 range. If it wasn't for the wind noise (much more than the Golf I think), you wouldn't know you were going anywhere near that fast.

Other than the seat though, the interior was not much to my liking. In my Golf, it seems like I can sit in driving position and pretty much everything is right there, wihtout a reach. In the Focus, it seems like everything is just out of reach. Also, the armrests are not exactly comfortable. The "padding" is just hard. I guess it depends how you sit, but usually when I'm cruising I put my hands just below 9 and 3, and I can rest my elbows on the armrests, but still have good leverage if I need it. In the Focus, this leads to sore elbows.

Headlights are a toss-up... the hi-beams are great, but the low-beams light up everything but the road. They do a great job of lighting the shoulders up, but it seems like anyhting over about 45 and you're out-driving them. Maybe they just need adjustment.

Mileage wasn't too bad, ranging between 21 and 31mpg. I guess the TDI would have been in the 40's for that type of driving... although the TDI is faster so there is a slight chance I may have actually dropped into the high 30's at those speeds. Power was decent at first, but on a grade or at higher elevations (or a combination of the two), it really struggles. I remember one hill near Flagstaff where I struggled to get back to 85 after having to slow down for traffic... I know the TDI would have had no trouble there, in 5th gear. And the constant downshifting or kicking in-and-out of overdrive was annoying to say the least. I soon figured out that I was better off controlling the over-drive myself.

Over-all, I give the Focus big

but I don't plan on trading my TDI any time soon. Of course, after driving the Focus I will be forced to upgrade the suspension on the Golf when I get home.

Oh yeah, what's the "PZEV" for?

 

you do realize you are really ripping a car apart that is $10,000+ cheaper than the one you usualy drive. common sense says your car will be better in most aspects. just a thought...

 

you do realize you are really ripping a car apart that is $10,000+ cheaper than the one you usualy drive. common sense says your car will be better in most aspects. just a thought...

I had no intentions of "ripping a car apart," sorry if it came across that way. I just listed the things that I like and dis-like about it. As I said, I was really impressed over-all. If anything, I'm giving praise to a car that is "$10,000+ cheaper" than my Golf. For a car that costs that much less, and is damn near as nice to drive, and sometimes even more fun(as it would run circles around any Golf when it comes to handling), the Focus is great. Most of the things I dis-like about it probably wouldn't require huge changes to fix, certainly not $10k worth(that's where dual front, side, curtain(front and rear) airbags, full-size spare, heated seats & mirros, etc start jacking up the cost).

Different companies make different cars for different people. Everyone has their priorities and preferences when it comes to buying cars... that's why I drive a Golf, and you drive a Focus.

BTW, can you really buy a new Focus for $9,000? If so, I'm impressed that much more.

 

I thought it was a good comparison and timely since I have been lusting after a TDI golf for about a year now but really enjoy the handling of my focus and the headroom at 6'6" the Golf just feels a little cramped to me, well time to call Austin and see if they can swap in the TDI instead of the 1.8t, oh yeah and sell a kidney to pay for it all

 

I have a zx3 my self but its in the shop for little accident. They gave me a 4dr auto spi, sorry but its a terd. Way under powered

Dont mean to bash but its pretty bad, i think its the auto that draggs it down. FlaFocus gave me a ride in his mxt spi and i could have sworn it was a zetec.

 

I thought it was a good comparison and timely since I have been lusting after a TDI golf for about a year now but really enjoy the handling of my focus and the headroom at 6'6" the Golf just feels a little cramped to me, well time to call Austin and see if they can swap in the TDI instead of the 1.8t, oh yeah and sell a kidney to pay for it all

There is a guy from the TDI club who was putting vw engines, including the 1.8t and TDI, in the Focus. Apparently it's a lot easier than it sounds. That would be pretty cool for autocross. His name was Jim, I think he went by Corrado_TDI or something like that. Last I heard, he was trying to make a kit. Actually, I think he has spent some time on Focaljet, so you probably already know this. Oh well, if you didn't, now you do.