Poor Gas Mileage out of my 05 zx3

985 Views 5 Replies 5 Participants Last post by Nells, Oct 23, 2005

sfladave

Discussion Starter · Oct 18, 2005

I have been averaging 25-26 MPG since I got the car, driving mixed hwy and city. I dont rag on the car, but occasionaly get very spirited on the roads by my house.

On a trip to Orlando this weekend, I only average 28 mpg highway. WTF? This leaves me with a very sour attitude towards Ford leading me to believe this cars EPA regulations are jacked up bigtime to offset all the trucks they sell.

My 98 cobra had better gas mileage.

Anyone else having poor mileage out of their 05?

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BackNFocus

· #2 · Oct 18, 2005

I have been averaging 25-26 MPG since I got the car, driving mixed hwy and city. I dont rag on the car, but occasionaly get very spirited on the roads by my house.

On a trip to Orlando this weekend, I only average 28 mpg highway. WTF? This leaves me with a very sour attitude towards Ford leading me to believe this cars EPA regulations are jacked up bigtime to offset all the trucks they sell.

My 98 cobra had better gas mileage.

Anyone else having poor mileage out of their 05?

Thats about what you should get, Highways speed of 75+ are not what EPA test at, more like 60 if you went 60 you would see 34+mpg, Also city 25-26 isnt bad at all for mixed driving its onlly supposed to get 26 EPA rates at 26/34 and I get well above both, Also gas millage isnt gaurunteed and it says on the tag it ranges from 16-30 in city and 23-48 highway. The dealer cnat do much for you its not like older cars where emmission need be ajusted or anything.

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Zoomer69

· #3 · Oct 18, 2005

Your V8 Cobra got better gas mileage? I have a hard time believing that.

At any rate, the Focus is VERY sensitive to how it's driven. I've gotten as little as 24mpg and as much as 32mpg on the same commute. If you wind her out to 6000 every shift, you're going to get crappy mileage. If you shift at 2500 or less, you'll see much better mileage.

You could wait for a chip to become available; they've been able to pull several MPG out of Zetec's with one. You could also wait for her to break in some more. She's still pretty factory fresh, right?

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buzzbomb

· #4 · Oct 18, 2005

Your V8 supercharged Cobra got better gas mileage? I have a hard time believing that.

Edited, and X2.

How many miles are on the engine? I presume it's the 2.0 Duratec, no? Auto or manual?

The lower you keep the revs, the better gas mileage you'll get...shift when that annoying light comes on, avoid wide-open throttle at all costs, make smooth right pedal transitions (no snapping open the throttle), and get to fifth gear (if equipped) as soon as possible.

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sfladave

Discussion Starter · #5 · Oct 21, 2005

98 cobra's came N/A with 305hp. Mine was tuned and making ~380 at the flywheel N/A. It would get outstanding gas mileage on the hwy as the fuel trims were really lean. It's not uncommon for a highly refined v6 or v8 to do excellent on the hwy. My neighbors v6 avalon gets 31 mpg hwy at exactly 75 mph, his everyday commute is about 40 minutes.

I roadtripped the cobra many times and it always got amazing gas mileage, ~ 27 mpg at 78 mph with cruise control on the whole time.

The Focus, on the other hand, has 6800 miles on it. I bought it in august with 2k on the clock, take back from a loan fall out. Mine is a 2.0 duratec with a 5 spd. tranny. I have read about the tips you guys suggested, learned it from the honda insight guru's. I employ all those measures and still avergage 26 city/hwy mixed.

I have an X-Cal2 for testing but it doesn't work. The tune SCT gave me is for a zetec I believe. Chris Johnson and I are meeting up next week to figure out what is wrong with the program and we are going to see what we can squeak out of this focus!

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Nells

· #6 · Oct 23, 2005

My 03 zx3 (zetec with a manual tranny) only gives me about 22 mpg city. Everyone told me that it should get better as time goes on, but it now has 23,000 miles on it and the mileage hasn't gotten any better.

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