Ford Focus Estate - Advice on engine size for Ford Focus Estate

Honest John Back Room » Motoring discussion
What is life like with your car? Let us know and win £500 in John Lewis vouchers | No thanks
View Threaded
Fri 24 Sep 2021 10:56
Ford Focus Estate - Advice on engine size for Ford Focus Estate - Oliver Hough
Hi all,

I’ve placed an order for a new Ford Focus Estate, I went for the 1.0 MHEV 125ps engine.

I’m going to be using this mostly for driving round town, school runs etc that’s why I went for that engine. But occasionally we’ll be doing long trips for family holidays. This will consist of
2 adults, children, prams, fully laden roofbox and a golden retriever in the boot.

I’m now concerned the engine might be a bit on the lighter side to handle this kind of load. Our current car is a BMW 320d and that handles it no problem.

Could anybody offer any advice on this? Should I be looking to upgrade the engine or not.

Thanks in advance.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Fri 24 Sep 2021 12:25
Ford Focus Estate - Advice on engine size for Ford Focus Estate - SLO76
It’ll manage fine at legal speeds. I’d be more concerned about the poor reputation this engine has for long term reliability if you intend on keeping it beyond Fords manufacturer warranty. There’s been thousands of cases of engine failure relating to Fords 1.0 Ecoboost engines, it’s so rife they’re known as Ecoboom by the trade. If however it’s a typical new car order via PCP or contract lease and it’ll be gone before the warranty is up then it’ll be a pleasant driving small family car. Just make sure you keep the main dealer service history up to scratch, you don’t want any issues when claiming on that warranty.

Edited by SLO76 on 24/09/2021 at 12:26

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Fri 24 Sep 2021 18:09
Ford Focus Estate - Advice on engine size for Ford Focus Estate - badbusdriver

You don't say what age of 320d you have, but if I were to say it was an F31 (2012-2015), the stats compare thus:

320d - 184BHP @ 4000RPM, 380NM of torque from 1750-2750RPM

Focus - 125BHP @ 6000RPM, 170NM of torque from 1400-4500RPM

As you can see, the Beemer has more than twice the torque and that is what makes it feel so 'at ease' with a heavier load and roof box. As SLO says, the Focus will manage, but it will feel much less muscular than the Beemer and you will be using a greater percentage of the power more of the time if you are aiming to maintain 70(+)MPH, especially with the roof box.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Fri 24 Sep 2021 21:23
Ford Focus Estate - Advice on engine size for Ford Focus Estate - Hy Sid

We run 2 year old Focus estate 1.0 ecoboost 125 (not the MHEV version though) and before that ran a 2.0d diesel of similar power to the BMW.

The 1.0 is certainly less 'muscular' than the bigger diesel but we find it's fine, but I guess it really depends on expectations.

Lightly loaded, the 1.0 focus cruises up and down the motorway fine and it doesn't struggle to keep up. If you want to get more of a move on you have to put a little more effort in than the diesel, get it in the right gear and let it rev a bit. But it's super refined with a more pleasant noise than the diesel, so no hardship doing that.

Heavily loaded with the family for holiday, with bikes on the roof and the like it's not quick, but will easily maintain 70 on the motorway in top gear, but acceleration to there and any further is quite sedate unless you drop a gear and rev it.

Ultimately, it's definitely slower than the bigger diesel, but also quieter and more refined. And you don't get diesel on yourself filling it up.

Over the last 20,000 miles or so we've average an indicated 48mpg, which feels about right from the amount of petrol put into it, and so far no sign of it destroying itself.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Fri 24 Sep 2021 22:53
Ford Focus Estate - Advice on engine size for Ford Focus Estate - Ian_SW

If buying new, I'd specify the 1.5 Ecoboost instead.

They are near impossible to find secondhand, but presumably possible to order brand new other than on the base trim levels. I had one to run around in for work for a while a couple of months back, and it was really good.

It did about 45mpg without me trying hard at all to be economical, and went really well - felt as fast as I remember my Mk1 Octavia vRS was, with a much sharper throttle response than the dulled map most modern cars now have in the name of (theoretically) lower emissions.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sat 25 Sep 2021 17:29
Ford Focus Estate - Advice on engine size for Ford Focus Estate - John F

125 is easily enough power, more than 25% more than our old Focus 1.6 Zetec estate at 98. Also, torque is better - 125ftlb v. 111. I liked to drive fairly briskly and even loaded up it was satisfactory, although the auto box 'kick-down' helped to make effortless full use of the engine. Modern cars have ridiculously large reserves of power which, owing to increasing congestion and the now ubiquitous speed limits, are rarely used.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link