[Daniel312]

Hey yall.. I was debating about getting an 02 Focus SVT (lookin to spend around 10K)..

Anyway, I saw that the fuel economy wasn't exactly incredible.. and that it requires Premium fuel.. is it true that all the SVTs require premium? The reason I'm asking is b/c according to the fueleconomy.gov site the 02 requires premium while the 03 says regular.

 

[OrangeSVTguy]

they all require at least 91 octane. because of hte high compression pistons. expect to get an average of 20-28 mpg depending on your driving conditions. on the long highway trips you'll even get 30 []

 

[Daniel312]

all we have around here is 89 and 93.. could i hypothetically fill it up half way with each?

 

[chad_p71]

I have an 03 SVT it requires premium and I average 325 miles to the tank with a lead foot. I wouldnt fill it half an half if I was you, I would just run the 93.

 

[Toolman00]

Mileage will vary greatly!

I've seen as low as 21.xxx MPG, but that was 2 weeks worth of trips that were less than 4 miles. The engine didn't get to warm up, and it was mostly driving in the city.

I've had a best of 31.xxx, but that was mostly highway driving.

I do have to say that I like how my SVT was rated very close (even on the thirsty side) for mileage. I was expecting 25 MPG highway tops, so I cannot complain when I'm getting more than it's rated for.

 

[superchop]

all we have around here is 89 and 93.. could i hypothetically fill it up half way with each?

Do you really wanna go through all that trouble for just a couple dollars? Around where i live regular and premium is only some 15 cent difference...so if i were to fill up 10 gallons the premium would only be around $1.50-$2.00 more then the regular. It's not that big of a wallet breaker But if your worried about gas mileage and fuel economy then you can always go to a non-svt model.

 

[Gumbercules]

Well, I gotta say first that I love my new Focus SVT: its gotta be the drivinest car ever built! Never will you find a car that's more fun to drive. Could use a bit more engine, but thats a given.

That being said, I've been getting about 22mpg in situatuations where I'd get 24-26mpg in my v6 cougar. Is it the lack of aerodynamisticity? The reviness of the engine? I do not know, but I am somewhat disappointed.

Nevertheless, I wouldn't trade my SVT for anything. Maybe an SRT-4. Nah. Maybe a Caliber SRT-4 or a MazdaSpeed 3. But I'd have to drive them first. And they'd cost twice what I paid for my SVT. So there you go.

Also, if you get one, use 91+, or I may have to hunt you down and confiscate your car.

 

[BigBEN]

so you ALWAYS have to use premium...

what happens if u dont?

 

[WitchCitySVT]

so you ALWAYS have to use premium...

what happens if u dont?

It runs like ass ,you'll hate your car ,and eventally it will break.

 

[dubalicious]

Usually I get around 25mpg, less if I have a lead foot back and forth from work. On the highway the highest I have seen was 32 mpg.

 

[svt_gEEk]

so you ALWAYS have to use premium...

what happens if u dont?

Detonation will take it's toll fairly quickly on your engine. If it says 91+ (which it does) run 91+...preferably 93 to be on the safe side. And get you a Shell Gas credit card...I save 5% on gas by using that, totals up to be about $5+ per month. Also I get GREAT highway mileage with my 2002 SVT. I went on a trip 2 weeks ago and with the air running I got 34mpg...that's out of the ordinary though, usually it's about 31 highway and when I do a combined highway/city run it's about 26mpg....if it was all city I'd expect around 20-22mpg. It really depends on how you drive it and if you know how to squeeze more gas out of your manual transmission car. Buying 93 octane gas is well worth it for the extra perks of the SVT!

 

[Daniel312]

sounds good...
hows the intake on the svt? is it cold air? if I get one I was thinking about gettin the cold air on it.. extra power + extra fuel..

 

[svt_gEEk]

sounds good...
hows the intake on the svt? is it cold air? if I get one I was thinking about gettin the cold air on it.. extra power + extra fuel..

It's just a regular intake, but it does have a pipe run up to the grille of the car for a type of "ram-air" effect.

 

[svtguy21]

I seriously hate all of you, when i first got my car it was getting 22 city mpg, then i started moding and it was getting 17 for a while. After toms tune i'm now get over 20 in the city and over 30 on the highway

 

[gukin]

A couple of things:

The SVTF has a detonation sensor so if it's running junk gas, it will just retard the ignition. That, in turn, will trash your mileage and performance. The first thing you'll want to do once you get your car is to install a tune. It will improve performance, drivability and mileage. Before my tune I was usually 23-25 MPG, now I get 26-29.

If you want to go low cheap, just get a mid-90's tercel, great mileage, burns regular and is virtually invisible; and it's a completely DULL car.

 

[svt_gEEk]

Yeah, I noticed the effects of the detonation sensor in my car when I first got a tune. It was detonating a little above 4k rpms and I notified wayne. Well, the next day the detonation was gone so I didn't install the tune immediately, just ran it like it was to see if it would start again and it didn't. About a week later I installed the detonation fix tune and immediately felt a HUGE increase in power because the car had automatically retarded the timing and robbed me of power...but also saved itself from any damage.

 

[Anaxagoras1986]

I have kept stupidly detailed records for the miles I've driven the car- the ammount of fuel, where the fuel was bought, what octane, what price, weather conditions, etc and so far I have averaged just over 27MPG. Highway MPG is in the 30s and city+traffic BS is somewhere in the 25 range.

 

[WD40]

Moved to “SVT Owners Lounge”...

Here's my results:
2005 gas mileage results
2004 gas mileage results

 

[02SVTsilverstreak]

i get horrible gas mileage. i live in an uphill/down hill, stopsigh every 50 yards community, and i get like 17 mpg. my highway was like 23, but i had a bad 02sensor, and was running ORP on stock tune, and it was eating gas.

 

[Polak]

About fuel economy, I just bought an 03 SVT with 105k miles. Was wondering if there was anything I could do to get even better fuel milage. I haven't figured out how much the car is currently getting, since I haven't driven it much, and I know I'm going to eat through fuel since I'm learning to drive stick in the thing.