[Elizabeth]

Decided to go for a ride in the S.E. Wisc Kettle Morain area. Lots of twisty roads, mild hills, fast medium straights, perfect third gear roads, at 30mph to 70mph.
Spent a few hours on them.
So on the way home i reset mpg for standard freeway trip home. I start getting 50 mpg.. I am like WOW (excited!!) outside temp as in high 70's up to 80ish.
So I managed to keep the over 50mpg diving on the freeway to conserve gas.. all the way to the garage door!!
Even the flat nonstop road just before my place was seeing 51.2 and GOING UP!!

(total mileage is about 1,600 mile at this time)
So the engine was really changed by my tooling around with no stops, no out of gear 3rd gear revving up and down from about 3,000rpm to 5,000rpm, and a few jumps as hight as a steady 6,000rpm for fifteen seconds or so.. (straightaways between curves.. (and where one can see ahead!, no hills.. do not want to plow into a the back of a farm tractor at 70mph coming blind over a hill) A LOT of exercise for my throttle foot. Felt good to be blasting around in the country.

I had wanted to break in the upper rev band of the engine, and this trip today seemed to do a perfect job.
I am so happy!
I will 'test' my now better-broken-in engine maybe tonight on my 'freeway loop' after 11PM (way less traffic) to test if it really is better.

The combination of long tedious easy driving, then some spirited workouts have paid off.
FIFTY MPG!!!!!!! FIFTY.. I am just thrilled. [driving]

 

[downincircles]

I love driving in the 4000-6000 powerband.

 

[SimonSellsAustin]

My 2000 Si had a similar engine and alot of people rechipped the "VTEC" to engage sooner and hold longer. Staying in the powerband keeps the fun in it. I don't plan to drive like that but you might consider a shift light to sync with the 2nd cam. I had one set in my AC vent that told me when my VTEC was engaged. You can also use any random LED to tell you, my buddy used the AC LED to tell him when his VTEC was engaged. I thought it was kind of cool but I'd rather know when my AC was on than the VTEC.

 

[2012silversel]

Prove it. You need to post a pic of your mpg readout before I'll believe you got 50 mpg's.

 

[Elizabeth]

Prove it. You need to post a pic of your mpg readout before I'll believe you got 50 mpg's.

Hah hahhahahahahahahah
Jeez. What do i care. 'prove it' ...like we are some little kids?
(I would assume my reputation is enough)

All one would have to do is take a pic after a reset and before a long downhill and you would have a pic. (with nearly any mpg one might fantasize... So IMO that is a meaningless exercise.
In fact i think that is how the 99.9 mpg pic posted somewhere around here was created..

If you think i am just BS'ing, then fine, no problem. [rolleyes]
[hah] In fact i will state (Just for YOU!) for the record: I am just bullshitting and my max mpg is only 31mpg. all the rest is just fantasy crap i am making up. [thankyou]
happy?

now you can point to this particular post, anytime and tell yourself smugly that i am just full of shit.. no problem. [bootyshak

 

[SimonSellsAustin]

Highest I've gotten so far 45.8mpg.. this was a 45 mile highway trip one way. Mostly flat and straight.

 

[FordBass]

I love driving in the 4000-6000 powerband.

Is it you that i always see driving on the 190 at like 3:30ish?

 

[2012silversel]

Hah hahhahahahahahahah
Jeez. What do i care. 'prove it' ...like we are some little kids?
(I would assume my reputation is enough)

All one would have to do is take a pic after a reset and before a long downhill and you would have a pic. (with nearly any mpg one might fantasize... So IMO that is a meaningless exercise.
In fact i think that is how the 99.9 mpg pic posted somewhere around here was created..

If you think i am just BS'ing, then fine, no problem. [rolleyes]
[hah] In fact i will state (Just for YOU!) for the record: I am just bullshitting and my max mpg is only 31mpg. all the rest is just fantasy crap i am making up. [thankyou]
happy?

now you can point to this particular post, anytime and tell yourself smugly that i am just full of shit.. no problem. [bootyshak

Rather than just saying you not BS'ing, post two or three pics with different miles on the odometer at 50 mpg, then you can say you've put me in my place. There are a bunch of experts and know it all's in forums and blogs across the internet, to self proclaim your reputation is enough to validate what you say, is not enough. You post a lot, but rarely say anything more than broad generalizations, rambling posts that have misspelled words with no point and the obvious. I'm not going to believe your claim without some proof. If you want to respond with a similar post to the one I quoted, that's fine, you can try to bully me away, but until you can back up your claim, it is just BS.

Highest I've gotten so far 45.8mpg.. this was a 45 mile highway trip one way. Mostly flat and straight.

That's a long way from 50 mpg's. The best I've seen is 42 mpg. I average 29 to 31 with daily mixed city & freeway. I hope to get into the mid 40's when I cross West Texas in January.

 

[wilsonfocus86]

it's just a simple picture, everybody posts pictures [8D] so let's see it..

 

[downincircles]

Is it you that i always see driving on the 190 at like 3:30ish?

Possibly. I generally work 8:30-3:30-5ish depending on my work load for the week. Perks of being self employed.

 

[Elizabeth]

[}]

it's just a simple picture, everybody posts pictures [8D] so let's see it..

Yeah if only... I do not have a cellphone. So no easy snap of pics. (I guess I am a Luddite?)
I do own a really complex Canon G2 that was a gift and I have used with the idiot proof autofeatures.. I do not even know how to turn off the flash... [hah] Geez...
Tonight i went out to upgrade my tennis ball hanging behind the car to stop smacking the wall. (it hangs on a chain.. if i open the hatch it rubs, so i got a vinyl covered cable)
So i drove around, and stopped about 4 different places. first half freeway, then off drove around, the stopped, drove stopped. Trip home was on streets. Including a race off stop light to get around traffic. Busy night with the Brewer's baseball win. Tons of folks out celebrating...
Just managed to stay over 40mpg..

If all you guys really want me to stop saying stuff, fine, i can just keep it all to myself, no problem. If it is just a few grumblers whining, i can handle that.
So of it is just the 'hangover' of dirty cars and clean cars and never the owners shall meet eye to eye. LOL! or if i actually annoy folks in general? [bash]
((Over on the Audiophile sites i have collected a group of folks who just hate me, [V] and a bunch who really like me, [cheers] [angel] [drinking] i assume the same situation will develop here.
No problem.)) Some folks just carry baggage. I tend to just leave it at the stop it got picked up.

As for my misspelling, it is dyslexic fingers. i can spell, just my fingers never could type... sorry.

 

[Kabigon]

My 2000 Si had a similar engine and alot of people rechipped the "VTEC" to engage sooner and hold longer. Staying in the powerband keeps the fun in it. I don't plan to drive like that but you might consider a shift light to sync with the 2nd cam. I had one set in my AC vent that told me when my VTEC was engaged. You can also use any random LED to tell you, my buddy used the AC LED to tell him when his VTEC was engaged. I thought it was kind of cool but I'd rather know when my AC was on than the VTEC.

EDIT:

The Honda B16A2 engine has a VTEC system that essentially switches between 2 cams at 5600 RPM. When that happens, the difference is not subtle as the intake and exhaust valve lift is increased substantially.

The Ti-VCT system used in the Focus has independent continuously variable cam timing (with no control of lift). It doesn't "kick in" like the B16A2 VTEC does.

 

[copernicium112]

Not doubting you saw that but if it was realistic, wouldn't Ford be bragging about it constantly? Hell, my wife's 10 year old Jetta will tell her that she is getting 97.3 MPG and then switch to 5.6 MPG in a heartbeat. I calculate manually about half the time I fill it up and am at around 31 pretty consistently (mix of expressway for work and city day-to-day for family general use). Highest car reading I've attained is 32.8. Right now it is 31.5.

 

[Elizabeth]

Kabigon: it is OK, the point the dude was making is being able to know when the engine gets on the boil. is example might have been of another brand of car, but the idea could be used by anyone.
I always could tell just be the seat of my pants on my Contour SVT when the secondaries opened.., at 4,000 rpm the car would just take off like a rocket!
I do not notice much of a change on the Focus, so the shift from single to dual inlet must be pretty smooth, and the cam change gradual enough to be not feelable too.[cheers]

 

[Elizabeth]

Not doubting you saw that but if it was realistic, wouldn't Ford be bragging about it constantly? Hell, my wife's 10 year old Jetta will tell her that she is getting 97.3 MPG and then switch to 5.6 MPG in a heartbeat. I calculate manually about half the time I fill it up and am at around 31 pretty consistently (mix of expressway for work and city day-to-day for family general use). Highest car reading I've attained is 32.8. Right now it is 31.5.

in another post i mentioned my calculated mpg with exact receipt gallon count and mileage. after the first three weeks was around 33mpg. and after six was a grand total of average 34. something..
(so that would mean the second three weeks was getting 35+ mg average..
My mpgs have been getting better as i add mileage to the car.
(as have my abilities to really be light on the gas pedal, and change gears early.. Driving in fifth at 32mph... for example)


So yeah, one CAN say anything. but the car's calculator seems pretty good, and the actual gallons filled vs mileage is showing a good correlation. (the Miles per hour of the Focus is the most accurate I have ever seen in a car i own.. it is nearly exact.)
I used to, in the first weeks have mpg meter stats drop down into the 20's at times.. I have not been close to that since. And I stay in the UPPER 30's now, way more than earlier.
I do have 44psi in the front tires, and 37 rear, and use Mobil One "0W20" designed for great gas mileage in the Focus. (and yeah i changed the oil at 1,000 mi.)

I never had a car so sensitive to the slightest change in driving habits. MY old car did not matter WHAT i did, it got the same gas mileage, maybe two mpg better if the whole tank was used on the freeway or I had no ethanol in the tank..
This Focus, geez, every little thing, uphill, downhill stop lights, and being able to SEE it instantly, i learn how to better utilize it's virtues, and minimize the drawbacks.

 

[Elizabeth]

OK tonight went on my freeway loop again. 47mph netted 49.2mpg average over the approx 20 miles.
55mph (with one impossible not to step on brakes moment at construction bottleneck so had to slow from 55 to 49..) was 44.7mpg (at 64 F temp)
So the comparison to a few days ago where the same road trips netted:
at 47mph I got 46.2mpg (at 55F temp)
and at 55mph I got 42.1mpg
So the 47mph trip was 3 full mpg better fuel mileage [thankyou]
and the 55mph trip was 2.6 better (even with the step on the brakes.)

The over 50 mpg I got earlier today may have been influenced by the spirited driving? Also it was a a slightly downhill 30 miles, as i went from inland to the Lake.. (and not both ways) So that may have helped a bit.
But the 49.2 loop versus the earlier 46.2 shows the car actually is doing better than a few days ago!!! (since it starts and ends at the same elevation)

I may go for another joyride tomorrow to do the third gear ride again...
Just to see if it helps any. Though i would assume the best part of the 'break-in' has occurred. Soon enough the good weather will go away....

And, naturally, for 2012silversel, this is all just a pipedream, so you do not have to worry about it at all. [histerical] [clap] [screwy]

 

[SimonSellsAustin]

Huh??? This is the forum for the 2012 Ford Focus.

it's a simple comparison between my new 2012 focus and a car from my past. Alot transfers over. [cheers]

 

[dirtbrown]

I love driving in the 4000-6000 powerband.

isent that kind of high for just cruising?

 

[Kabigon]

Kabigon: it is OK, the point the dude was making is being able to know when the engine gets on the boil. is example might have been of another brand of car, but the idea could be used by anyone.
I always could tell just be the seat of my pants on my Contour SVT when the secondaries opened.., at 4,000 rpm the car would just take off like a rocket!
I do not notice much of a change on the Focus, so the shift from single to dual inlet must be pretty smooth, and the cam change gradual enough to be not feelable too.[cheers]

Now I understand what he was trying to say, thanks.
I edited my response.

 

[Elizabeth]

Originally Posted by downincircles
I love driving in the 4000-6000 powerband.

isent that kind of high for just cruising?

Well, if you are driving for fun, it is pretty much right in the good spot.
Personally i tend to do about 3,000 to 5,000 rpm if i was driving around fast in the curvy boondocks. With trips up to 6,000 for longer straights.

One thing is if driving for fun on twisty roads, stay in one gear. Constant shifting is really hard on the tranny, and WILL wear out the lower gear's synchro... (if say you are hopping back and forth between thrid and fourth.. the third gear syncho will take a beating.. if you do it a LOT. better to let the engine rev then constantly shift gears... (from experience with the MTX75 tranny...I know of what i speak)
For daily driving it is pretty much over the top, yes.