misempto

The 1.5L ecoboost does seem to make more sense in the Focus, but maybe the mileage wouldn't have differentiated enough from the 2L. I really did like the 1L and its intentions though, even when it played turtle on the on-ramp. I enjoyed driving it, it was much better than I feared at reading "3 cylinder 1 liter", but yeah it doesn't have a punch. Even so, the high-rpm turbo, integrated manifold, oil-encased timing belt -- just read this. That's a damn sexy kit of engineering if you ask me, but that's a lot of innovation to meet the test of time. If I understand correctly, they've only been on the roads in Europe for 4 or 5 years, so I don't think it's really known what the high mileage issues might be. I don't know what the inventory proportion was for the 2015s, but there seems to be a lot of leftover ecoboosts and pretty much zero manuals. The resale on the 2L is surely the much better bet. When I first started car shopping I was looking to buy used, and I could not find a 2011-2014 manual Focus other than the RS. So I think a well cared for 2L manual SE would be easy to unload if I needed to. The ecoboost probably needs gas back up at $4 to get wider interest.

Ha, I had the parallel experience. I just got back tonight with my new 2L hatchback from 80 miles away. It was the one and only manual 2L -- hatchback or sedan -- that I could find in the 2015 model year ($3000 Ford cash for the 15's was a crazy good deal) without driving 300+ miles. Lucky for me it was a palatable color and had the cold weather option. I had to snatch it up. Anyway, your numbers seem right, I was hitting 3000 at something like 72-74 mph on the interstate on the way home. I was also glued to the instantaneous mileage readout, and wondering if I wouldn't have a preferred an overdrive 6th right about then. But I completely agree with your take, the 2L was just so smooth and engaging to drive. I'm still enamored with the 1.0L, but I worried a bit about its high mileage maintenance and the 2L's drive-ability was too hard to ignore.

Yeah I see what happened -- when the dash lights up with "^6", it's a cue to shift to 6th not your current gear. The 5spd has these cues as well, but they aren't really needed. The ecoboost just operates very differently than a traditional manual. The gear ranges are so wide, you can jump 2 or 3 gears in the city or on the highway. The adjustment only took me 3 test drives, but definitely drive it more than once if interested, it's very unfamiliar.

This isn't right. I've been test driving these all week, and it was right at 2500 rpm at 70 mph in 6th. Yeah I've found exactly one 5-speed in the entire state. I test drove it yesterday. The clutches and shift throws are definitely different in the 1L 6spd and the 2L 5spd. Clutch travel is shorter and softer in the ecoboost. I've read it's a hydraulic clutch, but I don't know if the 5spd isn't. The 5spd has a much more traditional feel to the clutch and throw, with longer firmer clutch travel and slightly longer throw. The 2L can really pull -- it pulls better at higher rpm but definitely pulls below 3000 too. The 1.0L is great for just motoring along, and if you need the modest acceleration it can give, you'd be winding it up above 4000. The 2L easily the more fun ride if you want to spool it around town and be able to accelerate on an on-ramp. That said, I am really torn between the two. The 1L turbo is so intriguing for a commute and road trip car, which is what I need more than a sporty experience. And a 6spd is 20% more fun to drive than a 5spd. The 6th gear is not only great for overdrive on the highway (2500 vs 3000 rpm), but the display will often cue you to 5th or 6th during city driving once your speed evens out in the 30s or 40s. I was motoring along in 6th at about 35 mph. It asked for it, and I assume that's just one more fuel economy trick. It's just such a nice bit of engineering it's hard to dislike and pretty admirable what it's doing with 1L, but definitely not great for overtaking on a county road. If it's more important to power through curves, up the on-ramp, and around traffic, you want the 2L. If it's a daily commuter or road tripper, you'll miss the extra power in maybe 2% of your actual driving. One other useful note is that the fuel economy is not terribly different. If you search Fuelly by year and engine, you'll see a roughly bimodal distribution of actual real-world fuel-up mileages. The way I read it is that mostly city mixed driving averages 29 vs 34 mpg, and mostly highway mixed driving averages 35 vs 40. Even at $4/gallon, a 15% improvement only amounts to about $300 per year per 10k miles. Here are links to the Fuelly results: http://www.fuelly.com/car/ford/focus/2015?engineconfig_id=105&bodytype_id=&submodel_id=60 http://www.fuelly.com/car/ford/focus/2015?engineconfig_id=13&bodytype_id=3&submodel_id=60