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Ford Focus 1.0 Ecoboost (2012)

What’s so special about the 1.0-litre Ecoboost in the Ford Focus?

    When Ford revealed the Focus in late 2009, executives guffed on rather emptily about how the Blue Oval would be the class-leader on economy. Here’s how: with a breakthrough engine worthy of the praise lavished upon Fiat’s TwinAir two-cylinder petrol – and one that’ll get much closer to its mid-50s mpg figure, Ford executives wisecrack, if you drive the Focus like you stole it.

    The 999cc engine comes in two guises: with 99bhp and 123bhp. Both variants’ max torque is 125lb ft from a subterranean 1400rpm, though the 123bhp unit has an overboost function, which cranks peak torque up to 148lbft for a 30-second overtaking burst. The outputs equate to a 1.6-litre petrol engine’s, yet the 99bhp engine returns 58.8mpg and 109g/km of CO2 in the five-door Focus hatch. Economy dips to just 56.5mpg for the 123bhp engine, with carbon emissions still low at 114g/km.

Verdict

    The 1.0 Ecoboost is already on Focus price lists, starting at £16,245 for the five-speed 99bhp unit, and £17,745 for the 123bhp six-speeder in the hatchback bodystyle. That’s just a £250 premium over the outgoing 1.6-litre engine, for a car that’ll be cheaper to run and more refined. No other mainstream family hatch can be coupled with a three-cylinder engine, giving Ford a powertrain edge you’d typically expect from the Volkswagen Group. If you like lashings of technology, a free-revving, charismatic engine and the pecuniary and ecological benefits of low consumption, the Focus Ecoboost is well worth a look. This lean upstart makes some bigger engines look puny.