** 88 mpg hwy/ 62 mpg city / 76 mpg combined !! ** New Ford Fiesta ECOnetic on Sale by end of Year!

[masmdu]

http://www.autobloggreen.com/2008/07/23/british-motor-s... /

Ok it's diesel and currently only available in the UK but hey, it's better than a poke in the eye.

[pleah]

1. K&R I like the way this one looks. Too, bad its a ford.

[SharonRB]

6. Exactly my first reaction n/t

[underseasurveyor]

10. Mine too

[kestrel91316]

12. Ford already makes a good little car: the Focus. German engineering.

Everything else they make is crap, IMHO. But Focus owners love them.

[snooper2]

15. Not all Focus owners

Friend of mine "leased" a Focus believe it or not, (bad credit)


Had three new tranies put in it by 35,000 miles

[kestrel91316]

16. Yeah, but what sort of driving style does he have?

You can grind up a tranny PDQ if you don't drive right.

[snooper2]

18. He drives like an old lady, slow

And has an auto in it...

car is a joke...I drove it a couple times when he needed to use my truck and was not impressed. Actually liked my 1987 Suziki Swift much better..

[peanut2010]

21. My wife`s Focus has 91,000 miles

only needed oil changes and tires and one spark plug wire,original brakes.34 M.P.G. on highway 27 city.Car rides and drives really well for a small car.If Ford ever brings a diesel here I will buy one for myself.

[BlooInBloo]

17. What alternate universe do you live in, where the focus is a good car?

[Blarch]

32. I own a Focus...

100,000 and no problems yet.

[yurbud]

26. like all American car companies, sometimes they buy reliable cars from Japan and slap their badge on

them.

I once got a Ford Courier pickup because I thought that was the case, but it turned out Mazda only made the body and Ford made the guts, so it was still a piece of shit.

[pleah]

30. The only ford that my family owned that was worth a shit, was

1957 truck. Dad bought it before I was born. We sold it in 1975. It ran for another 10 years after we sold it. It was known as old yeller. lol

[Jazzgirl]

28. I know it's late but...

mine too. It is way too bad it's a Ford. I hate their cars!

[jobycom]

2. Nifty little puppy. nt

[thecrow]

3. It still uses gas?

I don't know if I'd fork over car payments for that.

[dflprincess]

5. It's a Ford,

it has to use gas or it won't be able to burst into flames.

[Lance_Boyle]

7. diesel, not gas

no bursting into flames.

Impressive little thing - wish they'd bring 'em to the US market.

[mikeytherat]

11. It won't burst into flames - we'll wait a few minutes for it to glow nice and hot

Looks really cool. I'd love to get one here, too.

mikey_the_rat

[Stuckinthebush]

4. Is this the menage a trois mobile?

[JesterCS]

8. it is coming out in the US

i read an article in a magazine that it would be next year. ( 09 )

[Apollo11]

9. The 1.6 TDCi a very efficient engine

TDCi stands for Turbo Diesel Common-rail injection.

The 1.6 TDCi (90ps = 89hp) is already being used in the following cars on the European market:

Ford Fiesta
Ford Fusion (NOT the north American Fusion)
Ford Focus (also available as ECOnetic version)
Ford C-Max
Citroen C3
Citroen C4
Peugeot 307
Mazda 3
Suzuki SX4 (2WD)

Even though it only has 89hp it feels more powerful because as a diesel engine it can deliver a lot of torque, which is what you need to accelerate.

What is new about the Fiesta ECOnetic is that it is smaller and lighter than the cars listed above. I guess they also tweaked the engine to further improve the fuel efficiency.

For more about this engine see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_DLD_engine

[B3Nut]

13. C'mon Detroit! Bring that little puppy over here!

Quit selling your best designs overseas and giving your own damn countrymen the leftovers!!!!! I swear Ford and GM would be in much better shape if they'd do this...

[underseasurveyor]

14. If they did bring it over here

No doubt they'd cut the mpg in half.

[alfredo]

24. there was a post about Ford retooling to build its Euro cars here.

[Tesha]

19. Be cautious of English "MPG" ratings; they're stated in "Imperial Gallons" and...

an "Imperial Gallon" is about 20% bigger than an
American Gallon so cars, naturally, get 20% more
miles per Imperial Gallon.

1 Imperial Gallon = 4.54609 Litres
1 American Gallon = 3.785411784 Litres

1 Imperial Gallon = 1.200095 American Gallons

Take that stated English MPG and multiply it by
5/6 (0.833) to get the American MPG (assuming all
else remains the same).

Tesha

[elehhhhna]

22. excellent point...forgot about that

[masmdu]

25. Actually the article says specifically that it is "US" gallons....

[muriel_volestrangler]

31. It's 63.5 US mpg for combined; the thread title figures are in imperial gallons

And, comparing a few equivalent cars available in both places, such as the Mini or Honda Civic, these 2 sites seem to show that the EU urban figure (when you allow for the 1.2 conversion factor), is roughly equivalent to the US combined mpg figure:

http://www.eta.co.uk/car_buyers_guide
http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/byclass.htm

So the diesel Fiesta will get about 51 US mpg, for the combined measurement. Still significantly better than the Yaris, Fit etc. scores on that EPA page.

[bullwinkle428]

20. BMW to export 500 electric MINI Coopers to California

MUNICH -- BMW plans to export nearly 500 electric versions of its Mini car to California, company sources said.

The electric Minis are being built at the Mini factory in Oxford, England, without engines, gearboxes or fuel tanks, then shipped to Munich, Germany, where they are being fitted with electric powertrains.

"This step will allow the BMW Group to gain an initial knowledge of how mobility can be achieved efficiently using purely electrically powered vehicles. Our task here is to combine the ultimate driving experience with an efficient electrified drive with practically no emissions", underlined Dr. Norbert Reithofer, Chairman of the Board of Management of BMW AG.

BMW sources told Automotive News Europe that 490 of the Minis will be leased to selected customers in California and 10 will be used as show cars.


http://www.autonews.com/article/20080709/COPY01/2895089...

[Javaman]

23. Just...stop it. No one likes a tease...well, sometimes, hey that's besides the point.

quit posting these drool worthy cars that aren't available here. It's depressing!!

[dsc]

27. I have a Focus and with 82k it has needed nothing except

tires and oil changes. I would buy another one in a new york minute.

[bonito]

29. K&R!