Ford is aiming for cheapet thrills with frugal Focus (From Wharfedale Observer)

Ford is aiming for cheapet thrills with frugal Focus

1:00pm Thursday 12th April 2012 in Road Tests By Steve Teale, Motoring Reporter

If ever economy was king, it’s now.

Car companies are falling over themselves to find ways of offering cheaper ways to drive, whether it’s through expensive hybrid systems or simply more efficient traditional engines.

Ford are taking the traditional route with the new one-litre Focus, a car which claims to offer cheaper cost-per-mile driving than we enjoyed in 2008.

Despite a 34 per cent increase in fuel prices in the past four years, the Ford Focus with the new 100PS 1.0-litre EcoBoost petrol engine delivers lower fuel costs than the 2008 Focus 100PS 1.6-litre petrol equivalent.

In January, 2008, with petrol at 104.3p per litre, owners of the 100PS 1.6-litre Ford Focus five-door paid an average of 11.2p per mile in fuel costs. Fast forward to today, with unleaded prices at 140p per litre, and the 1.0-litre Ford Focus five-door costs 10.8p per mile in petrol – 0.4p per mile less.

The Focus 100PS 1.0-litre EcoBoost engine achieves 58.8mpg compared with 42.2mpg on the 2008 model, while delivering the same power and more torque.

Andy Barratt, Ford Britain sales director, said: “The Ford Focus 1.0-litre EcoBoost engine changes the economics of family motoring, delivering exceptional fuel economy from a petrol engine. It’s a time machine which takes you back to the days of lower fuel costs, without compromising power or driveability.

"Family budgets are under real pressure, and record petrol prices are the last thing that motorists need. When feeding the family or even posting a letter costs so much more, anything which helps to fight the rising cost of fuel is very welcome."

Ford’s new EcoBoost petrol engine uses the latest technology – including advanced turbocharging and direct injection – to deliver the performance of a traditional 1.6-litre engine with the fuel economy of a 1.0-litre.

Fitted to the Ford Focus, the new engine takes fuel economy and CO2 emissions to new levels for a petrol family car, achieving up to 58.8mpg and 109g/km CO2 emissions, together with excellent performance and refinement.

In addition to the Focus, Ford’s fuel-efficient new 1.0-litre EcoBoost engine will also be offered in the C-MAX and the all-new B-MAX later in 2012 before being rolled out to other models.

l Motorists in Bradford have voted for Polar Ford, on Canal Road, as one of the top 50 garages in the UK and one of the top five in Yorkshire, in a national competition. The Garage of the Year competition, by the Government-backed consumer watchdog for the motor industry, Motor Codes, to highlight first class, honest operators, has touched a nerve with the British public who have been voting in their thousands for their favourite local garage.

Polar Ford along with parent company Ford Retail garages occupy 52 per cent of the 25 nomination slots for which they were eligible.