Originally Posted By: pzev
Originally Posted By: sciphi
My brother's fiancee has a 2004 Focus. They get about 30-31 mpg highway with it. Brother is also drooling over my Cruze. That thing whips its EPA highway rating silly. 50 mpg on longer highway trips is commonplace with that car.
I take it you have the cruze Eco? My father just picked up a 2012 1.8L model, and he averages about 30-32mpg on the highway. He absolutely hates the car lol, and its totally my fault. It has no power, the auto-tragic transmission kicks like an angry donkey when it shifts gear in urban settings, and it doesn't have cruise control (neither of us noticed on the lot lol). I talked him into the lower end model as he just needed a basic commuter. In hindsight, I should have let him get the 1.4L turbo...I just figured a direct injected turbo motor was not worth the maintenance risk.
I'm pretty sure the transmission would still suck, but at least he could stop [censored] about the lack of power.
As for the Focus, the OP should count his blessings. My 2003 with the thirsty 2.3L Duratec averages roughly 23-24mpg on a tank with split highway/city driving. I've had quit a few tanks with MPG numbers in the teens. My highway average is probably 27-28mpg @ 80mph with the AC on. My personal best is probably 32mpg, though tanks like that are rare. In SoCal, its just too easy to drive 85mph everywhere. But to be fair, my MPG numbers are 95% my fault...I'm young, male, and drive like a retard. [censored], I'm on my 4th set of tires and brakes in only 100k miles

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I've only had 5 accidents, but none of them counted as they never located the bodies...
I kid I kid...my driving record is perfect
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Yes, I've got the fuel economy queen Eco manual transmission. Also, neither engine in the Cruze is direct injected. I thought so myself, but learned otherwise. It's a traditional port-injected turbo engine. It's better than the 1.8 since it's better on gas, faster, and less raucous in the cabin.
I never cared much for Ford products from that era. Not like any Detroit automaker was doing much of note for small cars then, either...