I have a 1.0 Ecoboost (125bhp) Fiesta; I had similar reservations coming down from a 2.5T 5-pot Mondeo. The engine is surprisingly nippy and produces a decent amount of torque. It is more than adequate for everyday driving, no issues on motorways either.
The drawback is that it has a fairly narrow power band, you almost have to drive it like a diesel - it does take to familiarise yourself with the optimum rev range vs gears. Economy is excellent as you'd imagine but you need to keep it in that optimum rev range, if you thrash it the fuel consumption will increase dramatically.
Mine is a 2013 (mk7.5) with 73k miles (not all from me......) and no drama's yet. There are some stories about engine failures but you'll have to make a judgement on the no of horror stories vs no of engines on the road. The small turbo can get quite hot on a long run or after a thrash, but if you follow the advice and let the engine idle for a minute before switching off after a good drive - then it will be fine.
I was wondering whether the engines that fail have been abused, that would suggest one reason, thanks data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7
The 1.0 ecoboost with 125ps/125ftlb does have more power and torque then the old 1.6 petrol. There was a shortage of the engines at one point so I expect they rushed them out the door but newer ones should have the bugs resolved.
I was worried about going from a 2.0 diesel to a 1.2 petrol turbo. Yes its slow but it does the job and gets up to legal speeds in an acceptable time.
The 1.0 ecoboost is perfect for the fiesta, not sure about putting it in the focus and mondeo though.
From what I can tell it's not the turbo that is causing the problems.The engine runs very hot because it is worked very hard due to it's small size.This puts pressure on the weak points of the coolant system and can cause them to fail and leak.There is no coolant level indicator on the dashboard so the driver is unaware that coolant is rapidly escaping.This causes the engine to overheat due to low coolant which can cause the cylinder head to crack.
Apparently, they are now fitting a coolant level warning to cars that have the engine replaced.
I should point out that this is what I have read on various forums/news sites.I am not an expert by any stretch of the imagination.
That would be a fairly unique feature, but quite handy, I wonder why they aren't fitted more frequently? It would certainly have helped me when I had a leaky water pump, the temperature gauge gave me no indication anything was amiss, it was only when the heating failed that I realised.
I believe that this is being rolled out via a recall, you can check whether this has been done via the Ford Etis website.
A mechanic friend had a couple ofhis customers who had engine failure and it was due the coolant system. The return pipe to the header tank failed due to the heat. The pipe has now been, apparently, replaced with a more suitable one.
I had the 1lt fiesta as a courtesy car a bit back and it was very nice to drive. It didn't half shift. Can't say how economical it was as only had it a couple of days but if the 1.6 ecoboost in my mondeo is anything to go by it should be very economical indeed.
The problems with the Ecoboost engine were with the Focus from what I understand, rather than with the Fiesta.
My son drives a 2014 First Zetec S, 1.0l 125bhp version, I must say it's a lovely engine! It has a nice rasp to it and it certainly does shift data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7I've driven a few sporty cars over the years and this handles really well and to be honest, if it is just you in the car you'll be fine. Granted 4 up going up a long hill it may struggle if you wanted to accelerate, but otherwise I love the car. He is getting low 40s to the gallon with a mix of motorway/town driving.
With such low millage is something like a leaf possible, especially if your work have a charging station you can use?
Oh hell I wouldn't be seen dead in one of them. Hahaha no harm to anyone who has them, just not my cup of tea.
I'm actually looking at a fiesta st now tbh.
The Mrs loves the Kuga and doesn't want to get rid but for me, if I'm going to be getting 38 mpg from a diesel, I'd rather get it from a sporty hatchback I can have some fun driving.
My head is honestly pickled just now. I might leave it till I come back my holidays towards end of July and see how I'm feeling