How Come the Focus gets so much better gas mileage then a Civic?

Question

Yet the Civic rating states it gets better gas mileage then the Focus?

Again as I said before I drove a Civic from California to Oregon the same way I drove the Focus and got so much worse gas mileage then the Focus when I drove it down to California. Both are 2007 and brand new. Driving habits were the same.

Oops I thought I had said that. It's the same road with the same hills and downhills. Nope the Civic gets either 30/40 or 30/38 depending on the model where the focus I drove down was 27/34

Answer 1

Well, you're going to be even happier after I state this. The 2008 Ford Focus will get up to 40-41 mpg! It will be totally redesigned: http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://news.windingroad.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/01/08-ford-focus004-600.jpg&imgrefurl=http://news.windingroad.com/body-stylesmarket-segment/coupes/ford-reveals-new-focus-sedan-coupe-for-2008/&h=600&w=450&sz=73&hl=en&start=1&um=1&tbnid=SdEETUjSfad76M:&tbnh=135&tbnw=101&prev=/images%3Fq%3D2008%2Bford%2Bfocus%26svnum%3D10%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dsafari%26rls%3Den%26sa%3DN and will feature a voice activated system called the Ford Sync that's powered by Microsoft: http://www.syncmyride.com/#/home/

Answer 2

edit: "As I said before?" You didn't say before.

Also, without knowing the trim levels it is impossible to say.

AND you drove a different route. I don't care if you went on the same roads, you drove the opposite direction. If one direction has more downhill and the other more uphill, it isn't a fair comparison.

If you have the opportunity to try again, on the same round-trip route, in similar weather, calculating your MPG at fill-up (that IS how you were doing it, right? Because MPG meters aren't terribly accurate), you would have a more meaningful result.





Different drivers, different trim levels.

Compare the most basic, manual transmission Focus to a Civic SI, and yeah, there's a good chance the Focus will come out on top. Compare a Civic HX to ANY Focus, with the same driver, and the Focus will get destroyed on fuel economy. Not every Focus has exactly the same engine and transmission, and not every Civic does.

Also, it matters how the cars are driven. If you're flogging it from stoplight to stoplight, you're going to burn more fuel than if you have a light touch on the gas. I can make a Ford Thunderbird get better highway mileage than some people might get out of a Civic SI. (City mileage is a lost cause, though)

And finally, if one car is in better condition than the other, it may get better fuel economy, regardless of what they were like when they were new.

Oh, and it isn't Honda giving those numbers, it's the EPA.

And the NEW EPA numbers, particularly for cars 2007 and earlier, are a bunch of horseshit. I don't know if your chemistry teacher instilled as much disdain for dry-labbing in you as mine did in me, but that **** is NOT cool.

Answer 3

Focus 27/37 vs Civic 26/34 for maunal shift,

the difference is very close, I would not claim "so much better".

Answer 4

There are lots of reasons a car might not get as good a MPG as the manufacturer states.

1. low tire air pressure
2. speeding (the faster you go the worse your MPG gets)
3. poorly tuned engine (do you get regular tune-ups?)
4. poor overall car maintenance (changing oil, etc)

Overall all the Honda Civics I have ever owned (3) got well into the mid-30's with MPG.

Plus Honda's are a WAY better car than the crappy Ford Focus. Even if the MPG is better on the Focus, you'll spend a lot more time and $$ taking it in and out of the shop than you ever will a Honda.

Answer 5

Generally speaking, any smaller, lighter vehicle with a small displacement engine will be fuel efficient. Bonus marks for a hybrid or diesel version.

Answer 6

Probbaly because the civic DOES get better fuel milage than the focus and you are wrong about the first part of your question?

Of course I could always drive a civic around like a lunatic with my foot on the floor and get bad milage, but that is true for any car. ON what did you base the first part of your question?

Answer 7

Depends on your driving habits. 2003 Toyota Corolla 35 mpg when wife drives it, 26 when I drive.

Answer 8

Go to http://www.fueleconomy.gov and see what they say

Answer 9

honda lies