MK3 Ford Focus - Which petrol engine?

[anonymous-user]

Hi all,

Looking to change to a MK3 Ford Focus pre-facelift (2011/12 car). I only do 10k miles a year so looking at the 1.6 petrol engine but I can't work out whether the Ti-VCT is a NA or a turbo like the SC-TI.

Would like to grab the SC-Ti if possible, but they seem short on the ground. Anyone had a drive of either variant and can offer any advice on whether to hold out for an SC-Ti? Speed is going to be catered for by my motorbike, so I'm just looking for ease of driving at the posted speed limits.

I imagine the 1.6 is reliable unlike the 1.0 ecoboost?

Edited by anonymous-user on Sunday 2nd August 19:01

[cknotty]

TI-VCT is the last development of the N/A 'Sigma' engine going back to (at least) the Mk1 Focus. There are different variants of these - I've seen 105 or 125HP. We have the 105 HP in our MK3 C-Max, it's quite nippy around town with a good throttle response, but does take a bit longer to get up to speed on the motorway. Once there it'll cruise well, although a 6th gear would be welcome!

I decided to get this over the 1.0 engine as the Sigma is a well-proven design and less complicated than the more modern engines.

[anonymous-user]

Thanks for the feedback, is it noisy without the 6th gear on the motorway? Going to try and test drive a car this week.

[cknotty]

I wouldn't say it was hugely noisy, more like you know it's there in the background, especially if you don't have the radio on. Gearing is about 3400rpm @ 70 - it's probably like that to keep it in the torque band as it is higher up in a non-turbo engine.

Good luck with the test drive!

[anonymous-user]

Test drove it today, felt fine but only got up to 50mph. Had the guy with me so going back tomorrow to drive it again and get out on my own to really get a feel for it. Seemed comfortable and quiet but I don't think there is steering wheel reach adjustment which sucks really bad. Also, it's SLOW lol

[anonymous-user]

Reach adjustment works fine and I bought the car today. Seems quiet and comfortable but very slow. Hoping to achieve 40mpg+ average. I forgot what it's like to drive a soft sprung car after having a Type S and Type R back to back!

[jamei303]

It's reliable, that's the main thing going for it. I got around 38mpg over years of mixed driving, compared to 42mpg with the equivalent-powered Ecoboost so not much difference, although the turbo made the latter a much more enjoyable drive when it wasn't leaking coolant.