New Newfoundland FFH

[jgnfld]

Normally, cars are expensive here for a number of reasons including the fact we are on the far side of a remote island and there are only 1-2 dealers per brand. There are 2 Ford dealerships. A recent sales event was so shockingly good by our standards that I traded in my 2012 Focus Hatch SEL for a 2015 FFH S. On the road $23K Cdn($17K USD )including 13% tax, dealer prep, and with 4 additional, mounted winter tires. The car was a demo w/ 1800km (1200 miles) on it. That's a good deal here.

 

Newfoundland is hard on cars. Long, cold, high snow winters, much salt on roads and in the air, much rain rest of year, steep hills. I park on the side of a steep, much traveled street 80 meters (240 ft) above downtown 8 blocks away which doesn't help either.

 

Anyway gas mileage so far is about 30-40% less than Focus in a much roomier and much better appointed car. MUCH better driving experience than the shorter wheel base, higher centre of gravity Focus hatch. I did own a 2007 V6 AWD Fusion and truly loved it as a driving car, but especially in winter it got very expensive to feed at about 12.5 l/100km (18mpg) given our gas prices which have varied from $1/liter to over $1.50/liter over the past 5 years ($3-$4.50/gal USD).

 

While I am not sure Newfoundland is prime territory for a hybrid, so far, in subfreezing weather down to lo 20s F, I am getting an overall 6.2 l/100km (38mpg). As most every drive involves a 2-300 meter climbout to get on top of the plateau (depending if I am shopping or whether I am going all the way out of town to the range or to do work on my boat), or a steep 80 meter climb if I go downtown, I am not at all displeased with that figure. Of course if I go to my boat, that involves another 300 meter climb out of that harbour. Drive is not the equal of a gas Fusion, but not at all that far away. The old AWD Fusion was perhaps the most drivable car I've ever owned. That said, I have not tried it in true snow conditions yet, just light snow. I have settled on 100kph (62mph) on the road--the posted speed limit--rather than the never-ticketed 110kph (68 mph) I used to do as 100 seems to hit a sweeter spot.

 

Looking good so far!

Edited December 2, 2015 by jgnfld

[Texasota]

Anyway gas mileage so far is about 30-40% less than Focus in a much roomier and much better appointed car. MUCH better driving experience than the shorter wheel base, higher centre of gravity Focus hatch.

 

Your car trade is similar to my experience. I traded a 2012 Ford Focus (a miserable ownership experience) for a 2015 FFH S and so far I am very pleased with the FFH. Did you mean to say that your FFH is getting 30-40% less MPG than your Focus? With over 20,000 miles I have averaged 45.1 MPG in my FFH. The Focus was good but its average MPG was considerably less than my FFH.

[machoman1337]

Hey fellow Canadian!

 

East side winters definitely take their toll on your fuel economy, but 6-7 L/100 km is still phenomenal for a car of this size.

 

I also owned a last-gen V6 AWD Fusion (mine was a 2008) and I don't miss it very much - traded it in for my 2013 FFH and everything was a phenomenal upgrade except the engine power of course.

 

Just like you, the FFH I bought was a demo unit with only 2000 km and I got an excellent deal after the trade in - roughly $25k with 13% tax included. I have all the most popular options - luxury package, nav, and camera (this last one should be standard on your 2015). Too bad I kept it in Ontario for more than 30 days or I could have gotten a PST rebate and saved 1% when I moved to BC (I would have to pay BC's 7% PST if the car was registered for < 30 days and then I would qualify for ON's rebate, in this case I only paid ON tax and no BC tax).

 

Set the eco cruise control to the posted speed limit when on highways, and you're good to go.

 

Texasota: We measure in liters per 100 km so lower = better. His consumption is 30-40% less than on his Focus. My consumption is over 50% lower than that of my old V6 Fusion.

Edited December 2, 2015 by machoman1337

[Texasota]

Texasota: We measure in liters per 100 km so lower = better. His consumption is 30-40% less than on his Focus. My consumption is over 50% lower than that of my old V6 Fusion.

That is what I was hoping/guessing that he meant but he did say "gas mileage so far is about 30-40% less than Focus".

 

Edit: Oh, I read that again and I now see what you mean "liters per 100 km". That is very different than MPG. :doh:

Edited December 2, 2015 by Texasota

[jgnfld]

Hey fellow Canadian!

 

East side winters definitely take their toll on your fuel economy, but 6-7 L/100 km is still phenomenal for a car of this size.

 

I also owned a last-gen V6 AWD Fusion (mine was a 2008) and I don't miss it very much - traded it in for my 2013 FFH and everything was a phenomenal upgrade except the engine power of course.

 

Just like you, the FFH I bought was a demo unit with only 2000 km and I got an excellent deal after the trade in - roughly $25k with 13% tax included. I have all the most popular options - luxury package, nav, and camera (this last one should be standard on your 2015). Too bad I kept it in Ontario for more than 30 days or I could have gotten a PST rebate and saved 1% when I moved to BC (I would have to pay BC's 7% PST if the car was registered for < 30 days and then I would qualify for ON's rebate, in this case I only paid ON tax and no BC tax).

 

Set the eco cruise control to the posted speed limit when on highways, and you're good to go.

 

Texasota: We measure in liters per 100 km so lower = better. His consumption is 30-40% less than on his Focus. My consumption is over 50% lower than that of my old V6 Fusion.

Yeah...my gas use so far of 6.2l per 100km is almost precisely half the AWD V6 Fusion for cold season driving. We'll see about summer in July. which is when it comes here :-(.

Edited December 2, 2015 by jgnfld

[jgnfld]

 

Your car trade is similar to my experience. I traded a 2012 Ford Focus (a miserable ownership experience) for a 2015 FFH S and so far I am very pleased with the FFH. Did you mean to say that your FFH is getting 30-40% less MPG than your Focus? With over 20,000 miles I have averaged 45.1 MPG in my FFH. The Focus was good but its average MPG was considerably less than my FFH.

I see you live in Minnie. St. John's, where I live, is somewhat like Duluth where I went to hs and UMD except that to do anything at all you have to go between sea level and a 2-300 meter plateau all the time. There is no equivalent of Superior Street/London Drive/Highway 61. Everything is up and down the hill. That will affect your gas mileage.

 

If the Tex part is Texas, I went to TCU for grad school and still make it to at least 1 game/year. This year it was Minnie as my brother is a Gopher and so I went to tha game.

Edited December 2, 2015 by jgnfld

[Texasota]

The Tex part is for Texas. Minnesota and Texas - they could not be more polar opposites. :confused:

[hybridbear]

I really want to get out to Newfoundland some year. Seems like it would be a beautiful place to live!