Ford Focus rental in Minneapolis

[dalesky]

Got into Minneapolis last week, with actual temp of -17 degrees. Freakin Brrrr.!

Almost 8 years since I had experienced Winter there.

Found the rental Focus in the ramp downtown, and noticed it was all iced over on the windows.

Finally got the doors open (frozen shut due to being washed recently) and then saw that the windows were iced on the inside.

Had to wait quite a while for enough warmth to clear the windows enough to drive. Scraper did not work well on curved surfaces of glass.

Got rolling finally, and of course the window would not roll down to access the parking ramp ticket dispenser.

Now, once it warmed up a little, and I could look around a bit, I saw how to track mpg. Set the counter and for the whole week

I was getting over 35 mpg, sometimes as much as 39. In the extreme cold! Really a surprise. Car had 30,000 miles on it, and worked perfectly.

Not quite enough heat until driven at higher speeds for a while, but other than that it was a good driver. Oh, besides the square feeling tires

because they were so frozen!

Anyhoo, just saying that Ford is making some efficient engines obviously. Can't wait to get one of the 2015 turbo Mustangs!!

Edited January 28, 2014 by dalesky

[hybridbear]

What engine was in the Focus? We had one once as a rental while having work done on the black FFH and got 35+ MPG too. Ours had the 2.0L 4-cyl. We had a Fiesta hatch another time with the 1.6L 4-cyl and it got about 35 MPG as well. The Focus was driven in early spring weather, the Fiesta in cold winter.

[acdii]

I too managed to get 39 MPG in a Focus(the same one where, "why is the engine running" came from). I was seriously considering getting a red Focus Hatchback because of this. Sort of glad I didn't and got the Flex instead. So I get 20 fewer MPG in it, but it has twice the room and does exactly what I need it to do. The one I had as a loaner was a 2011 or 12 model, wasnt quite sure, but it did very good on fuel.

[dalesky]

What engine was in the Focus? We had one once as a rental while having work done on the black FFH and got 35+ MPG too. Ours had the 2.0L 4-cyl. We had a Fiesta hatch another time with the 1.6L 4-cyl and it got about 35 MPG as well. The Focus was driven in early spring weather, the Fiesta in cold winter.

It had to be the 2.0, and it was a 2013, since the mileage was so high. Still tight as a drum though.

[dalesky]

I too managed to get 39 MPG in a Focus(the same one where, "why is the engine running" came from). I was seriously considering getting a red Focus Hatchback because of this. Sort of glad I didn't and got the Flex instead. So I get 20 fewer MPG in it, but it has twice the room and does exactly what I need it to do. The one I had as a loaner was a 2011 or 12 model, wasnt quite sure, but it did very good on fuel.

2 years ago I rented a Focus hatchback, brand new, same great mileage. Backing out of the underground garage on Washington Ave, at the old train depot I clipped the concrete column. Tore the mirror almost off, and scratched the driver's door from front to back. I was sick about it, since the car looked so good before.

Had to pay for that one out of my pocket. Rental company was good about letting me do that tho, so the insurance company didn't ding me. Only accident, no tickets, in over 30 years.