2013 trend questions

[kiwiinoz]

Hi there. I brought a manual trend in 2013 new andhave a couple of questions. Firstly, what fuel is best. I have been using 91 but the car pinks at times. I tried 95 but no difference. Secondly, the torque under 4000rpm is woeful or is it just me?. Ford dealer say that they tune it at service time but can anyone advise me whether I need to get it properly tuned. Love the car, handles well and goes good when revved. Build quality is good but soft touch trim on doors would be preferred to what is there. Look forward to your comments thanks

[RedChris]

I have a manual 2012. I use 95 and have no pinging. It should run on 91, though really 95 is preferred. If it is sensitive to fuel you may need several tanks of 95 to get rid of the remaining 91. If it doesn't resolve then it's dealer time. Low end torque is not wonderful - that's normal, but again make sure the engine is running right before drawing any conclusions.

Agree about the plasticky interior, Ford needs to sort this because some of the competition is more attractive inside (Golf especially). Still a really good drive after two years though.

[kiwiinoz]

Thanks Chris, I had a Golf as a rental car before buying the Focus. It was a nice car no doubt but didnt have the best handling I thought. Went well, very torquey but gear box wasnt great. had the engine shut down thingy that was interesting and it was very good on juice, 780kms to the tank but needed 98 fuel, was $5600 more than the Focus and IMHO didnt look as nice. IT was finished alot better though....still happy with the Focus though.........will be interested to see if they bring out the ecoboost motor in the new one.....small Euro motors with blowers seem to be the go.........thanks again

[kiwiinoz]

Oh and I am now using 95, will see how it goes over the month. i usually get 700kms out of the tank of 91, be interesing to see if 95 is any better, would be happy with the same or even worse if i could get rind of the pinging..........7.1 ltr/100kms is pretty good i think

[mik]

Just a thought about the pinging, have you tried changing servos? If not it may be worth giving it a try, I have found fuel quality is sometimes lacking , and a change of supplier has rectified this.

[Binny]

Pinging and no torque at low revs go hand in hand. The knock sensors would be retarding the timing at low revs to try and stop the pinging which will be robbing you of any decent torque. The fact it is still pinging indicates that there is definitely something wrong.
Like the others have said try a different servo and run it on 95 minimum for a few tanks. It might be worth resetting the ECU as well if that is easy to do on a focus.
My brother has a focus sport with the same engine and although its no fireball with its relatively high weight it goes pretty well and doesn't need to be thrashed to get it moving.
Modern high compression engines, although designed by the manufacturer to run on 91 octane, do so with a performance hit, particularly in the bottom end. Running 95 minimum allows a lot more timing advance at low revs resulting in more torque and usually better fuel economy.

[kiwiinoz]

Cheers, how do I get the ecu reset? I don't trust the dealer to do it right

[chappy60]

Had the same problem some years ago [not a ford ] after getting no help from the dealer I went over their heads to get a result turned out the wrong motor was put in, the engine should of been in a Euro country with better fuel,new engine fitted no more problems mistakes happen with global cars

[hnn17]

Have used E10, 91, 95, 98 and a few times 100 when it was available, in my 2012 Trend auto. Mainly based on price if the higher ones were cheap I'd put them in and if not then the lower octanes.
Have you tried 98 yet for the ping ?

[kiwiinoz]

Been using 95. Seems to ping less but still a little. Wonder if it is just poor tuning.