[drbob1]

I'm very frustrated. There's only one Sport within 100 miles of me, drove an hour and a quarter to try it out. The salesman was nice guy, but the test drive was totally underwhelming. My Mazdaspeed 6 would have put that car to shame. It wasn't until I'd left, saddened that I thought to ask the salesman what kind of gas they'd put in it. 87 octane ("it's all we have")!!! I have NO idea how much that hurts performance, a lot I'd guess.

So, for those of you who've driven them, how does full throttle acceleration compare to the Audi S4, the Merc CLA45 AMG or the Mazdaspeed 6, or the WRX/EVO?

FWIW the dealer is taking $3k off the MSRP, even for the Sport (and only adding $4k to the price of the Focus RS they have).

 

[Franti]

I took a short test drive and was also unimpressed. Then I drove it myself, home form buying it, and it's a different animal. I think it needs time to adjust to your driving style.

Eric

 

[escape]

I took a short test drive and was also unimpressed. Then I drove it myself, home form buying it, and it's a different animal. I think it needs time to adjust to your driving style.

Eric

So you were unimpressed with the test drive, but bought it anyway? Nice.

 

[Kevin74]

I took a short test drive and was also unimpressed. Then I drove it myself, home form buying it, and it's a different animal. I think it needs time to adjust to your driving style.

Eric

I'm not sure if this is true or not, but when I took my long test drive I noted not being overwhelmed by the acceleration while cruising at highway speeds. In another post I mentioned that a charger rt might be quicker in that scenario. I test drove them a day apart. While I can't say for a fact that this still isn't true, I can say that for the last week and a half driving my Sport to work on the freeway I have been.... Giddy. Big smile every time I've gotten on the pedal(and I've been babying it too) It does seem better than my test drive. Usually when you try something new you tend to be more impressed on the initial experience, (especially if you came from something lesser like I did) and as you become used to it you become less impressed. This has not been the case for me at all. And from what I've read on this forum that seems to not be the case for other Sport owners as well. Now if your used to and trying to compare the Sport to Corvettes, porsches, M3s than that may not be completely realistic.

 

[elronino]

Here's how my test drive and reaction went:

Got the dealer with a gigantic car woody. My going in thoughts and expectations were like this... 325hp/380lb-ft... ****'s going to melt your face off fast... well that melt your face off quickly turned into... this has some pep.

What I'm trying to say, I think most buyers/test drivers are going in with the perception that this is going to run with some higher end performance cars (EVO/STI/ecoboost mustang/etc). On paper, numbers look promising. Execution, it is a quick 4 door sedan that is nimble in the corners.

With that said, my dealer did tell me that 87 was in the tank when I test drove it... it was a dog on the highway. When I took delivery... they made sure to top what was left (probably 80%) with 93. I'll tell you what... the couple of times I got on it... it was a totally different car. Also, the car needs a little time to break in... they suggest 1000 miles of easy, feather foot driving... so don't go beatin' on it 3 feet out of the dealer lot.

 

[drbob1]

I'm thinking the gas has a lot to do with it, but it's a bit of a gamble... Still, the dealer might be willing to stretch his "3 day free return" policy to include the Fusion Sport. The Mazdaspeed Sport would be a good comparison-275 HP on paper, 3500# and it was FAST. Not GTO fast, but put your foot in it and smile fast. It was hobbled by completely unreliable programming. I don't want to go down that rabbit hole again, I want a car that's grin inducing fast every day summer and winter...

 

[Franti]

So you were unimpressed with the test drive, but bought it anyway? Nice.

Yeah I bought for practicality...daily driving...not for speed. In my opinion, it had enough for a fun daily drive.

But I think it'll open up over time.

Eric

 

[elronino]

Yeah I bought for practicality...daily driving...not for speed. In my opinion, it had enough for a fun daily drive

This is the exact reason I purchased it. My 14' was great, but missed a few key things for me... AWD and more power to keep a smile on my face.

 

[HanSolo]

For you guys newish to Ecoboost engines, they really like premium. It makes a huge difference. All Fords come shipped with 87 octane from the assembly line and dealers often only put regular at delivery unless you make them fill it with premium. Ecoboosts also can take a while to loosen up as my 3.5 did not start getting good fuel economy until 10k miles.

 

[elronino]

Ecoboosts also can take a while to loosen up as my 3.5 did not start getting good fuel economy until 10k miles.

I can second that... my Two-O was a bit tight lipped at first. I saw my best mileage (I logged it all) after ~7k.

 

[Fuze]

It's definitely a given that with this car, the type of fuel you use is significantly going to change you driving experience. You need to have that 93 in there to feel it pick up and haul. But you have that ability to just run it off of the 87 when you wanna save some pennies

 

[drbob1]

How does it do on 91? 93 is a 45 minute drive from here...

 

[Kevin74]

How does it do on 91? 93 is a 45 minute drive from here...

Just as an FYI, there are tunes out there for cars such as the Focus ST that use a mixture of regular gas and e85. Keeps you under the manufacturer limit of ethanol percentage (15% on Sport) but with higher octane than 93. I'm pretty sure many of these are using 91 instead of 93 in the mixture, since many are in your situation. And a positive side note, it would be cheaper to fill-up than 93. All of this is assuming you have access to e85.

 

[HanSolo]

It's definitely a given that with this car, the type of fuel you use is significantly going to change you driving experience. You need to have that 93 in there to feel it pick up and haul. But you have that ability to just run it off of the 87 when you wanna save some pennies

Motortrend recently tested a 2016 Edge Sport on 87 octane and reported that it ran about half a second slower 0-60 and in the 1/4 mile at 4mph slower than the 2015 they tested on premium petrol. Of course other factor might be ambient temperature and humidity so it may not be entirely representative.