Fiesta Faction banner

1.0 Ecoboost vs 1.6: which did you get and why?

35757 Views 29 Replies 17 Participants Last post by  Kingdeleted
I know I posted a similar question in the Ecoboost forum, but thought there might be a different audience here...

So, the title pretty much sums up my question. Did you get the 1.0 Ecoboost or the 1.6L standard engine? Why? If you have driven both, what are your thoughts?

I intend to get a Fiesta, but of course finding an Ecoboost to test drive can be challenging; and even then you can only discern so much during a short test drive. I like the idea of faster and better fuel economy of the Ecoboost, but the lower cost (buying a 2-3 year old 1.6 vs. a one year old Ecoboost) and potentially freer revving 1.6 is also inviting. Does the 1.6 really feel much slower? Either way will be a manual transmission.
1 - 20 of 30 Posts
I piped in over in your other thread, but remember neither the 1.6 nor the 1.0 have any aspirations of being a "fast" car. Mine is a 1.6 and as long as your willing to flog it, I wouldn't call it slow. I have zero problems merging onto the highways around here, or getting up to speed from lights. The real fun is in corner speeds with the Fiesta of every engine option. I have not driven the 1.0, but rule of thumb is more torque more pull(depending on gearing of course). The 1.0 has won engine of the year for three years in a row, if that helps.
1.0 great mpg, great power, great sound, can be real fun and can be real economic depending on your mood. Plus I only need to buy 3 spark plugs...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Hmmm, most of us bought the 1.6L because it was the only choice available.

Being here in the states we only get a tiny sampling of the 1.0L. While the rest of the world gets to enjoy the 1.0L in all it's glory, we only get it in some obscure, half-assed configuration.

Had I been able to buy the Fiesta in Titanium trim and with the 1.0L engine, it would be in my driveway!

Over the weekend. I attended the Pittsburgh International Autoshow. It's nothing spectacular like the Detroit Autoshow. It basically a collection of about every make and model of vehicle on the road. Ford had probably the biggest display and representation of any.manufacture there. They had cutout and display of the 1.0L ecoboost. I spoke to a salesperson from the local Pittsburgh Fors dealer that provided the display vehicles. The salesperson said that that particular dealership had only ever sold one 1.0L Fiesta. It was a vehicle Ford had allocated to them. Never did they sell another one, nor ordered one, they had few people come and inquire about a Fiesta with the 1.0L, but no buyers. They order them all with the 1.6L.

Ford raves all about the ecoboost series of engines. Ford does nothing to advertise the Fiesta, except maybe through social media, or by accident through a 3rd party review. The average person in the market and considering purchase of a new vehicle isn't even aware that Fiesta even exists, let alone some obscure 1.0L 3cylinder engine.
See less See more
I have both; a 2014 1.0 and a 2015 1.6 (5 speed)

Thoughts on the 1.0: Ultra economical gas motor; turbo is fun (not fast); Transmission gearing is 100% for economy which leaves some acceleration on the table; super quiet at highway speeds due to tall 5th gear; The extra $995 to play is a debatable value; it has a coolness factor being Wards 3x Winner of Best Engine

Thoughts on the 1.6: Good engine in its own right; very economical; transmissions gearing is super in gears 1-4 and reminds me of my old Mark 1 GTI (5th should be taller); has plenty of power for everyday driving; no extra charge as it is the standard motor; proven to over 600k miles (see Wolverines Red Candy thread)

What may be greater than the engines themselves, is the Fiesta chassis. The car handles well, is solid, and is quiet. It is great to have three engine choices for such a well put together chassis.

In my 90 mile commute, I prefer the 1.6 (mostly the tranny gearing) as my route is mostly stop and go with a few long hills in the mix.
See less See more
Drove both and loved the 1.0l. It was the same price as the 1.6 so why not. Dealer only had one HB and a Sedan with the 1.0l


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Thanks for the replies so far. Our (my wife and I) current cars are a 2008 Mazda5 with a manual trans and a 1996 Miata, so speed is not so much a factor as good handling. I am a believer in the saying "it's more fun to drive a slow car fast, than a fast car slow." The Fiesta will be replacing the Miata, which is obviously all about corners. But the Miata's Achille's heel is highway driving, which in reality, is where I do most of my driving.
I bought the 1.6l simply because there were no 1.0l hatches available in Michigan at the time. Then I found out that I couldn't get alloy wheels or the touchscreen ICE with the EcoBoost engine (would it add too much weight? Is there some sort of ECU that's bundled into the stock stereo? Does the alternator not produce enough voltage to run the MFT system?), and that clinched it.

As much as I'd like to have a car with an EcoBoost engine, I'm not going to support Ford's ridiculous option packaging strategy. I want a nice, well-appointed car that gets great fuel economy, too. I get most of the way there with my 1.6 SE, but Ford apparently doesn't think that anyone wants a combination of the two ideas. Their loss.
In Canada the 1.0 is a 1500$ option, that's a lot of gas for a 1.6...
I was looking at a used vehicle, and the 1.6 models were in my price range at the time. I was actually looking to replace my GTI, but VW had nothing that I was interested in. A newer 2.5 with only average fuel economy? No thanks. The other platform was 10 years old, and the cars almost always had 100K miles. I didn't want to get another older, high mileage VW. The Fiesta was the VW I was looking for.

It's been reliable, handles well, has decent power, but another 10-15 HP would be nice. I'm not a fan of the drive-by-wire, and do miss the bit of extra torque my previous cars had.

Would I have been happy if I could have found a 1.0? Probably. The power and torque would have been okay, and I think the tuning options would be a bit broader in the long run. The fuel economy would be a nice bonus. The only thing I'm not sure about would be how I like the gearing. Would I consider a 1.0 for my next car? If my next car isn't an ST, absolutely.
So I found and got a 2014 1.0 ecoboost yesterday with 4300 miles. Drove great and I was very happy with it. This morning I went out and it did the "Fiesta won't start" problem. I somehow missed this problem when doing research, but I know about it now. All the warning lights came on, radio on, fuel pump ran, a few other clicks a buzzes. But no start. Tried both keys, locking and unlocking to reset the security, disconnecting the battery...nothing. I was trying to go to a remote wilderness area to go cross country skiing in single digit temps. I am happy it didn't happen there. I read enough about the no-start issue to see that nobody has found a resolution yet, and you never know when it will happen again. It seems to affect all years of Fiestas. I called the dealer and told them to come get their car. Between my work often taking me into inner city Detroit and my recreation taking me into remote places as outlined above, I cannot have a car that may not start for the next few hours. Unfortunately, I am done with Fiestas until Ford or someone figures out what does this. I know most Fiestas are fine, but I am unwilling to buy a car with a known risk of leaving me stranded in uncomfortable situations.
See less See more
We are getting off topic of the original thread but I didn't realize thos was such a serious problem with the Fiesta.

The fact that you have guages working, fuel pump, and other critical parts working leads me to belive it's something as simple as the clutch switch. I don't know what all Ford engineers have come with for starting procedure for the 1.0L. I have the 1.6L with the 5-speed manual. With me wearing workboots a lot while driving the vehicle, and my weathertech floor mats, if I do not have that clutch absolutely pushed in all way to the floor the vehicle not start.
There's been quite a few times when I first press the start button it doesn't start. I have clutch pedal pushed in but not far enough. I get the message on the MFT to press the clutch pedal to start. .

As I said I have the weathertech mats and now with snow I also have an absorbant mat laying in mats to soak up water with all the snow. Sometimes that mat gets in the way. That clutch pedal has to mashed to the floor as far it will possibly go for the vehicle to start. That clutch sensor seems awfully sensitive and could be the problem since everything else seems to be working.

You didn't specify or wasn't specific if the engine was not turning over at all or if the engine is cranking and not starting. Also I don't know if the 1.0L has the MFT system or not. It's possible you won't see or get a clutch pedal warning to start the vehicle. Also with MFT, if it's not recognizing the key it should also display a warning about that.
See less See more
With a very few exceptions, the 1.0 and MFT were and are mutually exclusive. He's not getting a message about the clutch pedal. (that's most of the reason why I didn't get the 1.0. Selecting the EcoBoost engine excludes MFT)
In saying it won't start, I mean that the starter does not run. There is one click, like a starter solenoid, but the starter motor does not run

It is definitely not the clutch pedal. With the clutch in there would be the one click. Without the clutch in the click would not happen.

The thing that initially concerned me is that there are multiple reports of cars doing the same thing, but a few hours later they start right up. When that happens the repair shop cannot diagnose and fix it because there is nothing to diagnose and fix. I can't have a car that randomly does not start for reasons explained above. However, when the car was towed to the dealer eleven hours later it was still not starting. If the car continues to not start and the dealer can diagnose and fix an obvious defect I might keep the car. I was pretty excited about it and was looking forward to experiencing the unusual engine.
Prior to the cars below there was no EcoBoost. However both of the current stable are the 1.6L. Why? To me the 3-cylinder world is very new and it came down to the Devil I knew (1.6L) versus the one I didn't. Also, the HP/torque gains for the price weren't to my liking. I thought it was a shade too little for the cost. <shrug>
Prior to the cars below there was no EcoBoost. However both of the current stable are the 1.6L. Why? To me the 3-cylinder world is very new and it came down to the Devil I knew (1.6L) versus the one I didn't. Also, the HP/torque gains for the price weren't to my liking. I thought it was a shade too little for the cost. <shrug>
The 3 cylinder world is nearly 20 years old..........I was rocking my 89 Sprint 1.0 turbo for many, many moons. Direct injection is new, however.
Not in my world of V8 and V6 engines. Until the Fiestas I've had a '68 VW Beetle (1969 - 71) and a '69 Datsun 1600 (1971 - 73) were the only 4-cylinder cars I ever had. I should clarify ... prior Fiestas were an '11 and a '12 ... neither model year having the 1.0L option.

I still say the HP and torque gains (even spooled up) are not worth the cash.
Why not the 1.0L? As I said before it the packaging that Ford has with that drives people away.

I like the 1.0L and wanted it. I would have gladly paid more coin for the 1.0L to have it. What i didn't want was the ugly ass steel wheels as part of the SFE package. The 1.0L only comes in a 5-speed manual, no problem for me, I wanted the manual transmission. Most people don't want the manual transmission. That alone, probably eliminates 90% of potential buyers.

For me the reason to forego the 1.0L was the packaging. I wanted the upscale interior with all the bells and whistles. I'm on the road alot. The heated leather seats, premium sound system, Satellite radio, MFT and SYNC, heated mirrors with turn signals, autoclimate, all of these features I prize more than the 1.0L engine. Those options are an impossibily with the 1.0L engine.

I said it before, had I been able to get the Titanium hatch with the 1.0L it would be in my driveway.

It seems like since day one Ford deliberately only wants to bring the 1.0L to the US in a very controled and limited fashion until they make sure they get the bugs worked out of it. The rest of world gets it in various configurations and with automatic transmission. The European Focus gets the 1.0L engine offerings. Now looks like the US market for the Focus might also get teasing with the 1.0L engine.
See less See more
Why not the 1.0L? As I said before it the packaging that Ford has with that drives people away.

I like the 1.0L and wanted it. I would have gladly paid more coin for the 1.0L to have it. What i didn't want was the ugly ass steel wheels as part of the SFE package. The 1.0L only comes in a 5-speed manual, no problem for me, I wanted the manual transmission. Most people don't want the manual transmission. That alone, probably eliminates 90% of potential buyers.

For me the reason to forego the 1.0L was the packaging. I wanted the upscale interior with all the bells and whistles. I'm on the road alot. The heated leather seats, premium sound system, Satellite radio, MFT and SYNC, heated mirrors with turn signals, autoclimate, all of these features I prize more than the 1.0L engine. Those options are an impossibily with the 1.0L engine.

I said it before, had I been able to get the Titanium hatch with the 1.0L it would be in my driveway.

It seems like since day one Ford deliberately only wants to bring the 1.0L to the US in a very controled and limited fashion until they make sure they get the bugs worked out of it. The rest of world gets it in various configurations and with automatic transmission. The European Focus gets the 1.0L engine offerings. Now looks like the US market for the Focus might also get teasing with the 1.0L engine.
Exactly the same for me, except that I dislike leather seats. I was willing to pay a little more for exactly what I wanted, but it was unavailable. I'm not worried about resale, since I keep cars until they completely die. Although, I'll admit that if I had known that I could have had an ST for just over 20k, I would have gone that route. My dealer didn't even mention the ST, since they didn't have one on their lot in that range, but after I bought my SE, I saw that there were 5 of them in the SE Michigan dealer network for less than $21k. Ah well. It would have sucked in winter, anyway. Maybe I'll trade my SE in for an ST later this year once I've moved to California.
The ST doesn't suck in the winter, in fact, it is one of the most fun cars I have driven in the winter.

Having logged time in the 1.0L, 1.6L NA, and the 1.6L EcoBoost, I can say that the 1.0L is an impressive engine. It gets vastly better mileage than the 1.6L NA, more torque, and I would imagine more aftermarket offerings over time. The biggest downfall to the 1.0L is the lack of high-end options and the wide spacing of the gear ratios. The 1.6L NA motor also has pretty big gaps. The 1.6L EcoBoost is the best engine for the Fiesta.

Oh, for the 2015 season, MSport is ditching the 1.6L NA motor for the 1.0L turbo in the R2 rally car. That would be enough to jump into the 1.0L, if I couldn't get the ST.
1 - 20 of 30 Posts
Top