First Drive: Ford Focus 1.0 EcoBoost
February 17, 2012 by admin
Filed under All Articles, EcoBoost 3-Cyl 1.0L Turbo, EcoBoost Engines
Engine downsizing is now an established trend in the motor industry. Look under the bonnet of a Jaguar XF or a Mercedes CLS and it’s quite likely that you will find a 2.2-litre diesel instead of the big six or eight cylinder petrol engine that you’d previously have expected.
The Volkswagen group has produced some notable ‘big car small engine’ combinations too, including the Skoda Superb and Volkswagen Sharan, which are available with turbo charged 1.4-litre petrol power units. The reason is that a boosted small engine can provide the power of a big engine while retaining the economy of a small one if, and it’s a big if, the whole thing is executed properly.
Now Ford has produced what is probably the most extreme example of engine downsizing so far by launching a version of its Golf-sized Focus with a tiny 1.0-litre petrol engine. Not only is the new engine smaller than anything that’s ever been fitted to a Focus before, it’s only got three cylinders. Three-cylinder engines are already fairly common on today’s smallest models such as the Volkswagen Up but nobody has fitted a three to a mainstream production car the size of the Focus in living memory. One reason that may be controversial is that the number of cylinders an engine has also influences its character; a three cylinder engine tends to have a slightly raggedy note that can give a small car a bit of character but risks being out of place in something bigger and more posh like the Focus.
Of course, just sticking a small engine in a big car isn’t going to produce very good results by itself so Ford has incorporated a vast array of performance and efficiency enhancing measures into its new power unit, although it is also quite notable for a feature that has been omitted; most three-cylinder engines are fitted with balancer shafts that make them run more smoothly but Ford has saved weight and friction by dispensing with balancer shafts and instead uses an unbalanced flywheel and specially developed engine mounts in order to smooth things out. Turbo charging, direct injection and variable valve timing allow Ford to extract very high outputs from the new engine, which will be offered in 100 and 125 horsepower versions. These achieve combined cycle fuel consumption figures of 58.8 and 56.5 mpg respectively, and CO2 emissions of 109 and 114 g/km, figures that match some of the best diesels. The engine only weighs 95kg and is so small it can stand on an A4-sized sheet of paper. That in turn means that any car to which it is fitted – and its use won’t be confined to the Focus – will be lighter and should handle more sweetly with less weight at the front end.
SOURCE: http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/motoring/features/first-drive-ford-focus-10-ecoboost-7074183.html (Click to read more)
Ford confirms 1.0L EcoBoost three-cylinder, eight-speed transmission
June 2, 2011 by Sean@EBC
Filed under All Articles, EcoBoost 3-Cyl 1.0L Turbo, EcoBoost Engines
February 17, 2012 by admin
Filed under All Articles, EcoBoost 3-Cyl 1.0L Turbo, EcoBoost Engines
Engine downsizing is now an established trend in the motor industry. Look under the bonnet of a Jaguar XF or a Mercedes CLS and it’s quite likely that you will find a 2.2-litre diesel instead of the big six or eight cylinder petrol engine that you’d previously have expected.
The Volkswagen group has produced some notable ‘big car small engine’ combinations too, including the Skoda Superb and Volkswagen Sharan, which are available with turbo charged 1.4-litre petrol power units. The reason is that a boosted small engine can provide the power of a big engine while retaining the economy of a small one if, and it’s a big if, the whole thing is executed properly.
Now Ford has produced what is probably the most extreme example of engine downsizing so far by launching a version of its Golf-sized Focus with a tiny 1.0-litre petrol engine. Not only is the new engine smaller than anything that’s ever been fitted to a Focus before, it’s only got three cylinders. Three-cylinder engines are already fairly common on today’s smallest models such as the Volkswagen Up but nobody has fitted a three to a mainstream production car the size of the Focus in living memory. One reason that may be controversial is that the number of cylinders an engine has also influences its character; a three cylinder engine tends to have a slightly raggedy note that can give a small car a bit of character but risks being out of place in something bigger and more posh like the Focus.
Of course, just sticking a small engine in a big car isn’t going to produce very good results by itself so Ford has incorporated a vast array of performance and efficiency enhancing measures into its new power unit, although it is also quite notable for a feature that has been omitted; most three-cylinder engines are fitted with balancer shafts that make them run more smoothly but Ford has saved weight and friction by dispensing with balancer shafts and instead uses an unbalanced flywheel and specially developed engine mounts in order to smooth things out. Turbo charging, direct injection and variable valve timing allow Ford to extract very high outputs from the new engine, which will be offered in 100 and 125 horsepower versions. These achieve combined cycle fuel consumption figures of 58.8 and 56.5 mpg respectively, and CO2 emissions of 109 and 114 g/km, figures that match some of the best diesels. The engine only weighs 95kg and is so small it can stand on an A4-sized sheet of paper. That in turn means that any car to which it is fitted – and its use won’t be confined to the Focus – will be lighter and should handle more sweetly with less weight at the front end.
SOURCE: http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/motoring/features/first-drive-ford-focus-10-ecoboost-7074183.html (Click to read more)
Ford confirms 1.0L EcoBoost three-cylinder, eight-speed transmission
June 2, 2011 by Sean@EBC
Filed under All Articles, EcoBoost 3-Cyl 1.0L Turbo, EcoBoost Engines
Derrick Kuzak, Ford Group Vice President of Global Product Development, has confirmed that the Dearborn automaker will offer turbocharged EcoBoost powertrains in 90 percent of its vehicles here in the United States by 2013. This journey for (nearly) full-line forced-induction started with the 3.5-liter EcoBoost V6 found in the Taurus, Flex and F-150, as well as the Lincoln MKS and MKT. Next, we’ll be seeing a 2.0-liter EcoBoost inline-four under the hood of the Edge and Explorer, and now, Ford has confirmed development of a 1.0-liter EcoBoost three-cylinder engine.
This 1.0-liter, inline-three will be the smallest engine in Ford’s portfolio, and it will find its way under the hood of vehicles across the globe. No specific output or fuel economy numbers have been divulged just yet, but Joe Bakaj, Ford’s Vice President of Global Powertrain Engineering, says that the 1.0-liter triple will provide similar power to the automaker’s 1.6-liter naturally aspirated four, while improving fuel economy. When asked, Bakaj tells us that the fuel economy improvements will be similar in percentage to those with the 3.5-liter EcoBoost V6 compared to a naturally aspirated V8.
Ford says it plans to announce more information about the 1.0-liter engine at this year’s Frankfurt Motor Show, including exactly what vehicles will be powered by this mill. Since Ford is benchmarking its 1.6-liter engine here – the powerplant used in the Fiesta – we’d expect that this EcoBoost three almost certainly slot into Ford’s smallest offering here in the States.
The Blue Oval has also confirmed that it is working on an all-new eight-speed automatic transmission, which is being designed, engineered and built by Ford in-house. Bakaj states that the eight-speed automatic will offer “best-in-class” shift smoothness and responsiveness.
http://green.autoblog.com/2011/06/02/ford-confirms-1-l-ecoboost-three-cylinder-eight-speed-transmis/
