2012 Ford Focus 1.0-liter EcoBoost

Jeff Sabatini — Tue, 31 Jul 2012 11:56:00 EST

Filed under: Europe, Hatchback, Ford, Quick Spins

A Sneak Peek At Our Three-Cylinder Future

Remember the good old days, when compact cars were powered by six-cylinder engines? Yeah, neither do we.

It's been a long time since a mainstream brand offered anything other than a four-banger in its econoboxes, and for good reason. While a half-dozen cylinders might have been necessary to adequately motivate Ford Falcon, Dodge Dart and later Chevrolet Cavalier models, any carmaker will tell you that modern four cylinders make more than enough power to propel even today's jumbo-sized compacts.

But wait just a minute. What did we say? More than enough power. That sounds like an opportunity.

Indeed, Ford has announced it will soon be selling a three-cylinder engine, in a car, in the United States. But not just any triple - a turbocharged, direct-injected three-cylinder with independent variable cam timing wearing the EcoBoost moniker on its plastic engine cover. Making 123 horsepower and 125 lb-ft of torque, the 1.0-liter Ecoboost is already on sale in Europe, where it comes installed in mid-spec Focus models. By comparison, the direct-injected 2.0-liter naturally aspirated four in our domestic Focus makes 160 hp and 146 lb-ft of torque.

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