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Who needs a V8? Survey says customers love Ford EcoBoost

Sam Abuelsamid — Thu, 06 May 2010 10:28:00 EST

While Ford is working on plenty of hybrid and electric vehicles, its big bet for meeting the new corporate average fuel economy standards is EcoBoost, and so far customers appear to like it. Since launching the 3.5-liter EcoBoost V6 last summer as an alternative to larger V8s, Ford has sold about 10,000 units of the Lincoln MKS and MKT along with the Ford Flex and Taurus SHO. A quality study by RDA Group of Bloomfield Hills, MI, indicates that early adopters are almost universally satisfied with the performance and operation of these engines.

The gasoline turbocharged direct injected EcoBoost engines are designed to replace larger displacement powerplants with smaller, lighter units that provide similar output with greater efficiency. We can't comment on the methodology of this particular study, but so far we have loved the EcoBoost engines that we've tried. Over the remainder of 2010, Ford will be rapidly expanding EcoBoost availability with the 3.5 going into the F150 and a 2.0-liter inline four going into the 2011 Edge and Explorer.

[Source: Ford]

Continue reading Who needs a V8? Survey says customers love Ford EcoBoost

Who needs a V8? Survey says customers love Ford EcoBoost originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 06 May 2010 10:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Frankfurt 2009: Ford unveils smallest EcoBoost engine yet at 1.6 liters

Sam Abuelsamid — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 04:59:00 EST

Filed under: Frankfurt Motor Show, Technology, Ford

Ford 1.6-liter EcoBoost four cylinder - click above for a high res image gallery

Ford's EcoBoost offensive is continuing at the Frankfurt Motor Show this week with the official launch of the third member of the family, the 1.6-liter four-cylinder EcoBoost engine. The new engine joins the 3.5-liter V6 currently in production and the already announced 2.0-liter four-cylinder. Like the rest of the family, this one features direct gasoline injection, a turbocharger and dual independent variable valve timing.

Output numbers aren't yet final, but the 1.6-liter should produce about 180 horsepower and 170-175 lb-ft of torque. Ford's plan is to use these EcoBoost engines to replace larger normally aspirated engines in various applications. For example, the 1.6-liter will replace 2.0-2.5-liter engines in many C-segment vehicles like the Focus and C-Max. The 2.0-liter will replace 2.5-3.0-liter units starting in 2010 CUVs and SUVs. That likely means we will see this as the base engine in the new unibody Explorer and possibly as a replacement for the V6 in the Escape.

Ford plans to have 1.3 million of these engines on the road over the next four years with availability in 80 percent of its product lines.

Check out the latest edition of the Autoblog Podcast as Ford's Mark Schirmer and Mark Kaufman join us to discuss the new C-Max, EcoBoost and the rest of the C-Segment vehicles.

Gallery: Ford 1.6-liter EcoBoost

[Source: Ford]

Continue reading Frankfurt 2009: Ford unveils smallest EcoBoost engine yet at 1.6 liters

Frankfurt 2009: Ford unveils smallest EcoBoost engine yet at 1.6 liters originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 15 Sep 2009 04:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Does Ford's new 2.0-liter EcoBoost four = MazdaSpeed3 four? Not really

Sam Abuelsamid — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 16:29:00 EST

Filed under: Ford

After Ford VP Barb Samardzich officially announced the 2.0-liter four-cylinder EcoBoost engine for next year, a correspondent for the Examiner.com postulated that this engine was in fact nothing more than a re-badged, smaller version of the 2.3-liter engine from the MazdaSpeed3. Certainly there are similarities in the specs: four cylinders, direct fuel injection, turbocharging, etc. and there has been plenty of collaboration between the two companies. The Mazda CX-9 even uses a version of Ford's 3.7-liter V6.

We checked with Ford and while they have not released many details about the new engine, they did provide some explanation. The EcoBoost, like other recent DuraTec-badged Ford fours, shares a block design with Mazda's similar displacement units. In fact, the EcoBoost block is the same as the Mazda L3T used in the MazdaSpeed3. However, the entire top end of the engine has been redesigned. Like the V6 EcoBoost, the four uses a new direct injection system that is presumably less expensive, allowing Ford to use these engines much more widely than Mazda does.

The Mazda engine also ~~does not have variable valve timing and~~ requires premium fuel. All of the EcoBoost engines are designed to run on regular, although they will get a bit more power with extra octane. The EcoBoost also gets independent variable timing for each of the intake and exhaust cams.

So the two engines are built on the same foundations, but they are not the same engine.

Update: I mis-read the spec table on the MS3 engine and it does indeed have variable valve timing. However, the Ford engine exclusively uses the cam torque actuated system introduced on the revised 3.0-liter V6 last year.

[Sources: Ford, Examiner.com]

Does Ford's new 2.0-liter EcoBoost four = MazdaSpeed3 four? Not really originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 24 Jul 2009 16:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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