Ford's formidable weapon in the war on high fuel prices — EcoBoost

By Al Vinikour
MotorwayAmerica.com

(November 21, 2012) Whenever there’s a spike in already high fuel prices the general question from the populace seems to be, “When is the government going to do something?” The government may not have done anything but Ford Motor Company sure has with the development of its family of EcoBoost engines. Simply put, the new-technology gas-turbo direct-injection engines can help provide up to 20 percent better fuel economy without sacrificing power that’s so popular with drivers.


It’s basically a step-down process: the 3.5L V6 with EcoBoost provides the performance of a V8 with the fuel economy of a V-6; and the 1.6L and 2.0L I-4s provide the power of a V6 with the fuel economy of a four-cylinder.

Ford recently announced another addition to the EcoBoost stable; a 1.0L 3-cylinder that will be coming in the U.S. next year for use in the new Ford Fiesta. The engine has already won awards in Europe.

When Ford introduced the 3.5L V6 EcoBoost in the 2010 Taurus SHO, 9,946 units were sold that year. The following year EcoBoost sales increased to 15,117. This past year Ford sold 127,683 EcoBoost-equipped vehicles in the U.S. By 2013, more than 90 percent of the company’s North American lineup will be available with an EcoBoost engine.

Currently Ford offers 11 North American nameplates with four more coming in the 2013 model year.

Ford's 1.0-liter EcoBoost in carry-on size travel bag

The engines use hundreds of thousands of lines of computer code and related parameters that are adjusted to optimize engine and transmission operation. The company holds more than 125 patents on EcoBoost engine technology. As if those numbers aren’t enough to sit up and take notice there’s always this startling statistic; the turbocharger atop the 1.0L churns at 248,000 rpm! Needless to say its internal cooling system does yeoman’s duty. 

There is no segment that can’t take advantage of an EcoBoost engine. The 3.5L V6s find work in larger vehicles like the Taurus, Lincoln and even Ford F-Series trucks. Ford says 42% of F-150 sales are equipped with the 3.5L EcoBoost. The four-cylinders are used for mid-size and compact vehicles and as mentioned, the 3-cylinder will initially be used in the Fiesta.

The 1.0L EcoBoost engines offer the best fuel economy of any non-hybrid vehicle. Fiesta’s equipped with EcoBoost will achieve over 40 miles per gallon on the highway, as opposed to 47 mpg for the hybrid C-MAX and Fusion. Ford estimates by the year 2013, it will have sold 1.5 million EcoBoost-equipped vehicles.

The “Tiny Tim” of EcoBoost engines, the new 1.0L 3-cylinder, develops 123 horsepower and 148 pound-feet of torque. Generally an odd-number of cylinders can cause balance problems but Ford engineers have designed the new motor to the point where it’s almost silent at idle. Furthermore, the engine is so compact that the engine block can fit inside a roller bag. (However, getting it past airport security could be a problem.) The entire engine weights 212 pounds.

Horsepower for the 3.5L V6 hovers around the 300 mark; the 2.0L develops 240 horsepower; and the 1.6L pumps out 178 horsepower. All the engines are mated to six-speed transmissions. 

It has long-been rumored that eventually the vaunted V8 will eventually become a museum piece. While it will no doubt sadden long-time auto aficionados it’s unfortunately time to grow up and face reality. There actually may be a lot of oil reserves throughout the world but getting to it and producing the end products will not be a cheap process.

High gas prices will probably be here to stay forever. But with the development of its EcoBoost engines Ford has provided the dollar-stretcher to amortize increased fuel costs while sacrificing none of the driving enthusiasm.