Ford's 1.0-Liter EcoBoost Engine a winner

Ford Motors is once again the winner of the 2014 International Engine of the Year award. This is the third consecutive year that Ford has come out on top for its 1.0-liter EcoBoost engine.

This engine, which is available in the Ford Fiesta and will be a power offering for the 2015 Focus, won the award based on its driveability, performance, economy, refinement and technology. The engine was called  “one of the finest examples of powertrain engineering” by judges as it finishes ahead of entries from premium and supercar brands.

“To deliver the complete package of eye-popping fuel economy, surprising performance and real refinement, we knew this little 1.0-liter engine would have to be a game changer,” said Bob Fascetti, vice president, Ford Powertrain Engineering. “Through our One Ford approach to development, EcoBoost continues to set the benchmark for power combined with fuel efficiency from a gasoline engine.”

Ford vehicles equipped with the 1.0-liter EcoBoost engine are now available in 72 countries worldwide. Later this year, U.S. customers will be able to buy the new Focus 1.0-liter EcoBoost. The Fiesta 1.0-liter EcoBoost is in dealerships now.

More than 200 engineers and designers from Ford research and development centers in Aachen and Merkenich in Germany, and Dagenham and Dunton in the United Kingdom spent 5 million-plus hours developing the 1.0-liter EcoBoost engine.

The engine’s compact, low-inertia turbocharger spins at up to 248,000 rpm – more than 4,000 times per second and almost twice the maximum rpm of the turbochargers powering 2014 Formula 1 race car engines.

With an engine block small enough to fit in the overhead luggage compartment of an airplane, the 1.0-liter features a cylinder head with an integrated and cooled exhaust manifold that lowers exhaust temperatures for optimizing the fuel-to-air ratio. An innovative flywheel and front pulley design delivers improved refinement compared with traditional three-cylinder engine designs.

Engine friction is reduced by specially coated pistons, low-tension piston rings, low-friction crank seals and a cam-belt-in-oil design. A variable-displacement oil pump tailors lubrication to demand and optimizes oil pressure for improved fuel efficiency.

“The 1.0-liter EcoBoost was created as a radical, smaller-displacement engine to meet the biggest automotive challenge in the world – no-compromise refinement, performance and great fuel economy,” said Andrew Fraser, manager, Gasoline Calibration, Ford of Europe. “The secret to EcoBoost success is a range of innovative technologies that deliver big-car benefits from a small engine.”

SOURCE Ford Motor Company