Ford is developing its smallest engine ever, a wee little three-cylinder mill with the displacement of a soda bottle.
The tiny engine is part of the automaker’s push to increase the fuel efficiency of its lineup by building smaller, but more powerful, engines. Despite its itty-bitty size, Ford says the turbocharged 1.0-literEcoboost engine will provide the torque and power of a 1.8 1.6-liter four-cylinder.
“The 1.0-liter engine is a little dynamo,” Derrick Kuzak, Ford group vice president of Global Product Development, said in a statement.
Engineers at the Dunton Technical Centre in the United Kingdom have been working on the engine for a couple of years, and it first appeared in the Start concept car (pictured avove) at the 2010 Beijing auto show. We’ve seen it more recently in the B-Max at the Geneva auto show earlier this year.
The biggest goal was, of course, reducing fuel consumption without sacrificing power. Engineers focused on increasing thermal efficiency and reducing friction, especially when the engine is warming up.
Not much to see, but here's a peek at the 1.0-liter Ecoboost engine in the Start concept car.
A “split cooling” system allows the cylinder block to warm before the cylinder head, something Ford says saves fuel and cuts emissions by allowing the engine to get up to operating temperature faster. The exhaust manifold is cast into the cylinder head, a one-piece design that reduces the temperature of exhaust gases. Ford says this lets the engine run in a wider power band with an optimum air-fuel ratio. It also cuts weight.
The engine also has direct injection and variable camshaft timing.
“Not only is it one of the most technically advanced and efficient engines we’ve ever designed, but it will introduce a number of new technologies to the Ford engine lineup,” Joe Bakaj, Ford vice president of Global Powertrain Engineering, said in a statement.
Ford plans to offer the engine worldwide in its small cars. It didn’t offer any specs on the engine and says it will provide more info in September at the Frankfurt auto show.
The 1.0-liter mill is small for an American automaker, but not unheard of in Europe. Fiat, for example, is offering the adorable Fiat 500 with a tiny 875-cc, two-cylinder engine said to be good for 57.4 mpg.
In addition to the new engine, Ford is developing an eight-speed automatic transmission it claims will increase fuel economy between 2 and 4 percent. The automaker also will begin building transmissions for its hybrid vehicles at its Van Dyke assembly plant in December. Ford has spent $135 million to design, engineer and manufacture the gearbox, which will replace a unit it has been buying from Japanese supplier Aisin.
Tag:Ford, Ford EcoBoost, Fuel Economy, Manufacturing
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