Catmando

This Prototype set 15 world records in its class;


Ford has plans to bring a three-cylinder EcoBoost engine to its U.S. lineup in a bit more than a year from now, likely in the Fiesta.

But for a car-buying population that thrives on horsepower and 0-to-60-mph times, it might be hard to get excited by a 1.0-liter three-banger.

In a bid to dispel those misgivings, Ford took a trio of Focus hatchbacks with the three-cylinder EcoBoost engine to a track in France and set a handful of speed records--albeit records for small production cars with small engines.

EcoBoost is Ford's marketing name for engines equipped with the combination of direct fuel injection and turbocharging. The 1.0-liter three-cylinder EcoBoost engine went on sale in Europe earlier this year, with output ratings of 122 hp and 98 hp.

The event at the CERAM test track in Mortefontaine, France, racked up 16 world speed records, Ford says. It helped that Ford brought along World Rally Championship driver Jari-Matti Latvala.

Among the speed marks set:

-- Standing start, 1 mile: 79.402 mph

-- Flying start, 1 mile: 108.548 mph

-- Highest average speed over 100 miles: 118.412 mph

-- Highest average speed over 1,000 miles: 103.357 mph.

Ford says the Focus with the 122-hp EcoBoost three-banger runs from 0 to 62 mph in 11.3 seconds, has a top speed of 120 mph and gets 56.5 mpg on the European test cycle (which returns higher numbers than the U.S. test cycle).

By comparison, the last three-cylinder engine offered in the United States--the normally aspirated 1.0-liter unit in the 2000 Chevrolet Metro--was rated at 55 hp.

Read more: http://www.autoweek.com/article/2012...#ixzz1wwYLpXMg

aquaforce

Ford is hanging their hat on ecoboost. The entire line up is slated to be 90% ecoboost within the next couple of years. Between that and dual overhead Cams Ford is ramping up power but they always seem under powered enough to suck the gas compared to their peers. We shall see....

Shag555

Not too hard to imagine... Remember when Chevy partnered with Susuki? The "Geo" Metro 3 cylinder got 53 mpg in a 5 speed with 3 cylinder. It would do 80 (i know, not 120). My stepdaughter still drives my old Geo commuter.

I seriously hope they do come out with something along the lines of 50+ mpg with good looks!

IRONMAN

YES a far better plan than a car with lots of batteries to dispose of and no manual transmission that gets a real 50+mpg

dereknkathy

yes, but can it tow a 34 scarab?

Quicksilver

Just imagine if US automakers put all that effort as well into similar diesel variants, you'd have the awesome torque and even better mpg. Even after all these years and other makes (Benz, Audi, VW etc) that can barely keep up with demand of diesel... no idea why the US still flails around there. Especially when they have engines overseas they could adapt for emissions, if foreign makes can do it, US makes should be able to as well.

soldier4402

Problem with diesel is even if we go to it, its still 30-50 cents more a gallon and the maintenence one one can be up to double. So really if you have a diesel and a gas engine that both have the same MPG and similar power the gas is going to win as its still ultimately cheaper. But the engines do live longer in a diesel i guess.

mike tkach

iTrader: (3)

the answer is yes,just not very far.lol