Ford EcoBoost: Small to mighty
8/22/08, 08:59 AM
#1
Post *****
Thread Starter
Ford EcoBoost: Small to mighty
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll...808220329/1148
Ford began working on EcoBoost more than seven years ago.
The company's engineers had long been intrigued by the promise of direct injection, but thought its benefits were insufficient to justify the expense it added. At the same time, Ford was making big strides with turbo-charging diesels in Europe. Ford had watched German automakers combine these technologies to boost the performance of their high-end powertrains.
"It hit us that the real answer was downsizing," recalled Derrick Kuzack, Ford's global head of product development. "It was sort of a light bulb coming on for us."
Instead of using the technologies to make an already powerful engine more powerful, Ford realized it could use them to make a small engine powerful enough.
"I wasn't convinced until I actually drove the vehicles," Kuzak said. "The EcoBoost engines not only provided comparable performance to the bigger engines they were designed to replace, they were actually more fun to drive because of their abundant low-end torque."
In late 2005, Kuzack began lobbying for EcoBoost in a big way, but it was not an easy sell.
"The first question I got was, 'Do you really think you can convince customers to accept a V-6 instead of a V-8?'" he recalled.
Some Ford executives argued that U.S. consumers would never accept a V-6 in place of a V-8, no matter how much horsepower and torque it generated. In this country, they argued, size still mattered. Others wanted to see a greater emphasis placed on developing hybrids because of the breakout success of Toyota Motor Corp.'s Prius.
The company's engineers had long been intrigued by the promise of direct injection, but thought its benefits were insufficient to justify the expense it added. At the same time, Ford was making big strides with turbo-charging diesels in Europe. Ford had watched German automakers combine these technologies to boost the performance of their high-end powertrains.
"It hit us that the real answer was downsizing," recalled Derrick Kuzack, Ford's global head of product development. "It was sort of a light bulb coming on for us."
Instead of using the technologies to make an already powerful engine more powerful, Ford realized it could use them to make a small engine powerful enough.
"I wasn't convinced until I actually drove the vehicles," Kuzak said. "The EcoBoost engines not only provided comparable performance to the bigger engines they were designed to replace, they were actually more fun to drive because of their abundant low-end torque."
In late 2005, Kuzack began lobbying for EcoBoost in a big way, but it was not an easy sell.
"The first question I got was, 'Do you really think you can convince customers to accept a V-6 instead of a V-8?'" he recalled.
Some Ford executives argued that U.S. consumers would never accept a V-6 in place of a V-8, no matter how much horsepower and torque it generated. In this country, they argued, size still mattered. Others wanted to see a greater emphasis placed on developing hybrids because of the breakout success of Toyota Motor Corp.'s Prius.
8/22/08, 09:24 PM
#3
While GTDi as Ford intends to apply it is a great idea the V6 versus V8 debate, and particularly the short sightedness that debate reveals, still worries me a bit. This isn't an either or scenario, even if Ford decides to go GTDi across the board. For example, there is no reason why a 3.8L GTDi engine cannot be V8 based instead of V6 based as the desired improvements in fuel consumption to power output will be very similar.
The fact that certain displacement ranges seem to be considered the sole domain of a particular cylinder layout is a bit troubling to me because it is artificially limiting. BMW figured this out already, the GTDi 4.4L the just debuted appears to have a long, healthy future ahead of it, hopefully Ford will follow.
The fact that certain displacement ranges seem to be considered the sole domain of a particular cylinder layout is a bit troubling to me because it is artificially limiting. BMW figured this out already, the GTDi 4.4L the just debuted appears to have a long, healthy future ahead of it, hopefully Ford will follow.
8/25/08, 03:50 PM
#4
Cobra Member
Join Date: May 16, 2006
Location: NV
Posts: 1,322
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Ford began working on EcoBoost more than seven years ago.
I'm glad they didn't pull a GM move and tell us about this in 2001, have it featured in a movie, hype it all over the place, and then not have it ready until 2010.
Last edited by Vermillion06; 8/25/08 at 03:52 PM.
8/28/08, 10:15 AM
#5
I Have No Life
It's good to see,
and good to see that the V8 is not dead as well.
They have downsized those as well, even though it looks like upsizing compared to what we have now.
The plans were to use a 5.8 and 6.2L Boss engine.
The more i hear, the more i'm glad that never panned out.
and good to see that the V8 is not dead as well.
They have downsized those as well, even though it looks like upsizing compared to what we have now.
The plans were to use a 5.8 and 6.2L Boss engine.
The more i hear, the more i'm glad that never panned out.
8/28/08, 11:16 AM
#6
Needs to be more Astony
What's that I hear around here about Ford not doing any long term planning? They started working on this in 2001. It seems they do a lot of stuff that we don't hear about and they don't tell the press about it until it's ready for production.
I'm glad they didn't pull a GM move and tell us about this in 2001, have it featured in a movie, hype it all over the place, and then not have it ready until 2010.
I'm glad they didn't pull a GM move and tell us about this in 2001, have it featured in a movie, hype it all over the place, and then not have it ready until 2010.
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post