The Ford EcoBoost 1.0L turbocharged direct inject petrol engine is nothing short of an engineering marvel and the three consecutive World Engine Of The Year awards underscore its advancements in the technology.
underscore its advancements in the technology. Not the ones to rest on their laurels, Ford’s powertrain team is exploring various avenues to further enhance the fuel efficiency and refinement of the diminutive power plant.
The Ford EcoBoost 1.0L with cylinder deactivation technology is found to be 6% more fuel efficient than regular variant.
Ford has announced that its R&D team is experimenting with a working prototype of the EcoBoost 1.0L with cylinder deactivation technology. In order to achieve cylinder deactivation across a wider operating range, the three-cylinder unit was fitted with a dual mass flywheel. The engineers found that the fuel efficiency of the working prototype under the hood of a Ford Focus has improved by 6%.
That’s not all. The dual mass flywheel has also contributed towards better NVH levels. More such fuel efficiency enhancing measures are being investigated for the award winning turbo petrol mill at the European Research and Innovation Centre in Aachen, Germany.
A working protoype of the engine with dual mass flywheel and cylinder deactivation hardware is currently undergoing tests in Germany on a Ford Focus.
For testing, the engineers added the cylinder deactivation system to the motor which can be monitored. The system not only deactivates one cylinder when not needed but also has a rolling deactivation cycle which the company calls as ‘half engine mode’.
The other new peripherals apart from the dual mass fly wheel are a pendulum absorber and a tuned clutch disc. This system is claimed to compensate for any jerk or noise that may result due to the action of cylinder deactivation system.
The new FE enhancing technology is expected to eventually to market ready in due course.
Ford has announced that it is already conducting test runs of the new technology in Germany with its engineering partner Schaeffler Group. The company has not given any time frame for the introduction of the new technology in the Ford EcoBoost 1.0L. The motor develops 125 PS and is available in India on board the EcoSport.
The EcoBoost engine is one of the pioneers in extreme downsizing and further FE enhancing measures are aimed at retaining the segment leadership.
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