It’s an award winner, but not good enough for the Ford Focus sold in Australia.

An engine Ford shunned for the Focus small car sold in Australia has taken out the 2012 Engine of the Year awards.

The 1.0-litre three-cylinder turbocharged EcoBoost engine took out the prestigious overall award as well as Best New Engine and Best Engine Under 1.0-litre categories in the awards that cover a wide range of engine capacities.

The diminutive Ford EcoBoost engine that’s claimed to fit on an A4 sheet of paper also scored more points than any other winner since the awards began in 1999. EcoBoost is the name given to Ford’s new range of fuel efficient turbocharged engines.
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Making a modest 92kW of power and using a claimed 4.8 litres of fuel per 100km in the Focus the tiny engine was overlooked for the Focus locally, which instead picked up a basic 1.6-litre non-turbo engine for the entry-level model.

“We set the bar incredibly high when we set out to design this engine,” said Ford’s vice president of global powertrain Joe Bakaj. “We wanted to deliver eye-popping fuel economy, surprising performance, quietness and refinement – and all from a very small, three-cylinder engine.”

Ford Australia also decided against the 1.6-litre EcoBoost engine despite a European-led trend to smaller capacity turbocharged engines.

“It’s a global engine so where appropriate we’d look at it,” said Ford Australia spokesman Neil McDonald. But there are no plans to introduce the much-hyped technology to the Focus for now.

“Going forward it’s certainly an opportunity but we’ve made no decisions on it.”

Instead Australians will have to wait until 2013 to experience the now award-winning 1.0-litre three-cylinder engine in the new Ford EcoSport, a Fiesta-based city-friendly, high riding compact SUV.

A 2.0-litre four-cylinder EcoBoost engine was recently added to the struggling Falcon range as an alternative to the 4.0-litre six-cylinder stalwart that has a heritage dating back more than half a century.

But sales continue to nosedive, suggesting the Falcon’s woes are deeper than perceived high fuel use.

It is the third consecutive year a frugal, small capacity, turbocharged engine has taken out the awards; in 2011 the two-cylinder turbocharged Fiat TwinAir won the overall engine gong, while in 2010 it went to Fiat’s 1.4-litre four-cylinder turbocharged engine.

In previous years the award has been given to the Mazda rotary engine in the discontinued RX-8, while Toyota’s hybrid technology pioneered in the Prius has won the overall award three times.

Various high performance engines from the likes of Porsche and BMW have also taken out previous Engine of the Year awards, although in recent years the gong for the overall award has been focused on more economical engines.

92KW from a 1 litre engine...crikey.

Plus, think of the money you'll save from only having to buy 3 spark plugs instead of 4!

4L v12 anyone?

If they are gettin 92kw from the 1litre how much are they gettin from the 2litre?

Substantially less than 184kW. Because of rotating masses, cylinder head dynamics, boost levels and stuff like that, engine power is very rarely linear with capacity increases.

The 2.0l is 179kw, so yes nearly double the power

I know it's a motorcycle engine...but a Suzuki GSX-R 1000 puts out 142 kW @ 12000RPM. Torque is about 105Nm...so not too bad. Slap a turbo on that!

cant imagine a Fiesta revving to 12000rpm though haha

How about 250KW from the 2.3L ??

ford-newsf13-f13/ford-s-250kw-ecoboost-focus-t114754.html

so maybe the falcon will die off and we will all be talking about how to extract more power out of our 3/4 cylinder turbo ecoboosts?
i think thats a good effort for a small engine

After having driven a 4 cylinder ecoboost (G6E), I must say the ecoboost is really smooth and has enough punch for everyday use. Granted it doesn't feel as grunty as the standard I6 variety, but it doesn't feel like a small engine either. Off the line you can definitely feel the 6 has more balls than the ecoboost, but the ecoboost, I believe, was tuned for a more smooth, useable power delivery.

How well would an ecoboost go with LPG though? LPI technology in an ecoboost will give it a hell of a kick considering the I6 LPi has more power and torque than the the unleaded variety.

ford have probably already started testing the LPI on it? you never know lol

It would definitely give a big boost in sales if they market it right. Enough oomph as a six at cheaper price...then again the LPi I6 didn't sell too hot.

the only feedback ive herd from people who live near me or near friends who have bought a ba/bf/fg falcon is bad so i think people are going for the commodore more and more, i know an fg owner thats complaining about electrical issues,

It was overlooked for the Focus because it's just too small for our local market in a car the size of a focus. Even with a turbo on it. It would be *ideal* in a car the size of the fiesta, and hell, I'd love to get my hands on one & shoehorn it & a suitable manual transmission into my mighty boy! In the mean time I'll finish working on my turbo setup for the current 800cc engine lol.

The focus really needs a 4cyl turbo to move it along, with EcoBoost tech, you could probably have it around 1.5lt 4cyl & get more than acceptable performance & economy from it.

Anyone remember the Charade Turbo? Imagine a car like that with modern tech & creature comfort!

Cheers

ToranaGuy