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May 20, 2009 05:40 PM | 25
The history of engine improvements in the U.S. has tended primarily in one direction: raw horsepower. Engines have gotten bigger and more powerful over time—and that's certainly what automakers have used as a key selling point. But U.S. automaker Ford has decided to take turbocharging and direct fuel injection in another direction: fuel efficiency.
Yesterday, Ford began production of what it's calling the EcoBoost engine: a new gasoline motor that employs turbocharging, direct fuel injection, variable timing in the valves that control fuel and exhaust flow to make a smaller, lighter six-cylinder engine perform like an eight-cylinder engine.* When these technologies are combined, "you can now significantly downsize the engine," says mechanical engineer Dan Kapp, Ford's director for power train research. "The fuel efficiency comes from a much smaller displacement engine providing equal or, in most cases, superior performance to the engine you're replacing."
In essence, the new engine works by using the turbocharging to deliver more air to the fuel burning chamber, variable valve timing to fully flush exhaust gas after combustion in the chamber and then direct injection to overcome any knocking issues. 
The company estimates the new engines—which will begin appearing in the Lincoln MKS and MKZ and the Ford Flex and Taurus this summer—can deliver at least 10 percent more miles-per-gallon and therefore reduced emissions of carbon dioxide. By 2013, the company plans to produce 1.3 million vehicles with EcoBoost engines in them, including 90 percent of all Ford vehicles sold in the U.S.
Of course, such cars will be more expensive than current models, though Kapp declined to specify a price tag, saying only that fuel savings could pay for it "on the order of two years or less" at today's fuel prices. That’s compared to much longer payback times for diesels or hybrids (which Ford is also producing).
Ultimately, the EcoBoost engine will also have to cope with alternative fuels, and Ford plans in the longer-term future to move more towards hybrids and electric vehicles. But for the next decade or so, Ford will be relying on these engines to meet some of the new fuel efficiency targets announced this week and reduce pollution.
"What Ford is doing uniquely here is leveraging [EcoBoost] to deliver fuel efficiency through aggressive downsizing [of the engine] as opposed to the performance type approach," Kapp says. But it remains to be seen whether a car company that has spent years and millions of advertising dollars touting the horsepower that can be gained from such improvements (at the expense of fuel efficiency) can convince customers to change direction too.
Image 1: Lincoln MKZ engine. Copyright 2009—Ford Motor Company and Wieck Photo Database
Image 2: May 19, 2009—Production of Ford's EcoBoost engine begins at Cleveland Engine Plant No. 1. Copyright 2009—Ford Motor Company and Wieck Photo Database
*Correction(5/21/09): Due to an error, this sentence was modified after the original posting.
Tags:
ecoboost,
greenhouse gas emissions,
internal combustion engine,
carbon dioxide,
miles per gallon,
fuel efficiency
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25 Comments
Add Comment"lighter six-valve engine perform like an eight-valve engine"
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thissix-cylinder and eight-cylinder, as per the title?
Does anyone proofread at SciAm?
Haa,..
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisDid'nt Honda do that back in the 70's with their V-Tec engines?
And now Ford is just now catching up?
Time to change the culture of our unintelligent masses. Cars are transportation not thrills. You want to prove your raw horsepower run! don't use a crutch to boost your ego.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe days of motor racing are similar sport need to be buried with the past along with super inflated egos.
Tis a joke. I have a roomy 1992 Honda Civic that gets 50 mpg. My best is over 65 mpg. No hybrid. Lean burn and variable valve timing. Now we have to deal with batteries that will have to be replaced and multiple room destroying air bags for even the cat. Did I mention the car has over 275K miles on it?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisSince when is dull transporation equated with intellect? There's nothing wrong with taking joy in a machine that's engineered to take your breath away. Fun and efficient are not mutually exclusive concepts. Also, scientific earthling, before you go bandying about with any more pretentious swagger it may be wise to seek remedial lessons in English grammar.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIt's about time Detroit puts the advances in design to use in saving fuel!!!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThis has been my complaint (and reason for not buying a new car) for years...NEW CAR FUEL ECONOMY SUX
Compare today's "new technologies" to cars I've had in the past...
My '80 Jeep Eagle got 30+ mpg with full-time 4wd...
My Subaru XT got 30+ mpg with turbo & 4wd....
My '86 Chrysler LeBaron got >25 mpg (turbo 4)
my '72 Fiat X/19 got 45+ MPG
my '94 Escort typically got >40 mpg.
And my current 00 Dakota gets 17/21 (12/17 for the 09 model)
Some of these cars got better MPG than today's hybrids... and were as-heavy or heavier.
Earthling has it right in that too many American males buy based on boosting frail masculine egoes... and not based on how they can afford or will actually use their vehicle.
90% of the 4x4 trucks and SUVs in our area NEVER GO OFFROAD and NEVER TOW. Yet, all these lemmings insist on having the big-engine 4x4 citing safety & snow... yet the city plows all of the roads and nearly every business shuts down if the plows can't keep up.
What they don't care to know is that even the escort and K-car were able to get around in 8 inches of snow.... because they aren't "sexy" ...
So - it's about time Detroit stop catering to fragile egoes and see the value of catering to the needs of the planet & human race as-a-whole.
Fly - I agree.... but, these machines shouldn't be for the ignorant masses. The ignorant masses abuse the privilege -- and mistake it for a right.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI can't tell you how many people I know who use V8 and V10 vehicles for 20-80 mile single-butt daily commutes.
When $4.50/gallon gas nearly bankrupted them, they blamed the government and oil companies while refusing to drive smaller, more efficient vehicles they either owned or were offered by family members.
What do you think caused the economic collapse? All of the stupid lemmings who felt they were entitled to 4,000 sf homes with 2 new suburbans in the driveway.
Great, Ford is successful in showing that it is 1st at something all car companies have been doing for a long time, since the late 70's, early 80's. Saab's 4 cyl engines routinely outperformed their V6 GM counterparts (in the same car), but most people (US) saw 4-cyl and 6-cyl and thought, more is better regardless of actual numbers/data.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAnd, just because you enjoy driving a fast car safely, doesn't mean you are trying to inflate your ego. Some are guilty of this, but not all.
Should fast EV cars, like the Tesla, be banned too? They still use more power, which is what fuel is in the end and electric power in the US is largely coal based. Should we end all competition, least it somehow consume extra resources. How about all the water "wasted" during a marathon. You drink much less just sitting around, eat less too. How about needless reading and commenting on a blog. Wastes energy if you ask me.
Great, Ford is successful in showing that it is 1st at something all car companies have been doing for a long time, since the late 70's, early 80's. Saab's 4 cyl engines routinely outperformed their V6 GM counterparts (in the same car), but most people (US) saw 4-cyl and 6-cyl and thought, more is better regardless of actual numbers/data.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAnd, just because you enjoy driving a fast car safely, doesn't mean you are trying to inflate your ego. Some are guilty of this, but not all.
Should fast EV cars, like the Tesla, be banned too? They still use more power, which is what fuel is in the end and electric power in the US is largely coal based. Should we end all competition, least it somehow consume extra resources. How about all the water "wasted" during a marathon. You drink much less just sitting around, eat less too. How about needless reading and commenting on a blog. Wastes energy if you ask me.
"New" turbocharged engine? Volkswagen has been making engines for years that are not only turbocharged but also supercharged, and has been selling them at least in Europe. Hey you guys at Ford, it's time to wake up!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThere is a downside to turbo/super charging engines. Smaller engines with these technologies undergo higher stresses and break down sooner than normally aspirated engines. I drive my supercharger car 30 miles at freeway speeds and when I park it, if I open the engine compartment in the dark, the headers are hot enough to glow at the manifold.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisOn the other hand, my Cooper S gets about 20 mpg at 125 mph.
This looks more like an advertisement for Ford than a science/technology article. People have been using turbocharging and fuel injection to improve engine efficiency since the 1970's at least. There is hardly anything new here. the only thing I would have been interested in learning about is the sort of variable valve timing Ford is going to use. But if it is anything like the rest of the technology it also would probably be disappointing.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI can remember not to long ago... Science told of methane Ice cristals amounting to more than all the oil and coal on the planet. (under the ocean)
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAn enormous earth quake could release it in to the atmosphere causing super global warming. Is it just me why are we not doing this?
It could not be that tuff (like afordable solar) if we dont use it it could cause a deaster any way so...
the purpose of variable valve timing is not "to fully flush exhaust gas after combustion in the chamber"
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisnothing new here except ford is over 20 years too late. how about bedazzling us with some real breakthoughs like clean burn diesel hybrids with cvt or six speed automatics.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisMuch of the technology used in today's consumer cars has been developed to meet challenges of motor racing. While the horsepower of competition isn't needed the technology of developing that horsepower is.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this"The days of motor racing are similar sport need to be buried with the past along with super inflated egos." That's a fairly narrow view. The technologies developed to meet the challenges of motor racing (I don't mean NASCAR) are what is allowing auto manufacturers to improve their cars and reduce engine size, while still meeting erformance demands of the consumer. While everybody doesn't need paddle shifters, these came directly out of Formula One racing. Vastly improved braking and tires also came out of racing.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this"Garage leagues" get more mileage out of their cars than automakers and they're supposed to be amateurs.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe idea that "smaller engines have higher stresses and break down sooner" is a complete myth. What matters is the design. Many large old US engines used to have such poor thermal management that running them at more than about 25% of max rated power for a few hours caused damaging thermal distortion, while a Mercedes car engine of the same era could run at 70% of max rated power almost indefinitely. That's why there were so many aftermarket mods for those engines, trying to fix the original design defects. (You can see this by comparing the SAE ratings for marinising these engines, since for marine use they are expected to run for hours on end at 70%-80% of full power.)
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI would trust a properly CAD-designed, FEA-proven small engine design over a large, sloppy one any day.
this is a step in the right direction. better yet, a twin turbo, 4 cylinder, blue tech, clean burn, 2.5cc diesel, plug in hybrid. there is no reason, with today's technology, the auto makers can't squeeze v-8 performance out of such engins when equiped with 6 speed automatics or heavy duty cvts as used in the audi.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thiswow its Great, Ford thumbs up for you.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this<a href="http://www.savingsratesbest.org" rel="dofollow">Savings Accounts</a>
wow its Great, Ford thumbs up for you.
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Should fast EV cars, like the Tesla, be banned too? They still use more power, which is what fuel is in the end and electric power in the US is largely coal based. Should we end all competition, least it somehow consume extra resources.90% of the 4x4 trucks and SUVs in our area NEVER GO OFFROAD and NEVER TOW. Yet, all these lemmings insist on having the big-engine 4x4 citing safety & snow... yet the city plows all of the roads and nearly every business shuts down if the plows can't keep up.
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You want to prove your raw horsepower run! don't use a crutch to boost your ego.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe days of motor racing are similar sport need to be buried with the past along with super inflated egos.
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It remains to be seen whether a car company that has spent years and millions of advertising dollars touting the horsepower that can be gained from such improvements....
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