
EcoBoost badging on the Ford Taurus SHO
Ford has announced a new 2.0 liter inline-4 EcoBoost (previously known as TwinForce) turbocharged engine that will begin sales in 2010. The 2.0 liter engine will feature turbocharging and Twin-Independent Variable Cam Timing (Ti-VCT).
It will deliver power equivalent to a normally aspirated V6 engine but offer between 10 to 20 percent better fuel economy. No official power figures have been revealed yet but Ford says at least 230 horses can be expected, along with 325Nm of torque peaking at just under 2,000rpm.
“Today we see it as a premium engine. As we expand it will be the volume engine,” said Ford’s VP for global product development Derrick Kuzak, referring to Ford engines with EcoBoost, which other than this new 2.0 liter engine, also includes the previously announced 355 horsepower 3.5 liter V6 found in the Taurus SHO.
Volume means small, mass-market cars. What’s coming up next is likely a smaller displacement EcoBoost inline-4 engine like a 1.4 liter or 1.6 liter EcoBoost turbo. Many other manufacturers have easily used turbocharged engines of such sizes to produce a 2.0 liter equivalent power output. Volkswagen even has a 1.2 liter TSI inline-3 that produces 102 PS, equivalent to a plain-jane 1.6 liter engine. It looks like the next generation of Mustang could be an all-turbo line-up, featuring this 2.0 liter turbo and the larger 3.5 liter turbo V6!
The only question I have is, given that Mazda (that Ford has close technical ties with) has had a turbocharged direct injection four cyclinder engine for quite some time now (found in the Mazda 3 MPS, Mazda 6 MPS and Mazda CX-7), why didn’t this come sooner?
Look after the jump for an unbelievably boring 10 minute presentation on EcoBoost by Ford’s Derrick Kuzak, but it’s got some info in it. Kuzak could definitely take some pointers from Steve Jobs though.
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