EcoBoost is world engine for third time

A small petrol engine that powers Ford cars, including the new Fiesta Sport in New Zealand, has fought off competition from premium brands and supercars to win the “Oscars” of the engine world for an unprecedented third time in a row.

Ford Motor Company’s 1-litre EcoBoost engine – which lowers fuel consumption without sacrificing power – was named 2014 International Engine of the Year for its drivability, performance, economy, refinement and technology.

A panel of 82 automotive journalists from 35 countries also named the 1-litre EcoBoost the “Best Engine Under 1-litre” for the third year in a row at the Engine Expo 2014, in Stuttgart.

More than 200 engineers and designers from Ford’s research and development centres in Aachen and Merkenich, Germany, and Dagenham and Dunton, UK, spent more than five million hours developing the 1-litre EcoBoost engine.

The engine’s compact, low-inertia turbocharger spins at up to 248,000 rpm – more than 4,000 times per second and almost twice the maximum rpm of the turbochargers powering 2014 F1 race car engines.

The 94kW 1-litre EcoBoost engine’s turbocharger delivers 1.6 bar (24 psi) of boost pressure. Peak firing pressure of 124 bar (1,800 psi) equates to a five-ton African elephant standing on the piston.

With a cast iron engine block small enough to fit in the overhead luggage compartment of an aeroplane, the engine also features an aluminium cylinder head with an integrated exhaust manifold that lowers exhaust temperatures for optimised the fuel-to-air ratio.

An innovative flywheel and front pulley design delivers improved refinement compared with traditional three-cylinder engine designs.