It’s a sign of the times that Ford is gearing up to launch the smallest capacity engine, with less cylinders than any it has previously produced. The new 1.0-liter EcoBoost will be launched globally in all small Ford cars, and in addition to recognized technologies employed by Ford in its EcoBoost engines, such as turbocharging, direct injection and twin independent variable camshaft timing (Ti-VCT), the new three-cylinder engine will have an offset crankshaft for improved fuel economy, a split cooling system that allows the cylinder block to warm up before the cylinder head, and the exhaust manifold is cast into the cylinder head to lower exhaust gas temperatures and save weight.
Yeah… 0 to 60 in 4.5 days.
I thought the cylinders were smaller? There are fewer less cylinders—no?
#19
The reason is that there was an unspoken agreement between the domestic makers not to cannibalize the stupid-size vehicle market. After the engine and frame, which need some extra metal, it is mostly plastic and glass.
They ganged up to force a higher markup, at the cost of crashing the business.
Ford also didn’t bring the much more capable rally inspired Focus to the US for several model generations.
Honda’s racing made Honda engines amazing, Subaru made itself with rallying, and Nissan made a comeback with the Z. The idea that EVERYBODY wants a huge shitbox is foolish.
GM also whiffed on a car called the Opel Speedster which they got during a consolidation phase. Cheap, fast, and cute. No interest in bringing it to the states.
I think even Honda has started to pull back from its roots. If you put a current generation civic motor into the CR-Z it would be a lighter, faster, and about the same MPG.
It SHOULD also be cheap, like really cheap. If they can sell profitably for 19k and you subtract 2k+ of batteries(and hundreds of pounds)… why the hell aren’t they doing it?
Because the product is too good! And if Honda is thinking like that… we need to get the Chinese into the US domestic auto market.
Gas flow is everything in a small block engine. This looks promising.
energy – per person – per mile.
Years ago I saw an article on a person mover that looked like an exoskelton that a person strapped on and at low speeds the person moved around basically standing up but as speed increased, the “device” moved lower to the ground. It was super cool–haven’t seen anything like it since. Think of Battle Mechs designed for transportation.
Thinking of that, weight, mileage….seems to me a real breakthru in this type of stuff will occur when “power” is transmitted from the roadway and not generated in the vehicle. This would also allow for billing and for traffic control, pesonal monitoring, all kinds of sci-fi and I think its all doable now with a change in culture. That change to be mandated by too many people and not enough resources.
Yes, the future is so bright, I gotta wear shades.
Used to have a single cylinder BMW which could out accelerate and outrun any SUV.
It also had two fewer wheels…
#24
It is an interesting idea, but there is a cost to having electricity available over a distance with big conductive surface.
Think of bumper cars places, where the cars run connected by a metal hook to the an electrified metal mesh above the track. Lots of sparks = wasted energy.
There would need to be some sort oddball transmission of energy, unless you’re talking full-size slot cars. That WOULD be cool. Nearly instant 0 to 100% acceleration.
I saw a thing recently that suggested generating electricity from roads using both solar cells and pressure from passing vehicles. Neat idea.
Closing the loop, where the generated energy flows directly back to the vehicle is nigh impossible.
Could imagine an intermediate thing for trains. They have tons of territory with direct sun on both sides of the tracks. Why not solar trains? Then you wouldn’t have to solve the problem of the things getting repeatedly squished.
What infuriates me, nothing with you
, is that people seem to assume that we’ve reached the pinnacle of technological advance. Like things just accelerated dramatically a few hundred years ago and are now crashing to a halt forever.
#1 I drove the Euro Focus and the American Focus on test tracks and the difference was minor. There is so much computerized real-time tweaking I’m not sure too many people could tell the difference. And the American suspension might be better on American pothole riddled roads. especially in California.
#26–Chris==Yea, years ago my idea was slot cars with enough battery to go from track to track. “Systems” could be very inefficient but still have massive advantages over the inefficiencies of multiple individual power units especially given the cost/technology of batteries as it stands now.
but a month or so ago saw articles on break thrus for wireless transmitted power. Receivers getting better at it and I suppose the power ray can be focused better with computers. Don’t computers make everything better? I still like hard wiring for so much–they just make sense. But… lots of efficiency in not having heavy battery/fuel storage, motors in series coming on only as power needed and so forth.
Photovoltaics break thru will allow roadways to generate a lot of power, same with roof tops and parking.
Everything is doable and made cost effective as soon as we run out of oil and the true cost supports for that energy source are no longer hiding the all the many relevant issues.
Yea, verily.
and here is the latest potential for battery technology although it mentions the use of lithium which I think is in short supply. It also seems to be more of a capacitor than battery which also needs a break thru given its technology doesn’t use rare earth.
c’mon science–we’re rooting for you!
http://extremetech.com/article2/0,2845,2386464,00.asp?kc=ETRSS02129TX1K0000532&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ziffdavis%2Fextremetech+%28Extremetech%29
if anything, it’s bigger than a smart car’s Braubus diesel engine. That’s 0.8L
Next up … Powered by Briggs and Stratton.
#31 wrote:
Next up … Powered by Briggs and Stratton.
I’ll buy that car!
S.
Good for Ford. I just wish that Americans (and everyone else) would start being more realistic in their car-buying choices when looking for get-to-work cars, and buy cars which could push back the time when petroleum supplies are functionally exhausted.
I’m no left-wing pinko environmentalist. I’m very conservative and I’m also educated, and its not hard to see that current consumption trends are unsustainable. The earth just hit 7 billion for goodness sake.
Its almost insane to rationalize dragging along 3-4000 pounds of metal and plastic to transport a single 150lb person to work in a car/truck with a peak engine efficiency of 20%! Lessening the weight of the vehicle or increasing occupancy could conceivably multiply our effective oil supply.
I guess this is what Dean Kamen unsuccessfully tried to address with his Segway scooter; getting people to be more rational with the amount of ancillary weight and hardware they necessarily drag around with them for the purpose getting from point A to point B.
Unfortunately, most of us think of our car as an extension of our personality, or as compensation for lack thereof. Who needs a commuter car of massive size and power when hauling a single person could be done so much more efficiently? Get a smaller car and rent a truck for when you really need it. If you have the need for speed, get a sports car and park it until track day. I partially blame insurance companies for this. If you could buy insurance by the day, more folks could afford a second car for everyday commuting and still keep the muscle car for those rare occasions. (A parked car consumes no fuel.) As it is, these people buy some stupid high HP car for the 1% of the time they like to show off, and drive it as a commuter the rest of time because insurance, fees and depreciation take their money whether its parked or driven.
In Thailand and other parts of Asia, Honda sells 110cc and 125cc motorcycles by the millions. Their new PGM-FI (computer fuel injected) bikes get well over 100mpg (I’ve heard maybe 200mpg).
Now, Americans aren’t going to take to riding Honda Waves or Innovas, but moving from a 3800cc engine down to a 1000cc engine isn’t such a bad thing. After all, paraphrasing “Sh*t my dad says”, “You didn’t make the goddamned thing, you just bought it. Anyone can do that.”
Its time to move past having cars as symbols. Don’t buy into all the marketing hype. Buy a suited for its usage 90% of the time, not for those dream scenarios where you imagine you’re entering Paris-Dakar or LeMans. If you need a monster truck to haul all your shit, you’ve got too much shit.
#27 “And the American suspension might be better on American pothole riddled roads.”
I quite agree. The trouble with American cars arises from the state of American roads. With better roads one can have a stiffer suspension and cars actually go where you point them.
Driving American cars, with their soggy suspensions, sometimes feels like trying to steer an ocean liner.
Sounds Gay
What’s old is new again. In the 1980s Honda had the CRX and CRX-HF, with 1.3 and 1.5 lean burn liter engine, respectively.
The CRX could easily top 43mpg, and the HF was rated at 51mpg.
I could say a few things about Auto tech…
But I wont..
I wont mention Modding cars back in the 60′s to get over 30mpg, from a HEAVY CAR, and BIG engine..
I wont say that CURRENT USA auto tech is STUPID..as they wont use 5+ gear transmissions over the last 30 years(until recently) that improve mileage..
I wont even mention that my Oldsmobile gets 30mpg from 1986-????
I will say 1 REAL thing..
If your SMALL engine isnt getting 50mpg THERE IS A PROBLEM.. and a few reasons..
1. federal regulations and RESTRICTIONS…
driving 50mph, ISNT saving fuel..ask your parents about the Speed restrictions, on cars from the Late 70′s to 80′s..
2. as you get MORE MPG…the price of gas will go UP..
Corps WONT loose money..they will SHOW they cant make a profit and raise prices as YOU use less fuel.
Even NOW the USA has the LEAST amount of TAX on fuel then any other country.. Think about that when you hear CANADA Fuel prices are $6 per gallon, 50% of that price is TAX. In the USA Each state has its own tax, as well as Federal tax..TOP tax is about $0.70..
Living overseas I once had a 3 cylinder Suzuki with I think about 800 cc’s. It was a hatchback with four doors and five gears!
Believe-it-or-not, the acceleration wasn’t too bad if the car wasn’t overloaded. I don’t know the top speed but it did 50mph nicely. I wouldn’t take it on the Autobahn but for around town, it was perfectly acceptable.
Just as Yank said. Great little motor for a Hybrid system. Loose the transmission, and replace it with a generator, to charge batteries. Why is the auto industry still holding onto the hope to recapture the gas-only model sales, with these super-economic engines? They just hate the idea of electric cars replacing their precious gas guzzling engines. As well as them, ditching the need for brakes, exhaust systems, coolant systems, power steering. All great after-market maintenance sales items.
I guess Ford figures that if nearly everyone’s out of a job (by now), they don’t need cars that can travel 100 miles, at 85MPH. So make them just so they can travel to the stores and back. And to pick up unemployment checks. That way we’ll still have the gas and oil monkey on our backs. Thinking these small cars are more economical than electrics. But in the long run, they’ll prove more expensive to keep up.