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.
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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.