Oakville, Ontario - Members of the media gathered at Ford Canada's Oakville Headquarters this week for a detailed presentation of its new EcoBoost system, and to learn a little more about what we can expect from the company in the future.
Now I have to be honest here, when I first heard Ford announce its new EcoBoost plan at the Detroit Auto Show, to install smaller engines with turbo-chargers, I thought, Isn't that what the Europeans have been doing for years now?
Well, to a certain extent, that is true. The idea of turbo-charging is not exactly a new invention. In fact, this idea has been around for decades. What has happened recently though, is that several major improvements have been made to turbo design, direct injection, and even fuel spread patterns. This has made the idea of EcoBoost much more appealing, and with the rising fuel costs today, I'd say that the timing is just about perfect for this idea.
The old problem of turbo-lag is almost non-existent these days, and performance from turbo-powered cars has always been rather impressive. Turbo-charged vehicles also typically offer substantial fuel savings over larger displacement vehicles when driven under normal road conditions.
The new EcoBoost vehicles from Ford promise to be smoother and more refined than the older turbo-powered vehicles of the past. In most cases, even though the size of the actual engine will be smaller, performance figures will go up using this system, whilst fueling costs will actually go down. So what's not to like about the idea?
Well, in my opinion, Ford's biggest problem is going to be convincing the North American driver that smaller engines are better. For many years now we have bought into the idea that big is beautiful. Yes, if we can wedge a honking great V8 under the hood, then we will do just that. Rising fuel costs are now starting to change our views on this slightly, and it's about time really.
That doesn't necessarily mean that we will have to adjust to smaller European-style cars, or that SUVs will become a thing of the past. In fact, many of the Ford products which are currently on the market will simply receive the option of a new EcoBoost power plant. Eventually it may become standard fitment as the popularity of these vehicles grows.
Now I have to be honest here, when I first heard Ford announce its new EcoBoost plan at the Detroit Auto Show, to install smaller engines with turbo-chargers, I thought, Isn't that what the Europeans have been doing for years now?
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| Lincoln MKT |
Well, to a certain extent, that is true. The idea of turbo-charging is not exactly a new invention. In fact, this idea has been around for decades. What has happened recently though, is that several major improvements have been made to turbo design, direct injection, and even fuel spread patterns. This has made the idea of EcoBoost much more appealing, and with the rising fuel costs today, I'd say that the timing is just about perfect for this idea.
The old problem of turbo-lag is almost non-existent these days, and performance from turbo-powered cars has always been rather impressive. Turbo-charged vehicles also typically offer substantial fuel savings over larger displacement vehicles when driven under normal road conditions.
The new EcoBoost vehicles from Ford promise to be smoother and more refined than the older turbo-powered vehicles of the past. In most cases, even though the size of the actual engine will be smaller, performance figures will go up using this system, whilst fueling costs will actually go down. So what's not to like about the idea?
Well, in my opinion, Ford's biggest problem is going to be convincing the North American driver that smaller engines are better. For many years now we have bought into the idea that big is beautiful. Yes, if we can wedge a honking great V8 under the hood, then we will do just that. Rising fuel costs are now starting to change our views on this slightly, and it's about time really.
That doesn't necessarily mean that we will have to adjust to smaller European-style cars, or that SUVs will become a thing of the past. In fact, many of the Ford products which are currently on the market will simply receive the option of a new EcoBoost power plant. Eventually it may become standard fitment as the popularity of these vehicles grows.
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| EcoBoost Turbocharger |