Frankfurt 2009: More EcoBoost Goodness!

We're pretty big fans of the Ford EcoBoost V6 here at CarThrottle. In fact, the twin-turbocharged direct injection V6 found under the hoods of the Ford Taurus SHO and Flex, as well as the Lincoln MKS and MKT, haunts my dreams with the promise of huge torque output at low rpms, clean emissions, tons of power in the mid-range where it's needed, and what seems like the potential for unlimited aftermarket support.  If you've been reading this site, you probably have noticed my strong desire for one of the new SHO's, and it's mainly because of how awesome this motor is.

The really good news?  EcoBoost isn't a one-time thing for Ford, but rather a design philosophy.  They announced a 2.0L four-cylinder EcoBoost motor back in July (which will first see duty in the Australian Ford Falcon, of all things), and they used the Frankfurt motor show to debut the third EcoBoost motor, a smaller 1.6L four-cylinder.  There are pictures and a lengthy press release, so I'll give you the juicy details on this little turbomill.

The whole idea with the EcoBoost program is to replace larger, less efficient naturally aspirated motors with smaller, cleaner, equally powerful turbocharged ones.  The 3.5L EcoBoost V6 is a stand-in for, say, a 5.0L V8.  The 2.0L EcoBoost is designed to replace small to medium V6 engines (like the 3.0L Duratec), and the new 1.6L EcoBoost takes the place of larger naturally aspirated four cylinders (Like the 2.3/2.5L Mazda motors.)

On the tech side, the EcoBoost 1.6 uses direct fuel injection to support a high compression ratio, and air is compressed via a tiny turbocharger and fed back into the intake manifold.  The high compression ratio and the direct fuel injection means that a greater percentage of the injected fuel/air mixture is combusted, which is obviously more efficient, but there are more benefits than that.  The high compression ratio and the quick spooling turbo also equate to diesel-like power off the line from very low RPMS, but the multi-valve head and the fact that it's a gas engine means it won't run out of steam at 4,000rpm.  Ford didn't release power output specs (or fuel economy or emissions) but expect the 1.6 Ecoboost to put out somewhere around 170bhp and 180lb-ft of torque.  Ford claims that fuel consumption and emissions are both reduced by about 20%, which is certainly a good thing.

Obviously, this isn't exactly rocket surgery - VW's been making the 2.0T for almost 5 years now - but it's good to see a traditional company like Ford taking the future seriously.  Then again, as the only one of the domestic Big 3 (more like 2.5) to not take federal bailout funds, it's not surprising.

Expect to see the 1.6L EcoBoost motor under the hood of cars like the Focus, Fiesta, and other smaller FWD-chassis Fords.  I wouldn't be surprised if it shows up as an optional engine on the US-market Fiesta, since we all know how Americans like horsepower.  It seems entirely positive to me.  Now I'm just curious to see what an EcoBoost V8 would be like...