Ford Australia has given motoring journalists their first drive of the new EcoBoost Falcon - still in development stage - at the company’s proving grounds in the You Yangs near Geelong. Ford’s global move to replace large engines with smaller, eco-friendly engines that match the power of older, larger engines is part of a global trend.
Ford Australia is using the 2.0-litre EcoBoost four-cylinder engine in a rear-wheel-drive car for the first time anywhere in the world.
Ford’s Mondeo already uses a variant of the direct injection, turbocharged petrol engine putting out 149 kW of power and 300 Nm of torque. These figures are expected to be higher for Falcon, but Ford Australia President and CEO, Bob Graziano said power, torque and fuel consumption figures for the Falcon EcoBoost engine are not yet available.
However, we feel that Falcon buyers looking to cut fuel costs without jeopardising performance will not be disappointed if our first drive is anything to go by. In timed testing using Racelogic equipment for the 0-100 km/h sprint we put the Falcon 4.0-litre six-cylinder up against the 2.0-litre EcoBoost. From a standing start the EcoBoost took 7.63 seconds to reach 100 km/h while the 4.0 litre took 7.25 seconds. There are other advantages of using a smaller engine; the four-cylinder Ford EcoBoost powerplant is 60 kg lighter than the 4.0-litre six, so Ford Australia’s engineers have re-calibrated the front suspension to deal with the lighter weight. In addition the MkII FG Falcon has a new, sharper steering assembly.
In laps of a test track at the You Yangs facility we found the Falcon was noticeably lighter in the steering and more nimble in tight corners. The steering feels more direct and has excellent driver feedback. The driving impression is that you are behind the wheel of a smaller car which lends itself to being pushed harder through esses. While tests of 0-100 km/h are one thing, it’s another to try the vehicle in typical Australian road conditions. The Ford test track provides that opportunity and we found the mid-range acceleration more than competitive in automatic second and third gears. Obviously we will have to wait for full on-road testing before we can comment fully on the uprated Falcon. Tests done at both the official launch and later in our home territory.
At idle the EcoBoost Falcon sounds little different to the 4.0 litre six. Near the exhaust the sound is different to the in-line six, but no louder. Under hard acceleration both sound much the same inside the cabin. The EcoBoost Falcon has been three years in local development and until we stepped behind the wheel only Ford engineers and senior executives had driven the car.
The development of a four-cylinder engine for the Falcon is a first for Ford. Traditionally the company’s flagship homegrown car has been powered by six-cylinder and V8 engines, catering to Australia tastes that were shaped largely by US trends. Ford is not the first local manufacturer to downsize the engine in a large family sedan. Holden slipped a four-cylinder under the bonnet of the Commodore in 1980, but it was a half hearted effort and the performance was not good. Ford has not fallen for this trap.
Toyota continues to be successful with four and six-cylinder variants of the Camry/Aurion and Mitsubishi did well with both engine choices in the Magna/Verada. So Australian drivers have proven themselves capable of accepting four-cylinder family cars. Having said that it will still be up to Ford Australia to market the upcoming Falcon correctly or they could be in strife...
“This technology will provide Falcon customers with even more choice and complement our excellent in-line six cylinder engines,” said Mr Graziano. The EcoBoost engine will be available on the Falcon XT, G6 and G6E models. Full details of power and torque will be available closer to the EcoBoost launch around March/April 2012.
In other announcements Ford revealed a replacement for the mid-size SUV, Escape, to be called the Kuga, as well as new models to join the all-new Ford Ranger launched this year. New variants include a single cab, super cab 4x2, Hi-Rider 4x2 and the top-of-the-line luxury equipped Wildtrak. The Ranger engine line-up will see the 2.5 litre petrol and 2.2 litre turbo-diesel engines added to the impressive 3.2 litre five-cylinder turbo-diesel. There is also a new ST Focus on the way, arriving in Australian showrooms late in 2012.
The Focus performance hatch is powered by a 2.0 litre Ford EcoBoost engine. This light-weight engine is ideally suited to Ford’s pocket-rocket Focus. It gives high performance from a small engine utilising high-pressure direct injection, low-inertia turbocharging and twin independent variable camshaft timing to create an advanced combustion system for high performance and fuel efficiency.
Focus ST gains 18 inch alloy wheels, an upgraded sports suspension and an enhanced version of Torque Vectoring Control - to reduce torque steer. List pricing and full specifications will released late in 2012 closer to the release of the Ford Focus ST.
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