Ford has just announced the specifications of its new engine designed for the brand's lower ranges: the brand new 1.0 liter 3-cylinder block, with a power between 99hp and 123hp, which will equip the new Focus, the current Fiesta and future B-Max.
An engine that is not just that, it is much more. It is a milestone in the manufacturer's history insofar as it represents all the know-how” accumulated by Ford in all these years of production and development of gasoline engines, mainly on this side of the Atlantic.
The entire block itself is an innovation, some of which are an absolute novelty in the North American brand's range. The cylinder head, for example – manufactured using advanced casting and machining techniques – is entirely made of aluminum and includes the exhaust manifolds. By the way, it is in the engine head that we find most of the innovations of this engine. The camshaft, for example, has variable and independent control, which allows the flow of gases – both from the exhaust and the intake – to be adjusted to the engine's rotation, according to the specific needs of each regime.
As we said, the block uses a 3-cylinder architecture, a solution that presents some inconveniences compared to the more traditional 4-cylinder mechanics, namely with regard to the vibrations generated.
Ford took this into account and developed an innovative flywheel – an element whose purpose is to help overcome the dead spots in the movement of the pistons – which will help to maintain the linearity of the engine and reduce the vibrations of its operation without compromising its capacity. of acceleration.
But in these engineering things, as we know, there is no miracle that bypasses physics or chemistry. And to get the same amount of power in a 1000cc unit as in a 1800cc unit, Ford had to resort to the state of the art of current gasoline engines: turbo-compression and direct injection. Two of the elements that most contribute to the effective transformation of fuel into energy and, consequently, into movement.
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Speaking of numbers, the result of so much innovation is impressive. Two power levels are announced for this engine: one with 99hp and the other with 125hp. Torque can reach 200Nm with Overboost function. As for consumption, the brand points to about 5 liters for every 100km traveled and about 114g of CO2 for each km traveled. Values that may vary depending on the model in which the engine is used, but these are the estimates.
There is still no date set for the launch of this engine, but it is said that its debut could coincide with the launch of the B-Max model in 2012. Is this where the Fiesta gets rid of the old block 1.25? Hope so…