For those of you who don’t want to wear out your left leg, the Ford Fiesta can now be optioned with a PowerShift automatic transmission in combination with Ford’s acclaimed 1.0-litre EcoBoost engine. The engine has undergone a slight detune in the process – it is less economical and kind to the environment – and now produces 74 kW and 170 Nm of torque from the acclaimed 1.0-litre EcoBoost when paired with Ford’s advanced, six speed dual-clutch PowerShift automatic transmission.
This is the first time Ford has combined the two technologies and CO2 emissions of just 114 g/km and fuel economy of just 4.9 L/100 km results. The manual gearbox Ford Fiesta produces 92 kW of power and 170 Nm of torque with fuel consumption on the combined cycle of 4.3 L/100 km and CO2 emissions of 99 g/km.
“The first combination of our award-winning EcoBoost 1.0-litre engine with PowerShift dual-clutch automatic transmission is a major step forward in this segment and will appeal to many new customers – especially those looking for the latest cutting edge technology,” said, Marketing Manager, Gavin Golightly.
Ford say their dual-clutch PowerShift automatic is more efficient than other transmissions of this type because it consists of two manual transmissions working in parallel. Each has its own independent clutch unit controlled by computers and fast-acting electromechanical actuators that shift gear. One clutch carries the odd gears, 1, 3 and 5, while the other carries the even gears, 2, 4 and 6, and reverse.
The 1.0-litre Ford EcoBoost engine uses technologies including direct fuel injection, turbocharging and variable valve timing to deliver the power of a larger engine from a three-cylinder engine block which is small enough to fit onto an A4 piece of paper. EcoBoost engines deliver fuel economy gains of up to 20% and reduction of CO2 emissions of up to 15%, compared with larger, less-efficient engines. Ford’s leadership with EcoBoost has resulted in more than 125 patents on the technology.
The new Ford Fiesta 1.0-litre EcoBoost Trend PowerShift retails for R230 800.
