Can Ford’s EcoBlue engine save diesel’s reputation?
The diesel engine has had a torrid time with emissions scandals dominating the headlines on a weekly basis. Enough bad press to kill the diesel engine for good? Ford doesn’t think so and believes that its new EcoBlue diesel engine will have the same revolutionary impact as the diminutive petrol EcoBoost 1.0-litre turbo.
When the engine makes its debut in the Ford Transit, power figures for the 2.0-litre 4-cylinder EcoBlue engine range will from 73kW to an incredible 175kW but there are other considerations like efficiency and refinement which have been engineered into the design.
A low inertia turbo, mirror-image porting modular camshafts, high pressure fuel injection and offset crank are just some of the buzz words peppering Ford’s latest release. Torque is up by 20% at 1250rpm compared to the 2.2-litre TDCi and don’t forget saving those carbon emissions…
“We developed the 2.0-litre Ford EcoBlue engine using feedback from customers around the world,” says Turner (base engine technical leader of Ford Europe.) “The versatile design even allows the same block to be used for front-wheel drive and rear-wheel drive applications, and the sophisticated design and technologies deliver future-proofed fuel efficiency and emissions.”
Jim Farley, chief executive office at Ford of Europe elaborates “Ford’s EcoBoost created a new standard for petrol engines – smaller, more efficient with surprising performance. That same obsession to innovate for the customer is behind our new Ford EcoBlue diesel engine range. This new engine lifts fuel efficiency and reduces CO2 by over 10 per cent in Transit, part of Europe’s best-selling commercial vehicle line-up, lowering costs for our customers.”
Now granted, a Ford Fiesta or even a Focus doesn’t need such a big diesel engine so in future a smaller 1.5-litre EcoBlue diesel will find its way into the passenger market. With Ford’s aggressive pricing in the South African market, these new engines will definitely strengthen their position in the diesel sector.
