Concept Fords, Future Fords & RumorsHave you seen or heard anything about what Ford is about to release? Do you have an inside rumor about Ford and what is up and coming? Come on in and check out what is coming for the future of Ford.
Ford's cousin company, Mazda, which Ford shares some components and platforms with, already has an Ecoboost. The Mazda CX7 has a VVT, direct injection, turbo 2.3L 4-banger with 16 valves. The CX7 weighs about 3700 lbs, to my Ford Freestyle's 3900 lbs, so the weights are somewhat comparable, and my Freestyle has the non-VVT, port fuel injection, 24 valve 3.0L V6, a larger displacement engine. Now, my point is, I already get an EPA 18/25 city/hiway MPG test rating, while the CX7, with the newer Ecoboost tech, gets an EPA 17/23 MPG, worse than my heavier Freestyle with the bigger engine. Where is the Ecoboost advantage? Specifically, I don't see how a high-stress smaller 4-banger with all the Ecoboost-style goodies added, will do better than a well designed, smoothe, harmonically balanced, low-friction, 60 degree V bank angle V6 like the venerable Duratec 3.0L V6 I have, and the MPG numbers seem to prove that. What the f?
Also, with the increased reliance on turbos and highly-stressed reduced-displacement engines in the future, will Ford recommend only synthetic oils finally, as Acura has done with the tough-to-pass HTO-06 engine oil spec? Reference at http://www.mobiloil.com/USA-English/...1_Brochure.pdf
I just read yesterday in the current Automotive News magazine, that Mazda is dropping the turbo in the CX-7 for the next model year to answer fuel economy complaints. That will allow them to put a 4-cylinder in the CX-7 with an efficient compression ratio, since turbos require a low, ineffecient, compression ratio. Higher compression ratio raises MPG. They will keep the direct injection, of course, since that helps MPG.
The thing is, Ford has a controlling interest in Mazda, so why is Mazda going against Ecoboost?
Mazda does not use Ecoboost technology... They just have a turbocharged SUV.
The car may weight less, and have a smaller engine. But turbochargers like fuel, and the gearing of that SUV is more toward that of an off-roader. Since technically SUV's were never designed to be on road vehicles.
Ecoboost is completely different than that of a standared turbocharged engine.... I cannot wait to see the sticker on that lincoln... imagine 350 hp AND 30 mpg... that would be amazing.
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1994 Ford Taurus LX 3.0L 156,000 miles
1998 Ford Windstar GL 3.8L 264,000 miles
2005 Toyota Prius Package 6 1.5L 158,000 miles
2006 Toyota Sienna LE 3.3L 45,000 miles
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Mazda does not use Ecoboost technology... They just have a turbocharged SUV.
The car may weight less, and have a smaller engine. But turbochargers like fuel, and the gearing of that SUV is more toward that of an off-roader. Since technically SUV's were never designed to be on road vehicles.
Ecoboost is completely different than that of a standared turbocharged engine.... I cannot wait to see the sticker on that lincoln... imagine 350 hp AND 30 mpg... that would be amazing.
Actually Mazda uses Direct Injection and variable valve timing, two parts of Ecoboost as well, the third part in common being the turbo of course.
The one thing Ford has not told us his how Ecoboost is going to improve on all the direct injected, VVT, turbo, 4-valves-per-cylinder engines already out there that don't get great MPG. There is a mystery there. What magic can Ford bring? They need tricks unheard of thus far in the auto industry to get a 20% boost in MPG over comparably powered autos.
And if you think the upcoming 340 HP Ecoboost V6 will get an EPA hiway 30 MPG rating, you are sadly mistaken. Remember Ford has only said their Ecoboost will get a 10%-20% gain compared to a V8 version of the same car. That means the 340HP Ecoboost V6 will get 24-26 MPG on the hiway.
I guess only time will tell what "magic" is under the hood.
My guess is they are keeping it under wraps because of pending patents or maybe just to keep the technology and cars secret until the release date.
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1994 Ford Taurus LX 3.0L 156,000 miles
1998 Ford Windstar GL 3.8L 264,000 miles
2005 Toyota Prius Package 6 1.5L 158,000 miles
2006 Toyota Sienna LE 3.3L 45,000 miles
________
This message was sent from my iPhone.
MIT, according to the link above, has been working with Ford on their boosting technology that uses a small E85 ethanol tank installed on the car to directly inject the cooling, stabilizing, high-octane E85 into the cylinder to prevent knock when using a high-compression, turbocharged, reduced-displacement engine (sounds like Ecoboost there).
By the way, I noticed you have a Windstar. I had a '95 a while back and loved it. A little gas-hungry, but that thing was usefuel with all the seats out. Like having a living room back there. You could load your Prius back there when the seats are out.
Last edited by coldcranker; 08-22-2008 at 05:31 PM..
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