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By
MURRAY HUBBARD and EWAN KENNEDY
13 December 2011
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 provided 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 much like 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.
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Marque Publishing Company
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