Since 1999, the International Engine of the Year Awards has been heralded as one of the best ways for world class automakers to boast about the newest mass produced powerplants developed by them. And guess what - Ford took the crown once again, for the third time in a row to be more precise. The engine in question is the highly praised 1.0-liter EcoBoost turbo three-cylinder gasoline engine.
That’s quite the remarkable feat, alright. The Ford 1.0L EcoBoost mill has been deemed king once again by tens of experienced motoring journalists from around the globe. In fact, no other engine managed to win the overall International Engine of the Year for three successive years. According to Dean Slavnich, co-chairman of the annual competition, “this achievement not only cements the 1.0 EcoBoost’s place in the history books, but is proof that this is one of the finest examples of powertrain engineering.”
So how come a peppy 999cc three-pot managed to score a total of 351 points, which is a helluva lot more than Ferrari’s 4.5-liter V8 (281 p), Volkswagen’s 1.4-liter TSI Twincharger (254 p), Mercedes-AMG’s manic 2-liter turbo (252 p) and Tesla’s all-electric powetrain (225 p)? Well, most of the 82 auto journalists coming from 35 countries praised the perfect mix between performance and efficiency this little unit offers. Only recently, the Blue Oval announced the Fiesta Red & Black Editions, both of which are powered by a 140 horsepower version of the mill.
Even though it offers more horsepower-per-liter than the Bugatti Veyron’s 8.0-liter W16 quad-turbo nuclear warhead, this engine drinks 4.5 liters of gasoline per 100 km (62.8 U.K. mpg) and propels the Fiesta to 62 mph (100 km/h) in a respectable 9 seconds. As if that wasn’t enough, the low-inertia turbocharger fitted to the 1.0-liter EcoBoost can spin at a maximum 248.000 revolutions per minute, which is 4.000 rpm faster than the turbo fitted to the V6 engines of this season’s Formula 1 racecars. As for maximum boost, the 140 horsepower variant of the EcoBoost can handle a whopping 24 psi (1.6 bar).
First launched in 2012 on the Euro-spec Ford Focus hatchback, the 1.0-liter EcoBoost three-pot is now available on lots of other Blue Oval models, including the Fiesta, EcoSport, B-Max, C-Max, Grand C-Max, Tourneo Connect, Tourneo Courier, Transit Connect and Transit Courier. Currently produced at three Ford plants located in Germany (Koln), China (Chongqing) and Romania (Craiova), the smallest member of the EcoBoost family is fitted to Ford vehicles sold in over 72 car markets around the globe.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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