Are you
ready for a four-cylinder full-size pickup? Sources say Ford is planning
to offer a version of the F-150 with a four-cylinder EcoBoost engine
by 2013. The move is a response to rapidly rising gas prices and new
federal standards that raise Corporate Average Fuel Economy for light
trucks to 28.6 mpg by 2015. Lending credibility to what we’ve
heard from our sources, Derrick Kuzak, Ford’s group vice president
for Product Development, has told Automotive
News that Ford is
considering this option.
Ford EcoBoost
engines use high-pressure direct gas injection and turbocharging to
get better performance and up to 20 percent better fuel economy compared
to larger displacement engines. V-6 engines are said to perform like
V-8s, and four-cylinder engines are said to perform as if they had
six cylinders.
In an appearance
before the Motor Press Guild, Dan Kapp, Ford’s
director of powertrain research and advanced engineering, told
journalists that "in probably the most extreme cases (using EcoBoost
engines), we’re
going to be downsizing on the order of 40, 50 percent. That would take,
for example, a three-liter V6 down to a two-liter 4-cylinder engine.
A 2.5-liter 4-cylinder could be something on the order of 1.5-liters."
Kapp also
said, "With these factors (smaller displacement and turbocharging)
in the equation, an EcoBoost 6-cylinder engine can produce like an 8-cylinder
and a 4-cylinder engine like a 6."
For
2009, Ford is offering only V-8 engines for the F-150. The company is
eliminating its legacy 4.2-liter V-6 for the F-150, officially saying
the 4.6-liter V-8 delivers more horsepower and torque with the same
fuel economy numbers as the outgoing V-6. According to EPA estimates,
a 2008 Ford F-150 4x2 with a 4.2-liter V-6 is rated at 14/20 mpg city/highway.
Ford says a new EcoBoost V-6 will debut for the F-150 in 2010. It’s
expected to have a 3.5-liter displacement and sources say it
will be rated at more than 350 hp and 390 lbs.-feet of torque. Paired
with the F-150’s new six-speed transmission, fuel economy ratings
are expected to be better than 16/22 mpg city/highway.
Final displacement
hasn’t been determined but the four-cylinder
EcoBoost is expected to be around 2.5-liters with power ratings greater
than 260 hp and 300 lbs.-feet of torque. It will likely be available
only for the two-door Regular Cab F-150 4x2 and 4x4, where it would
work best for light-duty commercial applications. The same engine is
also expected as an option under the hood of the upcoming
F-100.
