Wednesday 18 November 2015

More work for Ford's EcoBoost CGI engine


Ford’s 2017 Lincoln MKZ, due to go on sale next summer, will provide further sales scope the V6 gasoline EcoBoost engine.

Although the base engine for the 2017 Lincoln MKZ is a carryover 2-litre four-cylinder gasoline unit, Ford powertrain engineers and product planners are softly-softly finding new applications for the company’s hottest engine – a 3-litre version of the 2.7-litre V6 turbocharged EcoBoost gasoline engine that features in the F150 pick-up truck.

The turbocharged 3-litre job, which also will be available in the Continental, replaces a 3.7-litre naturally-aspirated V-6 rated at 300 bhp and 277 lbft of torque. Just to make sure all the boxes are ticked, the previous hybrid option will remain.

Despite the boost in power to as much as 400 bhp and 400 lbft of torque, Ford claims the company is not on some kind of ego trip

“This is not performance for performance sake,” claims Rob Rosenbach, Lincoln MKZ brand manager. “This is not about raw performance. This is smooth power."

However, this level of power, with the possibility of more to come, would not be possible without Ford engineers’ choice of compacted graphite iron (CGI) for the engine cylinder block. Ford has probably produced more engines with CGI cylinder blocks than any other automaker.

At present, the 3-litre V-6 engine is exclusive to Lincoln and, at 400 bhp will be paired with all-wheel drive. That is 100 bhp more than the most powerful engine on the current MKZ; Lincoln’s highest-volume nameplate.

But Ford being Ford will play various tunes on this particular EcoBoost engine so that more power ratings and applications can be expected to drive up volumes at the Lima, Ohio, engine plant where manufacture is sited.

Ford Motor Company has unveiled its refreshed versions of both the MKZ and the Ford Escape crossover at the Los Angeles Auto Show. Both are significant mid-cycle updates that include new engines, redesigned front ends and revamped interiors.

Lincoln executives claim to have received overwhelmingly positive feedback about the brand’s “new face” since unveiling the Continental concept in April. The Continental is expected to go on sale several months after the MKZ.

The Lincoln MKZ be the first car to drop the brand’s split-wing grille in favour of a rectangular design that debuted on the Continental concept.

The boost from the new EcoBoost is much needed to pep up flagging sales. In the US, sales of the MKZ have fallen 13 per cent in this year up to the end of October, much more than the 3.1 per cent decline for its counterpart in the Ford brand, the Fusion.

                                         Jaguar goes AWD too

Meanwhile, in the UK JaguarLandRover (JLR) has unveiled the AWD XE saloon.

The company claims XE has “already established as the most dynamic sports saloon in the mid-size segment, once again sets new standards in driver reward and offers an even wider range of state-of-the art technology”.

Such claims centre on the car’s light, stiff advanced aluminium architecture, revised suspension and the company’s latest Ingenium diesel and gasoline engines.

Jaguar claims All-wheel drive (AWD) was engineered into the XE from day one. Available exclusively with the 180 bhp Ingenium, the company says AWD enhances vehicle dynamics and provides greater traction. Torque is transferred only to the front wheels when needed, maintaining the XE’s “inherent agility and rear-wheel drive character”.

Jaguar adds that Adaptive Surface Response (AdSR) makes the AWD system even better by changing the mapping of the powertrain and Dynamic Stability Control system according to the conditions. AdSR leverages JLR’s “world-leading expertise in AWD technologies and traction systems”.

Jaguar adds: “Together with class-leading chassis design, the unique combination of AWD, AdSR and the revolutionary All Surface Progress Control system gives the driver greater confidence in adverse conditions. The XE is the definitive all-weather sports saloon.”


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