Record Levels of Demand For The Ford 1.6 Litre EcoBoost Engine

Ford's Bridgend Engine Plant, where the Ford 1.6 litre EcoBoost engine has been manufactured since its introduction in late 2010, has been working flat out in order to keep up with customer demand, having already built 50,000 units.

The 1.6 litre EcoBoost engine is seeing success due to its combination of performance, fuel economy and low CO2 emissions, and is available in the Ford Focus, Mondeo, C-MAX, Grand C-MAX, S-MAX and Galaxy.

"Demand for the EcoBoost engine is at record levels and the plant is fully focused on increasing capacity to ensure we can support the ever-growing customer demand," says Kieran Cahill, Bridgend Plant Manager.

As an example of Ford's 1.6 litre EcoBoost engine, the Ford Focus can reach 62mph in 7.9 seconds with a top speed of 138mph, and returns a combined fuel consumption figure of 47.1mpg and CO2 emissions of 139g/km, due, in part, to Auto-Start-Stop technology, which comes as standard on all Ford Focus, C-MAX and Grand C-MAX 1.6-litre EcoBoost models.

The Ford Galaxy with the 1.6 litre engine achieves 39.2mpg (combined) and reaches 62mph in under ten seconds.

Innovative technology which is helping make the engine popular includes an engine management system which monitors the Ti-VCT variable valve timing system, turbo boost, electronic throttle position, ignition timing, fuel injector pressure and delivery, and the knock sensor one million times per second.

"Ford EcoBoost engines actually provide customers with many of the benefits offered by the latest diesels, including impressive torque at low engine speeds and reduced CO2 emissions," says Graham Hoare, executive director Powertrain Development, Ford of Europe. "At the same time, these engines retain the free-revving driving character and cost advantage of a petrol unit – effectively giving customers the best of both worlds."