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First Drive: 2014 Ford Fiesta 1.0-liter EcoBoost

That's certainly interesting. The timing belt appears to be made of some kind of woven fiber.

I'm assuming that's a balance running off that additional belt...in the oilpan, below the mains. That's...creative...

Also, random bitching: cutaways would be a lot better if the car companies didn't feel the need to fucking chrome everything on them...what a stupid trend.

edit: holy shit, 248k RPM turbo.
 
Can you manually command the gas engine on in the Prius? I want to say I remember being able to stop the gas a few times while it was idling, and eventually it would kick on. Or maybe I just had to turn the AC on (yeah, I know, it's electric, but but it wants the engine to run so the batteries don't get depleted).

If you do a typical 'drag launch;' accessories off, hold part throttle...the damn thing just ignores your input. If you roll off in golf cart mode and have to wait for the engine to kick on (takes way the hell longer than it should)...yeah, Fiesta would smoke it.

Also, aren't those power numbers pretty similar to a Prius? And the car weighs what? 2400 pounds?

IMO, this is the future of cars. At least, the foreseeable future. Not shitty hybrids. My biggest question is cost. These engines probably require some damn good precision machining/assembly, plus the cost of VVT, DI, turbo stuff...Gotta think the end result would be a good bit more cost than a more basic four cylinder.

Wish there was better technical info. I'm confused by the claim of no balance shafts (what is that aux belt for?) and can't understand how mods to crank weighting are going to solve imbalance.

Also, the aforementioned ~250k rpm turbo just seems worrisome. I mean, is there another factory turbo that even hits 150, let alone 100k more? Thems must be some damn good bearings.

One more random ramble: look at the stroke on that thing. No wonder it's a torque monster.
 
IMO the " Belt" bathed in Oil is not a good plan. Oil will leech all the flex ( dry it out ) out of the belt making it brittle and it will have a short life.
 
Pretty cool. 40+mpg and not anemic, relatively speaking.

"Ford had lined up a Honda Fit, Toyota Yaris, and Chevrolet Sonic so we could see how the competition felt on the course alongside the Fiesta. This was a Mike Tyson in his prime, proper beat down." LOL

and ..

"the block only weights 52 pounds" 😀
 
pcgeek11 said:
IMO the " Belt" bathed in Oil is not a good plan. Oil will leech all the flex ( dry it out ) out of the belt making it brittle and it will have a short life.
Click to expand...

"Speaking of oil, the timing belt is immersed in the stuff, and that means it runs with less friction, is quieter, and never needs to be serviced."

It isn't a normal timing belt
 
Why do companies still make cars with timing belts when timing chains exist .

This engine seems good but it seems like ford did some things certain ways like no balance shaft just to save money. Hopefully this one doesn't get recalled 4 times for bursting into flames as the fiesta is a nice light car and this engines power specs seem better the current one
 
thedarkwolf said:
"Speaking of oil, the timing belt is immersed in the stuff, and that means it runs with less friction, is quieter, and never needs to be serviced."

It isn't a normal timing belt
Click to expand...

It almost sounds like when it does break the engine is disposable. The replacement procedure doesn't look fun.
 
hans007 said:
Why do companies still make cars with timing belts when timing chains exist .

This engine seems good but it seems like ford did some things certain ways like no balance shaft just to save money. Hopefully this one doesn't get recalled 4 times for bursting into flames as the fiesta is a nice light car and this engines power specs seem better the current one
Click to expand...

Save money? Sounds like they spent money to avoid using balance shafts that take energy to run.
 
thedarkwolf said:
Save money? Sounds like they spent money to avoid using balance shafts that take energy to run.
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Again- what did they spend it on? 'Offset crank weighting' or whatever? I don't think that really costs money other than in R&D; also that term seems meaningless.

The timing belt is definitely not the norm. As I said above, it appear to be entirely of a fiber construction; I don't think they're so dumb as to think a rubber belt in oil is a good idea.

The combination of material and the oil saturation may very well make it a very reliable component. I'm sure they did a lot of testing before deeming that a feasible idea.

Also Re: chains- those need servicing, too. They manufacturer may not specify an interval...but chains stretch. Gears wear. It just (ideally) takes a long time. There's also the fact that you can't use idler pulleys for chains, resulting in the need for chain guides made of a softer material than the chain (plastic).
 
The offset crank was to decrease the friction on the side skirts of the pistons to increase fuel mileage. They externally balanced the engine and did some funky engine mounts to avoid using balance shafts to increase fuel mileage. So yes they spent money on R&D in lots and lots of places all for fuel mileage.
 
pcgeek11 said:
IMO the " Belt" bathed in Oil is not a good plan. Oil will leech all the flex ( dry it out ) out of the belt making it brittle and it will have a short life.
Click to expand...

What makes you think that's a regular belt? Im sure they thought of that on day one, give ford a bit of credit here.
 
phucheneh said:
IMO, this is the future of cars. At least, the foreseeable future. Not shitty hybrids.
Click to expand...

Hybrids have too many advantages -- plug-in charging, regenerative braking, and the ability to "right-size" the engine and tune for efficiency over power density.
 
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Howard said:
Shit, I wish my body had regenerative breaking.
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I know this is a joke, but I'm wondering to what extent. Humans cannot recapture energy in an even vaguely similar way because there's no such thing as 'coasting.'

Now, I could break your legs (...purely hypothetical) and perhaps we could come up with some kind of wheelchair-driven generator that makes energy bars for you or something.

On a more serious note- recapturing wasted energy is a good thing. But even putting aside the 'why not be more efficient in the first place' thing...I don't think some people understand how little those systems do. Yeah, they're capable of capturing a decent bit of energy under decel.

...but half the people on the road don't know what 'decel' is.

MY FOOT HAS TO BE ON EITHER THE GAS PEDAL OR THE BRAKE PEDAL OR THE CAR EXPLODES, RIGHT?!
 
DominionSeraph said:
Hybrids have too many advantages -- plug-in charging, regenerative braking, and the ability to "right-size" the engine and tune for efficiency over power density.
Click to expand...

And disadvantages- extra weight of an electric engine plus batteries, increased manufacture cost, extra strain on the gas engine of recharging the batteries.

I don't think it's a given that hybrid will be superior in the long run. I personally think we will eventually reach the point where pure electric vehicles are efficient, cheap, and usable. But until then, hybrid and efficient gas cars will be fighting it out.
 
A turbo economy car is a crazy idea. Not sure it will sell much but I give them credit for spicing things up. Kinda reminds me of the Firefly Turbo. What a piece of shit.
 
Chiropteran said:
And disadvantages- extra weight of an electric engine plus batteries, increased manufacture cost, extra strain on the gas engine of recharging the batteries.

I don't think it's a given that hybrid will be superior in the long run. I personally think we will eventually reach the point where pure electric vehicles are efficient, cheap, and usable. But until then, hybrid and efficient gas cars will be fighting it out.
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With perfect regenerative braking, extra weight matters little.

What is this "strain" on the gas engine? To convert energy that you need anyway, or to get back free energy?
 
Chiropteran said:
I don't think it's a given that hybrid will be superior in the long run. I personally think we will eventually reach the point where pure electric vehicles are efficient, cheap, and usable. But until then, hybrid and efficient gas cars will be fighting it out.
Click to expand...

We have rent-to-own and check cashing places to take advantage of the ignorant as well. So yes, people will likely still be taken in by gasoline cars even after hybrids and their efficiency of manufacturing are refined to where the fuel savings pays back the cost in a matter of months.


Howard said:
With perfect regenerative braking, extra weight matters little.
Click to expand...

An extra couple thousand pounds does add more than a trivial amount to rolling resistance. It's just far offset by efficiencies it allows to be gained.
 
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