Ford has revealed that a version of its soon to be launched two-litre EcoBoost petrol engine will power the next generation Focus ST.
The hot hatch is currently driven by a 2.5-litre five-cylinder unit sourced from Volvo. Environmental restrictions mean it won’t be used again, and engineers have said it will be replaced by the four-cylinder EcoBoost unit.
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Tuned to 203PS, it will make its production car debut in the facelifted Galaxy and S-MAX people carriers from April. But a 240PSversion is on the cards for both vehicles, probably for launch later this year, and it’s that which will form the basis of what will power the next Focus ST.
Even with that power output, it’s considerably more than the current Focus ST’s 225PS. A senior Ford engineer told just-aut0 the 240PS “would make a decent enough ST on its own” but that it would be tuned to go higher.
“We are about to start investigating what we can get out of it for the ST while maintaining efficiency, reliability, etc,” he said.
Following the global debut of the redesigned Focus at last month’s Detroit show, mainstream versions will arrive in Europe in Q1 next year, with the ST due later in 2011.
Meanwhile, Ford has also revealed it’s investigating whether to use the two-cylinder petrol engine being developed by Fiat Powertrain Technologies (FPT). The unit, which will benefit from Fiat’s innovative MultiAir electric air intake technology, will go into the Fiat 500. But it could easily be made to fit the Ford Ka because the pair were designed as a joint venture on the same platform.
A Ford source said three options were currently on the table for debate. “We might use the Fiat engine for the Ka, we might use a smaller EcoBoost unit that’s in development, or we might do nothing and just leave the Ka range as it is for the time being,” he confirmed.
Fiat will launch the two-cylinder engine – which will have a 900cc capacity and be either naturally aspirated or turbocharged – in the 500 within 12 months. Insiders say it will offer a 20% improvement on fuel economy and CO2 emissions over the current 1.2-litre petrol unit.
The two-pot technology was first seen on the Panda Aria concept in 2007 and will eventually power Fiat’s sub-500 city car project, dubbed Topolino.
The original 1950s rear-engined 500 had a two-cylinder air cooled engine.
