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New Models
DRIVEN: Ford Takes EcoBoost To Edge
Optional turbo four improves mileage without losing drivability in the midsize crossover, part of a trend for the world’s automakers.
Ford added an optional EcoBoost four-cylinder engine to the Edge for 2012. (Photo: Ford)
Years ago, I had a funky car that I really liked, though some of my friends thought it was maybe too funky. That would be my Saab 900 Turbo hatchback, a 1985 model and my introduction to turbocharging.
In technological terms, this was ancient history. The Saab’s 2-liter turbo four was a fairly strong runner, but really, it only put out 160 horsepower. In these days of electronic controls, direct injection and such, that’s easily achievable with a normally aspirated 2-liter engine.
Plus, it had a fierce tendency toward the dreaded turbo lag, in which you would put your foot into it at low rpm with hardly any response, then a sudden rush of power as the turbo spooled up. No, my old Saab was hardly perfect, but it did combine the goodness of decent performance with relatively high fuel mileage.
Many of today’s automakers (R.I.P. Saab) have begun embracing turbocharging for just those reasons. In the face of climbing fuel prices, government fuel-economy mandates and consumer demand, just about every manufacturer is experimenting with downsized engines for better mileage and adding turbos for improved power, including those in some highly desirable performance cars.
Ford has wholeheartedly bought into the turbo game with its new EcoBoost engines, which are also enhanced with direct fuel injection, that are going into just about everything on the automaker’s palette. Even trucks: Ford now sells more F-150s with turbo V6s than the once-ubiquitous V8s. Ford just announced that the Taurus sedan will be the recipient of an optional EcoBoost four that’s certified at 32 mpg highway.
The fact that modern technology has made these engines smooth and refined has turned them into acceptable tradeoffs for bigger-displacement engines. And turbo lag is but a distant memory.
The Ford Edge crossover SUV demonstrates how Ford is replacing V6 engines with turbo fours, with an optional 2-liter EcoBoost that generates 240 horsepower and gets 21 mpg in the city and 30 on the highway. You can still choose from a pair of V6s of greater horsepower, but you will pay a mileage penalty compared with the four.
Like most modern turbo engines, the one in the Edge is hardly noticeable as any different from a normally aspirated engine except that it provides a decent rush of power and a slower movement of the gas gauge. There are none of the drivability or harshness compromises of the old turbo fours of ancient times.
City mileage with EcoBoost is not phenomenal, but Edge is a fairly large and heavy craft, and it does get about three mpg more than the V6 versions. The 30 mpg highway miles puts Edge into an increasingly populated mileage club, one that has become a standard boast for automakers – Ford among them – as they downsize, lighten and turbocharge existing models.
In technological terms, this was ancient history. The Saab’s 2-liter turbo four was a fairly strong runner, but really, it only put out 160 horsepower. In these days of electronic controls, direct injection and such, that’s easily achievable with a normally aspirated 2-liter engine.
Plus, it had a fierce tendency toward the dreaded turbo lag, in which you would put your foot into it at low rpm with hardly any response, then a sudden rush of power as the turbo spooled up. No, my old Saab was hardly perfect, but it did combine the goodness of decent performance with relatively high fuel mileage.
Many of today’s automakers (R.I.P. Saab) have begun embracing turbocharging for just those reasons. In the face of climbing fuel prices, government fuel-economy mandates and consumer demand, just about every manufacturer is experimenting with downsized engines for better mileage and adding turbos for improved power, including those in some highly desirable performance cars.
Ford has wholeheartedly bought into the turbo game with its new EcoBoost engines, which are also enhanced with direct fuel injection, that are going into just about everything on the automaker’s palette. Even trucks: Ford now sells more F-150s with turbo V6s than the once-ubiquitous V8s. Ford just announced that the Taurus sedan will be the recipient of an optional EcoBoost four that’s certified at 32 mpg highway.
The fact that modern technology has made these engines smooth and refined has turned them into acceptable tradeoffs for bigger-displacement engines. And turbo lag is but a distant memory.
The Ford Edge crossover SUV demonstrates how Ford is replacing V6 engines with turbo fours, with an optional 2-liter EcoBoost that generates 240 horsepower and gets 21 mpg in the city and 30 on the highway. You can still choose from a pair of V6s of greater horsepower, but you will pay a mileage penalty compared with the four.
Like most modern turbo engines, the one in the Edge is hardly noticeable as any different from a normally aspirated engine except that it provides a decent rush of power and a slower movement of the gas gauge. There are none of the drivability or harshness compromises of the old turbo fours of ancient times.
City mileage with EcoBoost is not phenomenal, but Edge is a fairly large and heavy craft, and it does get about three mpg more than the V6 versions. The 30 mpg highway miles puts Edge into an increasingly populated mileage club, one that has become a standard boast for automakers – Ford among them – as they downsize, lighten and turbocharge existing models.
The Lyonheart K
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