Ford Reveals New EcoBlue Diesel Engine, Touts it as Game-Changing

Ford has unveiled a new 2.0-liter four-cylinder diesel called the EcoBlue, which will be the first of a new range of clean-sheet oil-burners. The EcoBlue 2.0-liter will be the first Ford engine to use modular camshafts, which increase fuel economy by 13 percent. Expect the EcoBlue diesel to power future Ford passenger and commercial vehicles with an output ranging from 98 to 237 hp. The Transit and Transit Custom are slated to be the first models to use the new engine.

Improvements include 20 percent more torque at 1,250 rpm compared to the 2.2-liter design it will replace. The engine will be less noisy thanks to a reduction of 4 decibels in radiated noise at idle. In addition, the new engine architecture in the EcoBlue also has reduced friction and has a clean-burning combustion system. A new after-treatment for exhaust gasses allows the EcoBlue engine to comply with Euro Stage VI standards that will be introduced in September 2016.  That standard requires a 55-percent reduction in NOx emissions versus Stage V standards.

“Ford’s EcoBoost created a new standard for petrol engines – smaller, more efficient with surprising performance. That same obsession to innovate for the customer is behind our new Ford EcoBlue diesel engine range,” said Jim Farley, chairman and CEO of Ford of Europe. “This new engine lifts fuel efficiency and reduces CO2 by over 10 per cent in Transit, part of Europe’s best-selling commercial vehicle line-up, lowering costs for our customers.”

Key design changes in the EcoBlue engine include a 10-mm offset crank design to minimize piston load and reduce rubbing against the cylinder walls of the engine block. Ford is also using a mirror-image porting design for the integrated inlet manifold for the first time to precisely control air flow into the cylinders — clockwise for cylinders one and two, counter-clockwise for three and four — to ensure uniform fuel and air mixing in the combustion chamber. A new compact turbocharger has also been designed to deliver more air at lower rpms compared to the 2.2-liter unit it replaces, and can produce up to 250 lb-ft of torque at 1,250 rpm.

Ford touts that its new EcoBlue 2.0-liter will be the first diesel commercial vehicle engine from its lineup to achieve passenger car levels of NVH. “The basic structure of an engine can act as a soundboard for the movements happening inside it, just like a bell. So we try to develop a bell that does not ring very well,” said Dominic Evans, NVH specialist at Ford Europe, in a release. “We’ve engineered every significant noise-influencing component of this engine to be quieter and smoother operating – resulting in the most refined diesel commercial vehicles Ford has ever built.” Additionally, a molded acoustic cover and sound-deadened steel keep engine noise from being transmitted into the cabin.

The automaker says the new 2.0-liter EcoBlue diesel engine will meet global durability standards for all markets including Europe, China, and the U.S., and has put the engine through the equivalent of 3.4 million miles of durability testing.

Source: Ford

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