Ford Ecosport’s new Dragon petrol engine revealed

The new Ecosport will get Ford’s brand new petrol engine from the Dragon series. The Dragon engine family will replace the Sigma petrol engines that Ford cars have been using. We now have all the details of the 1.5 liter Ti-VCT Dragon petrol engine, that will soon power the Indian Ecosport Facelift model. Eventually, this engine will also make it to the Figo twins.

This engine displaces 1,497cc, is naturally aspirated (no turbocharging) and comes in a 3 cylinder layout. It gets impressive power and torque figures. Peak power is 123 Bhp at 6,500 rpm and peak torque is 150 Nm at 4,500 rpm. Both figures are an increase over the Sigma engine’s 108 Bhp and 140 Nm. The 3 cylinder engine effectively produces more power and torque than the older 4 cylinder Sigma engine. That’s technological advancement for you.

Here are the various changes in the Dragon engine that allow it to be more powerful, fuel efficient and low maintenance.

1. The timing belt is immersed in oil. This will result in lower noise, and lower wear and tear. So, the timing belt replacement schedule has gone to 2 lakh kilometers, from 1 lakh kilometers on the older engine.

2. The variable displacement oil pump pumps oil based on load, and this increases engine efficiency and minimizes the wastage of power (this is because the oil pump is run off the engine).

3. The crankshaft is offset by 10 mm to reduce friction and increase power on every power stroke.

4. The F-Type balancer shaft smooths out vibrations (which are common on 3 cylinder engines). This will make the engine more refined, says Ford.

5. The exhaust manifold is integrated into the engine block. The benefits of this include lower vibration and lesser weight.

6. Cam phasing. This technology allows the cam shafts to be vary valve timing. Varying valve timing allows good performance both at the low end and high end rpms. It’s similar to Honda’s VTEC technology, but involving cams directly rather than valves.

7. Dedicated ignition coils for each cylinder. This helps to boost spark strength and allow optimum ignition timing.