The 1.5L Dragon Petrol engine produces more power and torque compared to outgoing engine with improved economy and lower NVH level
As the launch of the long-awaited Ford EcoSport facelift is just around the corner, the new powertrain it will be strapped with has just been revealed creating more buzz. The all-new 1.5-litre Ti-VCT three-cylinder petrol engine has broken covers at the brand’s Sanand plant in Gujarat and it will be manufactured at the vast facility for domestic as well as international markets.
The Dragon petrol mill is built on an aluminium block and is about 10 percent smaller in size with reduced friction. The American auto major claims that it has seen Brake Specific Fuel Consumption and CO2 emission reduce by 7 percent amidst having the fuel efficiency and performance improved by appreciable level.
It will be replacing the 1.5-litre Ti-VCT four-cylinder engine as we informed before and produce 10 percent more power output and 7 percent increased torque compared to the outgoing motor. Ford has worked to optimise its bore and stroke ratio that resulted in better torque and performance. For quicker acceleration and better fuel efficiency, Ford has tweaked the Twin Independent Variable Camshaft Timing (Ti-VCT).
It enables independent operation of each intake and exhaust cam depending on the conditioning in which the engine works under. The new petrol powertrain will be mated to a five-speed manual transmission as standard while a six-speed auto will be provided as an option. Going into more technical bits, the engine has reduced vibrations due to hydrodynamic bearings acting as a counter weight to support balance shaft.
The friction and engine noise have gone down courtesy of the timing belts being moved through the primary oil drive system while the harshness of the engine sounds is arrested to enter the cabin with a specially developed acoustic isolation system. The exhaust manifold is integrated into the cylinder head to heat up catalyst faster and reduce emissions.
Other notable technologies are offset crank, variable displacement oil pump, cam phasing and coil-on-plug ignition. Ford has been on the money when it comes to perfecting engines and eking more out of the Internal Combustion technologies.
The improved and should say revitalised 1.5-litre Ti-VCT petrol motor now produces maximum power output of 123 PS at 6,500 rpm and 150 Nm of peak torque at 4,500 rpm. It will effectively make the 1.5-litre Dragon petrol engine almost on par with the 1.0-litre EcoBoost mill in the EcoSport.
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