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150bhp 1.0-litre EcoBoost engine possible

Ford is working on a 150bhp version of its efficient 1.0 EcoBoost engine

Formula Ford EcoBoost

A higher power version of the acclaimed Ford 1.0-litre EcoBoost engine is currently being evaluated. Speaking to Auto Express at the launch of the facelifted Ford Fiesta, EcoBoost chief engineer, Andrew Fraser, said: “I’ve got my team working on an engine to see just how far we can push the unit in production trim.”

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The engine in the Fiesta develops 123bhp and engineers are aiming for a power output of 150bhp in an engine that's optimised to use the high-quality fuel available in the UK and Europe.

However, getting the 1.0-litre EcoBoost to develop 150bhp on a dyno is one thing, but, in order for it to be fitted to a production car, Fraser added that the engine “would have to complete a full development process,” including Ford’s tough endurance testing which includes “engine operation from -40 to plus 50 degrees Celsius.”

A high power EcoBoost unit could be used in a production car, in limited numbers, more quickly, however.

Fraser told us that the one-off road-going Formula Ford (pictured), which was used to set a Nurburgring lap time earlier this year, has received unanimous approval from Ford execs who’ve driven it.

“It’s done 30 laps of the Nurburgring, but hundreds of our track at Dunton [home of Ford’s R&D facility]. Lots of Ford execs have had a go in the car, and asked if we could build more, if we could build 50.”

The road going Formula Ford is powered by a 202bhp version of the 1.0-litre EcoBoost. The unit developed up to 220bhp on the engine dyno in testing, too, thanks to the fact that it was upgraded with the larger turbocharger from the 1.6-litre EcoBoost engine that’s set to power the 180bhp Ford Fiesta ST next year.

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