How Ecoboost Works?

Ecoboost Explanation

Know About Ecoboost/ Turbocharger

Ecoboost is the name given to a group of turbocharged and direct injected engines made by Ford Motor Company. This family of engines is distributed all over the world and in a wide variety of vehicles. The engines equipped with Ecoboost give more power and more torque to keep up with larger displacement engines, even though they use less fuel and produce less greenhouse gas. Originally launched in 2009 Ecoboost has proven itself to be a reliable and effective way of getting maximum efficiency of fuel without the need of an expensive hybrid system. The way it works exactly is the engines have forced induction and direct injection. Since there are many Ecoboost engines we are going to focus on one in particular, the 3.5L V6 that is put into the Ford F-150.

Let's first start off with the forced induction, while sounding complicated; the technology was originally patented in 1905. In reality it is just a fancy way of saying turbocharged. This means that the exhaust gases push on an impeller blade which is connected to a shaft which is then connected to another impeller blade that forces more air into the engine. The more air in the combustion chamber the more power is created. Lag is an issue when one large turbo is used but, Ford has gotten around this by also equipping a smaller turbo to help spool the larger turbo and this creates eminence power low down on the rev range.

The other way Ford has managed to squeeze out ever last bit of power out of the Ecoboost line is to use direct injection. Direct injection is a variant of fuel injection that uses higher fuel pressure that is injected directly into the combustion chamber. This gives great control of the combustion to the engine management system. So now the engine management system knows exactly how much fuel to give at certain points in the rev range. This yields greater power and efficiency at any RPM.

The 3.5L Ecoboost in the F150 has proven to be very reliable since its launch in 2009. There has been no recalls on it or unexpected failures. Back when the engine was launched Ford took a random 3.5L Ecoboost engine off the assembly line in Deerborn Michigan and put it through a series of grueling tests. The torture tests included a dyno stress test that involved 300 hours of incredible beatings such as a hour at full throttle with simulated towing 11000 pounds up a grade steeper than Pikes Peak. And thermal shock testing which deep freezes the engine to -20 degrees Fahrenheit then the temp is cranked to 230 degrees, they do this over and over and over while running. The different tests are cycled for weeks until they have simulated 150000 miles on it. Then the engine was installed in the truck and driven from Kansas City to a Washington state logging plant, where it dragged super heavy logs 22 times up a 10 percent grade. Next it was driven to Miami Florida to tow 2 NASCAR cars on a trailer (about 11300 pounds) around a NASCAR oval for 24 hours straight only stopping for fuel and tires. Then it was driven to the Arizona desert for an uphill towing race against competitor V8's.

Where it beat the Chevy Silverado (5.3L V8) and the Dodge Ram (5.7 V8) while each were towing a 10000 pound trailer. But it did not end there; the engine was then taken and put into a real trophy truck to run the Baja 1000 race where it finished in flying colors with no breakdowns. After that it was taken back to the dyno to reveal that no power had been lost in all the abuse proving that a turbocharged truck is not only a reliable option but the best option.