1930 Ford Model A on 2040-cars

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Ward's calls out Ford's EcoBoost engines for their crummy fuel economy

With a name like EcoBoost, one might expect Ford's line of turbocharged engines to be somewhat, um, economical. In other words, replacing displacement with a turbocharger is supposed to deliver better fuel economy. Based on the experience time and time again of multiple Autoblog editors, your author included, this is simply not the case. Now, Ward's is calling out the cruddy efficiency numbers of Ford's EcoBoost line of engines. The column dresses down not just the new 2.7-liter V6 of the 2015 F-150, but also the 2.3-liter of the Mustang, the 1.5-liter from the Fusion and the 3.2-liter PowerStroke diesel found in the Transit, while also explaining why just one Ford engine was named to Ward's 10 Best Engines list. In its testing of all four engines, Ward's editors never came even remotely close to matching the 2.7's claimed 26 miles per gallon (for two-wheel-drive models), with the truck's computer indicating between 17.6 and 19 mpg over a 250-odd-mile run. Calculating the fuel economy manually revealed an even more depressing 15.6 miles per gallon. Criticisms with the 2.3-liter four-cylinder focused on its strange soundtrack, although it was business as usual with the 1.5-liter and 3.2 diesel, with Ward's criticizing the fuel economy of both engines. The 1.5, which Ward's claims is sold as a hybrid alternative, failed to get over 30 miles per gallon, while the five-cylinder turbodiesel's figures couldn't stand up against FCA's 3.0-liter EcoDiesel. The entire column really is worth a read, especially if you were disappointed in Ward's decision to only salute Ford's three-cylinder EcoBoost while shunning the rest of the company's new turbocharged mills.

Detroit automakers keep their masks on to keep the factories running

United Auto Workers members leave the Fiat Chrysler Automobiles Warren Truck Plant in May. Fiat Chrysler along with rivals Ford and General Motors Co., restarted the assembly lines after several weeks of coronavirus lockdown. (AP)   DETROIT — When the coronavirus pandemic slammed the United States in March, the Detroit Three automakers shut their plants and brought their North American vehicle production to an unprecedented cold stop. Now, four months after a slow and sometimes bumpy restart in May, many General Motors, Ford and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles  factories are working at close to full speed, chasing a stronger-than-expected recovery in sales. So far, none of the Detroit Three has had a major COVID-19 outbreak since restarting production, even as the coronavirus is surging in Midwestern and Southern communities outside factory walls. "We have people testing positive, but it's not affecting operations," said Ford global manufacturing chief Gary Johnson. Keeping the pandemic at bay has pushed the automakers and 156,000 U.S. factory employees represented by the United Auto Workers into unfamiliar work routines and extraordinary levels of cooperation among the rival automakers that will have to be sustained for months to come. For automakers, the automakers' COVID response has been as much about instilling new habits as relying on new technology. Workers log their symptoms, or lack of them, into smartphone apps and walk past temperature scanners to get to their work stations. But company and union executives said masks, along with physical distancing, are the key to keeping assembly lines rolling. "The mask is the foundation" of protecting workers on the job, said Johnson. Complaints about masks Autoworkers are accustomed to wearing protective gear such as shatterproof glasses and gloves. Masks that cover the mouth and nose, however, were not standard equipment on auto assembly lines, and were a tough sell at first. "The biggest complaint is wearing a mask," United Auto Workers President Rory Gamble told Reuters. "A lot of our members perform physical tasks. Wearing the mask inhibits breathing." Beyond that, Gamble said, masks and distancing make it harder for workers to have conversations on the job or socialize during breaks. "ThatÂ’s pretty much out the window, and it makes for a longer day," he said. Masks make it harder for co-workers to read each other's expressions — often crucial in the noisy environment of a car plant.

Hennessey Ford GT sets 267.6-MPH record at Texas Mile [w/videos]

The record-setting Hennessey-powered camouflage Ford GT we showed you at this time last year headed back to the Texas Mile and managed to bring home yet another record. As you may recollect, last year saw Mark Heidraker's machine sprint to a record 257.7 mph thanks to propulsion from its twin-turbo 5.7-liter V8. The big mill sucks down race gas, and this year the creation pulled off a 267.6-mph run over the weekend. That feat set a new record for the event. Something tells us neither Heidraker nor Hennessey are done squeezing more thrust from this machine.
This particular Ford GT has already gone through a number of permutations. Hennessey started by tweaking the factory supercharger set up before abandoning the blower in favor of two turbos. Since then, the crew has poked and prodded it to coerce as much grunt as possible out of the car. We expect Hennessey will probably come out with a video of the record-setting run shortly, but in the meantime, you can see a couple of videos of the car's runs in Texas below (one of which actually captures the record run). Enjoy.