The demise of I6 Ford engine.

[EASYBOSS]

Originally Posted by FalconXV

Holy crap I had no idea Geelong exported engines for other applications. Can anyone confirm how many they send for non-auto applications?

Yep, that would be very interesting to know the numbers, I think they would make a great boat engine, when I was a young lad, Dad repowered our boat with a 186 Holden engine, at that time we also had a Holden HR SW with a 186 in it.

Later on he repowered a Land Rover again with a 186.

Funny thing, he always had Holdens, My first car was an Escort, thanks to the great days of the Escort in the ralley days, had Fords ever since

[Rodge]

Huh, my Dad was into Holdens too. It wasn't until 1999 that I bought my first Falcon an Au Futura that I started to enjoy the legendary relaxed torque of the fantastic inline six engine.

I remember when I got one of the very first XR6 Turbo's to come of the line thinking, bloody hell these things are friggen good and then with my first FPV, my BF2 Typhoon which was a real honey of a car, It came to me that these engines are the real stuff of legend, soooo much torque and delivered in such giving way, almost beggars belief, (bottom end and mid range power that almost defies design logic)...and none of my inline six engines used a single drop of oil, ever !! unlike both V8's i've owned, both of which are of American origin.
If the world were perfect my formerly owned Neo Blue BF2 Typhoon would pop its lovely head up on Trade-Me, I'd buy it and park that beautiful puppy in my garage again, right next to the Blueprint coloured intercooled GT-HO I'm hoping Ford will make for me next year.

[4.0i OHC]

Very sad day. One of the best engines this side of a car with a blue and white propeller badge but of course the Yanks would never see it. I guess the only thing now to do is appreciate my current I6, and buy one of the last ones and love that to death too.

[4.0i OHC]

Originally Posted by ryeman

Long stroke engines dominate now due to reduces emissions (more restricted flame area) ....can anyone name a current short stroke mass production engine?

Exactly, the trend is moving away from high revving short stroke engines for this very reason. However the trend also includes downsizing and turbocharging.

I don't see what makes the I6 so "old tech". Yeah sure it might share the bore spacing with the original 1960 Falcon but that's just an arbitrary number. If anything inline 6s are better, more advanced technology than V6s.

[FPV GTHO]

Originally Posted by ryeman

Long stroke engines dominate now due to reduces emissions (more restricted flame area) ....can anyone name a current short stroke mass production engine?

Never heard of this shift to under square. Most ground up design engines are typically square though. Needless to say whether a mule passed emissions, the EcoLPi meets the levels or its easy to do, the engine still isn't certified. Even the 4 cylinder is currently only Euro4 for local use. It's all still money that somebody else would have to spend ontop of purchasing the tooling and rights and the oil pump gears and conrods are still junk for over 6000rpm.

[mik]

The beuty of loads of torque, no need to rev the tits of it.

[Bossxr8]

Originally Posted by Road_Warrior

Well bugger me. Learn something new every day.

Hey Boss, what's the story, have you been doing any of these or are they from somewhere else?

First i've heard of it too, I never even knew they were being sold for these sorts of applications. That must indicate how tiny the numbers are.

Unless they are being purchased from dealers as complete engines.

[Brazen]

What ever happened to the engines being used in airport tugs?

[JG34JA]

Thank you for the links of the I6 as an industrial engine - wow. Maybe it will live on. If not, can I have the tooling and crank out the odd one at the local men's shed? ;)

Back in my surveying days, not so long ago, I was astounded to find in the plant room of a suburban shopping centre, a petrol Ford genny that looked exactly like those fitted new to the XK-XP series. I was blown away.

Performance wise, I love the relaxed torque. Over the years it's grown an ability to rev, and for me it will always be the archetypal Falcon engine.

[Bossxr8]

Originally Posted by Brazen

What ever happened to the engines being used in airport tugs?

I don't think it ever got off the ground, or they built a batch of them and that was it. Can't remember now.

[b0son]

Originally Posted by mik

The beuty of loads of torque, no need to rev the tits of it.

Nothing wrong with some revs. A BMW six, at full roar embarrasses the Ford I6 ... NVH, efficiency, noise.

Good engine the Ford, but lets not kid ourselves, its never going to compete against something that's had 10 times the budget to develop.

[zilo]

I think the demise of the i6 is due to the global trend to FWD in the mass produced vehicle category market, (of which all Ford vehicles fall into).

The V6 engines are easier to accommodate in to compact bonnets and east west drivelines for strategic weight reduction.

The newer engines aren't necessarily better, just that they can be fit into a smaller,lighter body thereby providing more mpg.

Performance issues are simply compensated with turbo boost instead of cubes.

Unfortunately that is the way of the world.

[jpd80]

Originally Posted by Road_Warrior

What upgrades is the I6 actually getting? Just some fuel efficiency tweaks or..? Obviously Euro V is out.

Slower idle speed to reduce fuel consumption on urban cycle.

[FPV GTHO]

Originally Posted by zilo

Performance issues are simply compensated with turbo boost instead of cubes.

I dont think Ford have any performance issues in their V6's anyway.

[mik]

Originally Posted by b0son

Nothing wrong with some revs. A BMW six, at full roar embarrasses the Ford I6 ... NVH, efficiency, noise.

Good engine the Ford, but lets not kid ourselves, its never going to compete against something that's had 10 times the budget to develop.

put a caravan behind the beemer see how embarassed grandpas axe is, reliability over long distance .....see how embarrassed grandpas axe is.
run them both over the qaurter mile even in an xt falcon.......grandpas axe wont be terribly embarrassed.

[SPArKy_Dave]

turbo's cost money to replace/rebuild. (ecoboost V6)

twin turbo's = more dollars.
IMO, the vehicles are becoming more and more disposable, with all this technology.

[ryeman]

Originally Posted by SPArKy_Dave

turbo's cost money to replace/rebuild. (ecoboost V6)

twin turbo's = more dollars.
IMO, the vehicles are becoming more and more disposable, with all this technology.

^^^Yep, white goods!

[Road_Warrior]

Originally Posted by Brazen

What ever happened to the engines being used in airport tugs?

I think that was another one of Marin Burela's fairy tales.

[b0son]

Originally Posted by mik

put a caravan behind the beemer see how embarassed grandpas axe is

I'd be embarassed towing a caravan.

[Brazen]

Originally Posted by Road_Warrior

I think that was another one of Marin Burela's fairy tales.

He had many.

Remember the one where he said wagon was holding back sedan production in the factory whilst FG sales were falling off a cliff, and that cancelling wagon will help increase Falcon sales?

Or that wagon only contributes 'about 2000 sales a year' where VFACTS showed it was actually contributing 5000 a year and the BFIII XT wagon was actually the biggest selling single Falcon variant even with FG sedan out.

Or that continuing the I6 will "secure Falcon's future"? All it meant is that Falcon became internationally orphoned from export markets and that one of the reasons for the death of Falcon was that the I6 had to have money spent on getting it to Euro V - even though Ford has about 600 other different engines which meet Euro V.

Or what about how he said that Falcon is in a good position because proportion of private sales are increasing - while the VFACTS showed actual private sales for Falcon falling off a cliff with even the fleet fodder Camry having a higher proportion and Commodore selling almost triple the amount of cars to private buyers?

Or when he said buyers will want to pay more for Ecoboost over I6 Falcon - even though they cannot give Ecoboost away.

Or cancelling local production of Focus and Kuga is a positive move for local manufacturing.


Ahh Burela - the man who killed local Ford manufacturing.

[GT-spec15]

It'll be sad to see it go.

I6 engines seem to be a dying breed these days, with V6 being far better for packaging in today's tight engine bays.

Cars are definitely becoming disposable items now, and I would be worried about owning many current cars out of warranty! The new twin turbo BMW engines are simply awesome, but tell me more about the service costs down the track when the turbos get a bit smoky, or one craps itself.

Meanwhile - simple stuff just motors on forever.

[TRAU BLAU]

I agree with Baboon.It's hard to kill the straight 6.I drove my XY into a big hole on the Bloomfield R.croossing in the 70's & the tide came over the top twice but got it going in the morning after a tow out.

[mik]

Originally Posted by b0son

I'd be embarassed towing a caravan.

big road trip, bloody awesome mate, you dunno what your missing.

[mik]

Originally Posted by SPArKy_Dave

turbo's cost money to replace/rebuild. (ecoboost V6)

twin turbo's = more dollars.
IMO, the vehicles are becoming more and more disposable, with all this technology.

i think i read the turbo in the eco boost is especially engineered to be long lasting long lasting as opposed to run of the mill items ???

[GT-spec15]

Originally Posted by mik

i think i read the turbo in the eco boost is especially engineered to be long lasting long lasting as opposed to run of the mill items ???

A turbo setup can be configured to provide massive performance, or to deliver a small boost in power and excellent economy.

In the case of the EcoBoost Falcon I dare say the Turbo would not be a highly stressed component, and as such it should deliver a long service life.

[SPArKy_Dave]

Originally Posted by GT-spec15

A turbo setup can be configured to provide massive performance, or to deliver a small boost in power and excellent economy.

In the case of the EcoBoost Falcon I dare say the Turbo would not be a highly stressed component, and as such it should deliver a long service life.

Define 'long service life' in years and/or km's.

http://blogs.automotive.com/recall-a...on-139609.html

[TRAU BLAU]

Yeah,the old XY cost me $500.It had a bent half-shaft so I got one out of a wrecked XW at the dump.It was no GT but the ol 3 speed man.was a goer on the Cape Trib./Cooktown tracks!

[ryeman]

Ford's 1L EcoBoost engine has just won engine of the year for second time.
Can be had in Mondeo in Europe

[nasss92]

If the little baby 1L ecoboost tuned up to 200hp can make this Formula Ford into a nurburgring devouring machine that runs a 7min 22 sec, has anyone thought to strap a barra I6 or I6T to one? Dont see why a sub 7 sec split cant be had with +2x the Powaaahh and +2x the torque

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmZMwk14r4c

I don't see why it had never dawned on anyone at Ford Aus to do this @ a Bathurst open event or hill sprint or something. Throw on some wider rubber tires onto a Formula Ford and whack any of the Barra engines into it and run some times

Even if the days are now numbered, go out gun's blazzing! Show some balls !

Who knows, giving the barra some decent exposure might open up some opportunity for the engine architecture to not be killed off post 2016

Would also like to see the fear of god on the test drivers face, F6 powaahh on a car half the size of a lotus elise, might be wise to skip the brekky that morning

[ryeman]

^^^an all alloy O6 maybe but not I6 ..it's just too heavy