The tiny, 1.0 liter, three cylinder engine Ford Motor Co. will offer in the U.S. for the first time next year will challenge the auto industry cliche that there’s no “replacement for displacement,” but only for drivers who know how to work a clutch.
Ford is using this week’s Los Angeles Auto Show to unveil its revamped, 2014 Fiesta subcompact, including a model equipped with a 1.0 liter, turbo-charged “EcoBoost” engine that Ford claims will make that version of the Fiesta the most fuel efficient, non-hybrid subcompact sold in the U.S.
The 1.0 liter EcoBoost is an eye-opening piece of technology. From an engine block small enough to stuff into a suitcase, the 1.0 liter EcoBoost delivers 123 horsepower – more horsepower per liter of displacement, Ford boasts, than a Lamborghini Aventador (which churns 108 horsepower per liter out of its 6.5 liter V-12.)