LPG bolsters I6 futureBy BYRON MATHIOUDAKISFORD has given its...

LPG bolsters I6 future

By BYRON MATHIOUDAKIS

FORD has given its strongest indication yet

that the lifespan of its venerable Australianbuilt

inline-six engine will extend beyond

2016 and meet the forthcoming Euro

5 emissions standard, following the

development of the EcoLPi system just

launched in the FG Falcon.

Speaking to GoAuto at the EcoLPi launch

in Melbourne last week, Ford Australia?s

powertrain engineering manager Pritika

Maharaj said the new LPG system was

designed to be in service ?beyond Euro 4? ?

the current standard, which brought an end

to the previous E-Gas system last year ? as

circumstances dictate.

While she would not comment on the

life expectancy of the Geelong-made I6

in future Falcon and Territory models, Ms

Maharaj said there was little point in Ford

Australia investing heavily in the Euro

4-compliant EcoLPi system if it was to be

replaced before long.

Ford Australia also confi rmed last week

that the EcoLPi system was compatible

with higher-tech engines, including directinjection

units like the EcoBoost V6, which

could replace the I6 later this decade and bring

an end to local Ford engine production.

?You have to ask why Ford would bother

developing the LPi engine that was ?beyond

Euro 4? if it wasn?t going to have a future,?

Ms Maharaj said.

The federal government announced last

month that from November 1, 2016, all new

vehicles in Australia must comply with Euro

5 emissions requirements, while stricter

Euro 6 regulations come in for all new cars

sold from July 1, 2018.

?Core Euro 5? measures will also be

introduced from November 1, 2013, although

these will apply to cars, SUVs and light trucks

new to the market from that date.

Ford Australia public affairs director

Sinead McAlary told GoAuto in June that

while the I6 in all its iterations can be

engineered for Euro 5, ?signifi cant time and

resources would be required to do so?.

?One of the advantages of the regulatory

timing we have received is that we actually

have the time now to work through all the

options to determine if that is the right

course of action to take,? she said.

Integral to Ford?s planning will be the switch

to a new-generation Falcon around the same

time as ?full Euro 5? takes effect in 2016.

The ?E8? platform underpinning the

current Falcon and Territory reaches the end

of its life in 2016, with Australia adopting

a new-generation global large-car platform

under the ?One Ford? philosophy.

To form the basis of Ford?s future Mondeo,

Taurus and mid-sized SUV replacements for

the Territory and (eventually) US-market

Explorer, the new platform is expected to

use transverse-mounted engines such as a

derivative of the 3.5-litre direct-injection

EcoBoost V6, and drive either the front or all

four wheels depending on the application.

Point proven, Ford, but hardly anybody

who buys an LPG car is going to go racing

in it, are they?

Or are they? You see, the point is that

the ?P? in EcoLPi can just as well stand for

?performance? instead of ?plodding?.

From inside the car ? unless they are

hiding in the considerably shallower boot

(464 litres versus 535 ? and even less if

buyers opt to turf out the can of goo for a

space-saver or $250-extra full-sized spare

wheel; Ford ought to consider run-fl at tyres)

? LPG-haters will not tell the difference,

like we couldn?t. We promise.

One of the challenges that the EcoLPi

engineers had to solve was hot-weather

starting, so the moment the Falcon is

unlocked the electronics ?wake up?, while

pulling the doorhandle primes the system,

so the maximum delay from the one-crank

start regime is four seconds. That?s virtually

petrol I6 levels of ignition time, or slightly

lengthier, but the point is that?s all you

might notice as one of the LPG?s differing

operating characteristics.

On the move in both the G6E and XR6

we sampled, we defy anybody not to be

impressed by the smoothness and willingness

of the EcoLPi. Torque aplenty, combined

with that superb ZF six-speeder, makes for an

impressive low-speed driving experience.

Feathering the throttle results in the usual

Falcon forward surge, but in the LPG car from

about 2800rpm the response is perceptibly

stronger and more determined ? so much so

that you can back off a bit and just ride the

wave of motion, without having to visit the

slightly harsh top-end rev range that has long

been part of the I6 engine experience.

Or, in other words, on those lovely rural

Victorian roads, we prefer the way the

EcoLPi drives to a 91 RON ULP Falcon.

Sitting on marginally different wheel and

suspension settings to clear some height

for the tanks below that smaller boot fl oor,

both FG EcoLPi G6E and XR6 examples

reaffi rm why Ford Australia?s dynamic

engineers are among the best in the world.

Lovely steering, beautiful poise, cosseting

ride on the Goodyear 235/50 R17 rubber ?

we were reminded why the Falcon is such

an underrated over-achiever amongst family

cars, especially for the price.

Obviously, we will need more time behind

the wheel of an EcoLPi to really see how

the car runs in day-to-day urban nightmare

traffi c scenarios.

But we can tell you pretty much with handon-

heart that Ford Australia?s LPG program has

far exceeded our expectations for driveability,

performance, refi nement and integration.

Notwithstanding the smaller (but still

manageably practical unless you opt for the

full-sized spare) boot, as well as the often

variable experience of actually having to fi ll

the tank with LPG, we cannot understand

why you wouldn?t choose this model over

the standard petrol-engined Falcon.

If there was justice in this world, the FG?s

fortunes would turn around right now as

families who feel forced to switch to a smaller

four-cylinder car to save fuel and cut some

CO2 now have a true real-world alternative.

After all, Ford?s claim that the EcoLPi

offers Fiesta-segment light car running

costs in a Falcon package is quite a

compelling argument.

We are converted. No other car-building

country in the world right now offers a better

and more integrated LPG driving experience

than Australia.



EcoLPi: the verdict

By BYRON MATHIOUDAKIS

AUTOMOTIVELY speaking, Germany is

renowned for its engineering prowess, Italy

owns great design, and exquisite quality is

what Japan is all about.

But none of those produce a vehicle on

the cutting edge of liquefi ed petroleum

gas (LPG) performance, effi ciency and

driveability like Australia.

And Ford is in the vanguard with its new

EcoLPi system. It is no exaggeration to say

that this is the new dawn for LPG.

Let?s begin with the car ? a 2011 FG

Falcon in either XT, XR6, G6 or G6E fourdoor

sedan or XL, R6 and XR6 utility style

? that blows away any preconceptions about

LPG thanks to ?liquid phase injection? (LPi).

Basically, the old style of LPG ? as

in the previous Falcon E-Gas system ?

converted the LPG to a vapour at the

combustion process.

Not a bad way of doing it, but the

drop in power and torque (to 156kW and

370Nm respectively), relatively high fuel

consumption (14.9L/100km), compromised

driveability and four-speed rather than

ZF six-speed auto gearbox meant that the

regular 195kW/391Nm 4.0-litre I6 petrol

engine that spawned the LPG was arguably

a better bet in almost every way.

Only cheap LPG ? 66 cents per litre

compared with $1.39/L for ULP (Ford?s

fi gures: Australian national average January

to June 2011) kept the old car selling.

From today, the EcoLPi system treats LPG

in a completely different manner. By keeping

it a liquid right through to the combustion

process, and incorporating new hardware

specifi cally designed by Orbital and other

fi rms, the resulting boost in performance (to

198kW and 409Nm) now eclipses that of the

existing I6 on regular ULP.

Better still, consumption falls from the

old E-Gas? 14.9L/100km to 12.5L/100km

(still not matching the ULP I6?s 9.9L/100km,

though, because LPG possesses a lower

energy density despite its higher octane),

while carbon emissions plummet from 240g/

km (and the ULP I6?s 236g/km) to 203g/km

? yes, LPG contains fewer hydrocarbons than

ULP, so that?s why its fuel consumption fi gure

can be higher while the CO2 rating is lower.

On paper, this means ? again, according to

Ford fi gures ? that over a 20,000km annual

driving cycle between an ULP I6 and EcoLPi

at the aforementioned bowser prices, the

$2500 premium that EcoLPi incurs will be

paid back in 23.5 weeks thanks to the $2000

federal government rebate and the fact that

LPG will cost $1102 less at $1650 and 2500

litres than 1980 litres of ULP at $2752.

To highlight the point, Ford last week

assembled a group of journalists on a track

after about 150km of urban and rural driving

in a number of new FG EcoLPi sedans, and

asked each one to identify which was the LPG

car between a pair of new but disguised XR6

Falcons following a sprint race and test lap.

Of course, your GoAuto correspondent

listened intently for your benefi t throughout

the press conference and so rightly fi gured

out that the quicker and marginally more

effortless vehicle was the EcoLPi car ?

proving Ford?s point under its controlled

conditions that not only does LPG no

longer hinder a Falcon?s performance ? it

actually improves it while being cheaper

? and increasingly so over time ? than a

petrol equivalent.

Point proven, Ford, but hardly anybody

who buys an LPG car is going to go racing

in it, are they?

Or are they? You see, the point is that

the ?P? in EcoLPi can just as well stand for

?performance? instead of ?plodding?.

From inside the car ? unless they are

hiding in the considerably shallower boot

(464 litres versus 535 ? and even less if

buyers opt to turf out the can of goo for a

space-saver or $250-extra full-sized spare

wheel; Ford ought to consider run-fl at tyres)

? LPG-haters will not tell the difference,

like we couldn?t. We promise.

One of the challenges that the EcoLPi

engineers had to solve was hot-weather

starting, so the moment the Falcon is

unlocked the electronics ?wake up?, while

pulling the doorhandle primes the system,

so the maximum delay from the one-crank

start regime is four seconds. That?s virtually

petrol I6 levels of ignition time, or slightly

lengthier, but the point is that?s all you

might notice as one of the LPG?s differing

operating characteristics.

On the move in both the G6E and XR6

we sampled, we defy anybody not to be

impressed by the smoothness and willingness

of the EcoLPi. Torque aplenty, combined

with that superb ZF six-speeder, makes for an

impressive low-speed driving experience.

Feathering the throttle results in the usual

Falcon forward surge, but in the LPG car from

about 2800rpm the response is perceptibly

stronger and more determined ? so much so

that you can back off a bit and just ride the

wave of motion, without having to visit the

slightly harsh top-end rev range that has long

been part of the I6 engine experience.

Or, in other words, on those lovely rural

Victorian roads, we prefer the way the

EcoLPi drives to a 91 RON ULP Falcon.

Sitting on marginally different wheel and

suspension settings to clear some height

for the tanks below that smaller boot fl oor,

both FG EcoLPi G6E and XR6 examples

reaffi rm why Ford Australia?s dynamic

engineers are among the best in the world.

Lovely steering, beautiful poise, cosseting

ride on the Goodyear 235/50 R17 rubber ?

we were reminded why the Falcon is such

an underrated over-achiever amongst family

cars, especially for the price.

Obviously, we will need more time behind

the wheel of an EcoLPi to really see how

the car runs in day-to-day urban nightmare

traffi c scenarios.

But we can tell you pretty much with handon-

heart that Ford Australia?s LPG program has

far exceeded our expectations for driveability,

performance, refi nement and integration.

Notwithstanding the smaller (but still

manageably practical unless you opt for the

full-sized spare) boot, as well as the often

variable experience of actually having to fi ll

the tank with LPG, we cannot understand

why you wouldn?t choose this model over

the standard petrol-engined Falcon.

If there was justice in this world, the FG?s

fortunes would turn around right now as

families who feel forced to switch to a smaller

four-cylinder car to save fuel and cut some

CO2 now have a true real-world alternative.

After all, Ford?s claim that the EcoLPi

offers Fiesta-segment light car running

costs in a Falcon package is quite a

compelling argument.

We are converted. No other car-building

country in the world right now offers a better

and more integrated LPG driving experience

than Australia.



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