Ford’s next-generation Fiesta ST is losing at least one cylinder — and sometimes two — but it’s gaining an injection of technology under the hood. The new Fiesta ST, going on sale in Europe early next year, debuts Ford’s second three-cylinder engine, a 1.5-liter turbo that generates 197 hp and features a cylinder deactivation system that reduces the engine to a two-cylinder under light loads and when cruising at highway speeds.
Ford offers a 1.0-liter three-cylinder engine in the Fiesta and Focus. That engine also will be available early next year with cylinder deactivation, which can improve fuel economy by 6 percent, Ford claims.
The Fiesta ST’s new 1.5-liter engine, featuring an aluminum head and block, replaces the 1.6-liter four-cylinder turbo in the current Fiesta ST, which is also rated at 197 hp. Ford says the 1.5-liter engine will develop high torque at low rpm and offer higher fuel economy than the outgoing engine. Ford unveiled the new Fiesta ST last week at the Geneva auto show.
Ford engineers in Europe and in Dearborn, using technology from German supplier Schaeffler Group, designed the engine to shut down cylinder No. 1 by using oil pressure to activate a special rocker on the camshaft that prevents the lobes from opening the valves. Ford has not said if the 2018 Fiesta ST will be sold outside Europe.
