[bblost]

Ford inaugurated its Sanand car and engine plant in March 2015. You can read all about the plant and its operations in our detailed thread, link.


Ford India’s engine factory at Sanand will be manufacturing the Dragon series engines. The engines will be for both - domestic as well as international markets. Apart from India, these engines will be built in UK, Brazil, China, Russia and Mexico. The Dragon range consists of 1.2 L and 1.5 L, 3-cylinder engines which are expected to replace some of the current engines in the Ford car line-up. The 1.5 L, 3-cylinder engine will make its debut in the Indian market with the EcoSport facelift.

Some facts about this factory:

• A total investment of over US$1 Billion has gone into the plant.
• The facility is spread across a total area of 460 Acres.
• Stamping, Vehicle Operations, Engine Plant and Service Parts Production are some of the functions in the facility.
• 3,48,000 Sq. m of built up space.
• The output from the factory is 2,40,000 vehicles and 2,70,000 engines per year.
• Over 3,000 people are employed.
• 19 vendors/suppliers are located adjacent to the plant.
• 80% of the parts for this new engine are sourced from Indian suppliers.
• The Dragon series engines have been developed with insights from the India engineering team. They were part of all stages from design, development and production.

[bblost]

The Dragon series petrol engine for the new EcoSport is a 1.5 L, 3-cylinder naturally aspirated petrol which produces 121 BHP and 150 Nm of torque:

• The new three-cylinder engine with an aluminum block is lighter, reduces friction and is 10% smaller in size.
• The engine is claimed to achieve a 7% decrease in Brake Specific Fuel Consumption (BSFC) & CO2 emissions.
• Twin independent Variable Camshaft Timing (Ti-VCT) is claimed to deliver faster throttle response and enhanced fuel economy.
• The Ti-VCT system allows each intake and exhaust cam to function independently of each other as the engine operating conditions change.
• The 1.5 L Ti-VCT engine will be paired to a 5-speed manual transmission or a 6-speed automatic.
• Balancer shaft is supported by hydrodynamic bearings which work as counter weights to eliminate engine vibrations.
• Engine’s timing belt moves through oil to reduce friction and noise when it is running.
• Acoustic isolation system in place to prevent harsh engine sounds from entering the cabin.
• The engine will be introduced in the 2017 EcoSport Facelift being launched later this year.

Sharing Ford's slides:




The cover is integrated with engine brackets in order to reduce the weight:


The crankshaft is offset from the vertical axis of the piston and the cylinder. Generally, the offset crankshaft is placed such that during the power stroke, the crankshaft is almost perpendicular to the vertical axis and the connecting rod is co-linear with the vertical axis of the piston cylinder:


A balancer shaft helps in eliminating the first order vibrations which are commonly seen in inline 3-cylinder engines. (Related discussion):


Exhaust manifold is integrated with the cylinder head. Internationally, many automakers are moving to an integrated exhaust manifold (related link):


The valve actuation system is responsible for the closing and opening action of the valves. This particular system is claimed to self-regulate the valve lash (the gap between the rocker arms and the valve tappet):


The belt in oil is supposedly an industry first. Has been implemented to reduce friction and noise:


Each cylinder gets a separate ignition coil. Benefit? Easier cold start and better combustion control. The spark plugs are placed at the center of the combustion chamber:


A summary of all the technologies used:


The power (kW) and torque (Nm) vs engine speed (rpm) graphs showing the comparison between the 2 engines - 1.5 L, 3-cylinder and 1.5 L, 4-cylinder:

[bblost]

Inside the Engine Plant

We had a tour of the line that creates the 1.5 L Dragon engine. The same assembly line is used for the other existing engines including the Diesel TDCi. No matter how many assembly lines I have seen on TV and read about in books, seeing one in action was an overwhelming experience. The engine plant is huge!

Before entering the facility, you are made to pass through a long air chamber which has multiple fans on both sides. This is an ISO Class 8 Cleanroom standard facility. They even have multiple speakers spread across the roof of the facility to recreate the sounds of predatory birds. This is to discourage any pigeons and other small birds from nesting. Honestly, it takes a little time to get used to this kind of atmosphere.

Our guide was Mr Sudesh Sharma, General Manager, Powertrain Operations:


The entire area is very well marked, and we had been advised to walk only in the permitted zones. The floors are so shiny that my mother would be proud of this place!


The components waiting to be picked up and join the assembly line:


The rejection table. Everything is tested multiple times and once rejected, there is no way it will return to the assembly line without a full investigation:




Performance being monitored on a continuous basis:


The trolley that carries the engine from start to finish. Everything is tagged with RFID and its journey is logged all throughout. If something does not meet the required specification, it is rejected almost instantly. There is no way for any component to re-enter in the middle of the line. The rejected engine will have to be rebuilt from the start of the assembly line:


The level of automation is mesmerizing to watch:


The torque is being tested. Any difference from the expected values results in a rejection:


Scanning in progress:


Pistons 'racing' down the line:


And into the engines they go:


Some profile shots of the aluminium engine:




With the crankshaft in place:


Flywheel to be installed:


The one on top is the balancer shaft:


This job requires a lot of concentration:




You can notice the roller rocker and hydraulic touch, which was shown in the presentation deck. This makes the system compatible with alternate fuels like LPG and CNG. It helps reduce friction and needs no maintenance. Also seen here are the twin variable camshafts (Ford's Ti-VCT tech):


The timing belt:


The engines are almost ready. After a thorough test, some of these engines will be moved to another section in the factory for installation in the new EcoSport. Some of the engines will be exported to other markets too:


The flywheels waiting to take off:


The cold testing console. Every engine goes through this cold testing:


As part of this test, ultraviolet light is used to illuminate the engine. This will make any oil leaks highly conspicuous. The engine runs for a couple of seconds without any fuel. Some of the wires and cables used in this test are made of gold. Gold does not cause any interference and gets highly accurate readings:


The hot testing. The engine runs for 2.5 minutes and in the case of a new engine like the Dragon 1.5 L, all the initial 5000 engines will be tested. After the first 5000 engines, engines will be chosen at random and tested:


The complete engine is shipped out of the engine plant. For now, it will only be available in the EcoSport facelift:


Disclaimer: Ford invited Team-BHP to the Sanand factory. They covered all the travel expenses for this event.

[Aditya]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to Technical Stuff. Thanks for sharing!

[extreme_torque]

Suddenly three cylinder engines are in and it seems everyone is doing them. This sounds like a pretty good engine but as they say the proof of the pudding is in the eating. 7% increase in economy is pretty good if it translates to real life but is not going to make huge difference to the runnings costs.

[qaqa]

Interesting - the torque curve for the 3-cylinder Dragon Engine looks much better than the 4-Cyl. Hope this translates into tangible real-life performance improvement. It's nice to see Ford bring-to-market new engines regularly - first the EcoBoost and now the Dragon.

[kvish]

Great report! Thanks for sharing. The engine looks very promising especially looking at the torque graph. Even though spec reads 10mm difference, the graph reveals a steep increase at lower RPMs. From the leaks of the ecosport we are seeing today, it appears ford has given it everything.

[abhishek46]

The torque benefits this large piston 3 cylinder brings to the table, is immense.

At around 1000rpm, the 3Cyl develops ~110NM. The 4 Cyl needs twice the rpm to achieve the same torque figure.

Similarly, at around 2000rpm, the 3 Cyl develops ~135NM. The 4 Cyl again needs twice the rpm, to achieve the same torque figure.

[hemanth.anand]

Nice deailed writeup. When the Ecoboost engine arrived, lot was expected out of it, but it didn't impress as much. Hope this NA engine matches the expectation

[tharian]

I wonder why Ford went the non-turbo way for this engine. Probably to keep costs in check.

The other NA 3 cylinder engine I can think of is the one in the VW Polo. It is torquey till a certain point , but the engine noise it creates in the process is almost like a diesel.

Since emissions gets more and more stringent and most of the manufacturers are going the downsizing and forced induction route, Ford should have localized their Ecoboost instead and could have used the same in the Figo twins as well as Ecosport. It is not great shakes when it comes to performance, but does the job.

I hope the 1.2 version of this engine for the Figo twins is better than the previous gen 4 cylinder Duratec.

[Jaggu]

Thanks for sharing bblost, i have visited the Nissan engine plant in Japan and this plant of Ford seems more airy and cleaner. Truly international spec i guess and indeed is a proud moment for us in India.

And those aluminum engines looks so yum! the way technology is evolving and the outputs these small 3 cylinder engines pull off is rather impressive. Too bad these are not tuner friendly anymore, gone are the days someone can port that head or change the header designs, atleast not so easy anymore

[sandeepmohan]

This new 1.5l Dragon series seems like a cheaper alternate to the complex Ecoboost series of engines. Mighty impressed that Ford is taking India seriously as a engine manufacturing hub. The new plant seems to have the very best of technology in place.

As an engine, I am going to wait and watch what this new 1.5l can do. The biggest challenge will be delivering on whatever is claimed by Ford. For all the fuss around the Ecoboost, I found it rather boring. The bigger units maybe better.

150nm@4500rpm is okay for a NA engine. The relic 1.6 Rocam did 135nm@ lower rpm.

The top contenders for the most refined 3 pot petrol's I have experienced starts from the good old Maruti Suzuki 800 and the Nissan Micra. The latter is possibly class leading in terms of refinement. I remember travelling at around 70-80 kmph in a 800 and you did not feel or hear a thing. Idle was almost vibration free. The only time you felt or heard the engine is when you floored it. How much better does a modern day 3 pot like the Dragon fare is the big question.

As an enthusiast, I care about the number of cylinders an engine has and to me a 3 pot isn't done. As peppy and fast a Mini Copper D is, there is no getting away from the fact that you are being propelled forward by a 3 pot. The same applies for pretty much every 3 pot I have experienced. It is by design imbalanced so a lot of counter measures have to be made to sort out that inherent 3 cylinder thrum. Almost every manufacturer I know has tried everything they can in design and in their brochures to convince you that you aren't driving a 3 pot. Truth is, there is little you can do about it.

I am sure a vast majority do not care about this. As a customer, are you willing to pay 10+ big one's for a car with a 3 pot? We will have to wait and see how the new Ecopsort fares with this new engine. Probably makes sense for Ford to offer this engine on the Figo twins too.

[Durango Dude]

I think without saying that much, Ford is going to take on the mighty Honda 1.5L i-VTEC, which despite being around for so long, has been the bench mark in India for 1.5L NA petrol engines. Let's see how this fares. I want this engine to succeed and find it's way into many cars. Hope it gets mated to properly configured gear boxes (manual and automatic) to make use of it's power and torque.

[sriramr9]

Originally Posted by sandeepmohan

As an enthusiast, I care about the number of cylinders an engine has and to me a 3 pot isn't done. It is by design imbalanced so a lot of counter measures have to be made to sort out that inherent 3 cylinder thrum. Almost every manufacturer I know has tried everything they can in design and in their brochures to convince you that you aren't driving a 3 pot.

Bigger displacement size has also been maintained despite trend of downsizing is popular with competition. This could be done for better drive ability aspect having in mind the urban Indian consumer. Other segment firsts such as Integrated exhaust manifold reducing fasteners and timing belt in oil pan sound very interesting.

Real world conditions or extended mileage test will surely be a success for this engine design which in my opinion is more innovative and 2020 ready.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by extreme_torque

Suddenly three cylinder engines are in and it seems everyone is doing them.

You can say that again - loads of 3 cylinders around us. I think manufacturers are banking on the fact that the average consumer cares about engine size, power & FE, but isn't technically inclined to bother with the number of cylinders.

All things being equal, I'd never buy a 3-cylinder over a more balanced 4. Most of the 3s are simply not as refined as the silky smooth 4s (and there are so many of them).

Originally Posted by hemanth.anand

When the Ecoboost engine arrived, lot was expected out of it, but it didn't impress as much.

True. Biggest problems with the EcoBoost were the price premium, turbo-lag & lack of any real FE benefits.

Originally Posted by sandeepmohan

The top contenders for the most refined 3 pot petrol's I have experienced starts from the good old Maruti Suzuki 800 and the Nissan Micra.

Don't leave out the 3-cylinder diesel under the Grand i10's hood. Very impressive.