Re: A close look at Ford's new 1.5L 3-cylinder Dragon Petrol Engine After reading through the favourable reviews of the Dragon engine on the Ecosport, I did a test drive myself at a dealership close to my house. I must say that I was fairly underwhelmed.
I had read somewhere (one one of the posts on forum) that the 1.5 Dragon engine was a close match for the petrol Honda City engine. I would not agree. Truth be told, there were too many vibrations at startup and idle and also a lightness / lack of creaminess when I pushed the engine in the 2000-4000 RPM range. Of course, my test drive was short, but it was enough to leave me feeling that there was a substantial and very noticeable difference in the performance and refinement of the 3 cylinder Dragon from a 4 cylinder well calibrated petrol engine. Heck, my 7 year old K12 Swift seemed more sprightly and free revving in comparison.
Make no mistake, it still among the better naturally aspirated petrols on the market today especially from the driveability standpoint, and I am happy that Ford introduced a good petrol option in this segment. But it doesn't cut it on the Ecosport- perhaps because of the heavier kerb weight, and especially if you compare it to the torque and drivability of the TDCI engine on the same car. |