Speed TV's Test Drive show had an episode called "6 vs. 8" on the other day which I thought was pretty interesting. The premise of the show was to show off the new Lincoln MKS and it's new V6 EcoBoost engine. A section of the Loveland Pass was closed down and the MKS and its rival cars were run on it to see which car would produce the best times. The MKS was the only American can and it had the smallest engine (V6) while all the other contenders were from Europe and had bigger engines (V8). The complete list of cars were:

• Lincoln MKS (USA - v6)
• Maserati Quattroporte (Italy - V8)
• Jaguar XF (Great Britan - V8)
• Mercedes E550 (Germany - V8)
• BMW 550i (Germany - V8)

I'm not going to tell you the outcome but it was pretty surprising (at least to me). If you want to see the entire program TV Speed is going to be airing it again on December 8 at 2:30pm ET (link).

The event also has a website up called 6versus8.com where you can read about the details and you can see all the cars being run on the course. These are the links for the videos shot from within the cars:

• Lincoln MKS
• Maserati Quattroporte
• Jaguar XF
• Mercedes E550
• BMW 550i

Enjoy...

 

Actually I'm surprised that you were surprised. So do you think the bellowing V8 sound in the E550 was real or dubbed?

 

That was a nice marketing expenditure to promote Ford and the future of FI in a brave new world of smaller displacement.

Twin Turbo in high altitude FTW. The N/As are gasping for air.

 

The sounds were definitely dubbed. None of them, I thought, sounded like they should have, especially the BMW and Maserati.

I'm not entirely surprised by the results as this was a high altitude test and turbocharging is going to beat natural aspiration at those heights.

 

I was surprised about how the MKS did and was very surprised about the Maseratti. As for the sound; I think they had crappy audio gear and the mics didn't pick up the sounds in full richness and they had to "touch them up" back in the studio.

 

Nice infomercial. Not surprised by the results as others have already mentioned - at altitude a turbo can better compensate for thinner air. With respect to the MKS vs. E550, I was surprised to find out the Lincoln (4,151 lbs.) is slightly heavier than the E550 w/ 4Matic (4,145 lbs.). That is a tubby V6.

 

I guess I wasn't surprised that the BMW won.

 

I actually thought that the Maseratti would win and the BMW would come in second. But after seeing the Maseratti doing so bad I figure the BMW would be first and the Benz would be a close second.

 

My Question on Econobost. Given the fuel is direct inject into the cylinder and does not pass over the intake valve what lubricates the intake valve?

Granted the exhaust gasses pass through the exhaust valve and in the 53 fords v8's it was easy to burn a exhaust valve. Then came valve rotating. Valve wear was also an issue so harden valve seats.

So what is going to prevent the econo boost valves from early failure. This is a good design for clean efficient burning power as my outboard (2 stroke) uses the same technology. The 2 stroke does not have moving valves to fail and the application is 2 stroke is very reliable.

So my concern is premature failure of the intake valves. Any solutions.

 

Ecoboost (not Econoboost, unless you're poking fun at Ford) is simply their name for a TT DI motor. It's not a first in the world. It's only a first for Ford in North America.

DI and TT is already out there (think BMW 335i or Porsche 997 DI motors.) It's a way to get fuel economy and power in a small displacement. It's the "wave" of the future for auto makers.

That said, yeah, the intake valves are already (just check the Mini, the 135i and 335i and 997s and VWs) known to be getting varnish and carbon build-up in short mileage from the DI design. Probably a lot to do with PCV blow-by and the fact that fuel is no longer ported. Toyota did a good thing by making injection in the manifold for a DI-ported sort of combo that seems to work. Or, vent the PCV to open air.

We'll see what happens down the road. Ford has said nothing about this with their DI design. But Porsche dealers are already suggesting BG service every two years. Maybe Ford will just recommend SeaFoam, LOL. But some sort of induction system cleaning will be necessary. The deposits build up pretty quick with no fuel blowing thru the intake.

fwiw, Ford's V6 did well at that altitude because it was a turbo. The NAs were choking in that thin air. Why else did they pick Loveland Pass? It was an obvious infomercial. And that DI TT V6 is no big deal. Well, maybe for Ford. But this is not brand new earth shattering automotive technology. And as you point out it has issues. But mfgs are going this route. The intake valve deposit issue will be straightened out eventually.
p.s., the Ford Ecoboost did well because of the torque, too. Horsepower didn't matter much in this instance and the Ecoboost's torque pattern is pretty flat and wide.