Was There Ever A 1.5L EcoBoost Maverick?

[Turtle]

Bench seat
Long Box
6sp Stick
2.5na (not hybrid) would be fine for a stripper base truck.

Dodge and Chevy are tempted to import their small $9999 Mexican appliance trucks to compete, believe it when I see it but possible .
Both options are small, manual and ugly compared to the Maverick

Why anyone took Rivian seriously is beyond me, they might occasionally get a Tesla cast Off engineer but without proper management and business plan they were always just an investor monetization scam

WoW that’s what they said about Lucid. Now that is a DREAM machine.

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[TacoHolder]

You certainly can do that, and that's basically the route that Kia/Hyundai went with their 1.6T hybrid engine they put in everything.

However, the 1.5 is a three banger, so it doesn't have the inherent balance of an inline 4 or V6 or any even number of cylinder engine. Most note that with the 1.5 as well that its not as smooth as the 2.0 or 2.3 four cylinder version, especially at low RPM.

While a turbo can produce good cruising lower boost efficiency and good power output in heavy boost, rarely are they all that efficient when on boost compared to naturally aspirated when both are floored. Look at the Miata vs Spyder for example, Mazda used a naturally aspirated engine and Spyder a turbo in the same chassis, and people quickly noticed that with the Spyder when you really were flooring it a lot the fuel economy suffered much more than the Miata. The 2.5 is also an atkinson cycle engines, which are inherently a bit down on power but also more efficient overall even on boil. You can see this with some of the 2022 Tucson hybrid complaints where some are getting far below EPA rating, which is because they're putting the engine in high boost a lot which kills efficiency fast.

The 2.5 is also a regular port injected engine, while the 1.5 is direct injection only. Carbon buildup should be a non-issue on the former but will be an extra maintenance item on the 1.5.

A naturally aspirated 2.5 is a fairly simple low-stress engine and should be nice and easy on the oil, whereas a smaller displacement 1.5 with quite a bit of boost has the added complexity of a turbocharger, more blowby concerns, and turbos are generally just harder on oil life.

That complexity also means that the 1.5T is likely more expensive than the 2.5, and so while a hybrid would probably be higher output just like Hyundai/Kia's 1.6T hybrid is higher output (226hp), it would also probably bump the hybrid price quite a bit. For example with the Ford the hybrid is the cheaper base engine saving $1K, whereas with Hyundai/Kia the hybrid is the upgrade more expensive engine costing $1.3K extra over the base engine. So a 1.5T hybrid might be a bit of a premium over the 2.0L Ecoboost.

The Miata vs. 124 Spyder example is not a great one TBH. The Fiat 1.4 turbo only produced 160hp and the Miata unit makes 20 more without one. A guy at my church has a 124 with an automatic and the thing feels terrible to drive.

You do make a good point about how a lot of tiny little engines look great on paper but get rung out just to get up to speed and keep up with traffic. This apparent shortcoming makes these engines great complements to electric motors with high low end torque and efficiency that falls off at speed.

Probably right that we won't see a powerplant like this in the Mav, but showing up as an optional upgrade on the Santa Cruz is within the realm of possibility.

 

[JASmith]

The Miata vs. 124 Spyder example is not a great one TBH. The Fiat 1.4 turbo only produced 160hp and the Miata unit makes 20 more without one. A guy at my church has a 124 with an automatic and the thing feels terrible to drive.

Its not too bad with a manual, problem is the turbo needs about 3K rpm to spool up before that its a dog. But when it spools you have really strong midrange. Its good on the highway in particular, and originally the Miata didn't make more power, but either way when they upped the naturally aspirated power it was a no brainer because it could keep up with the turbo, was more linear, and much more frugal when you're actually driving spirited.

A Santa Cruz hybrid is something I could see myself doing if they price it right, and even though its not super efficient as far as hybrids go, at least its better power and efficiency than the hyundai 2.5 base engine which I think is just kinda underpowered.

I think if Ford wants to add a powertrain to the Maverick, they should make a higher end one for the ST version. The hybrid is already perfect, the turbo is good midrange, and then a 305hp 2.3L AWD version would be perfect for top end.

 

[kingranchero]

And the man, the myth, the legend, @kingranchero has spoken. Shut 'er down. That's a wrap. Please dispose of your trash in the available receptacles. Pictures are available at the photo booth near the entrance. Have a great day.

While you're here, any ideas on when the Maverick will get AWD in another powertrain maybe possibly someday potentially... maybe?

Ford absolutely recognizes the calls for AWD Hybrid.

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