RideLust

To all you Blue Oval fans who have looked across the Atlantic and drooled about all the sweet motors that European Ford buyers can option, take faith in the introduction of the Ecoboost 4-cylinder line. Almost certainly destined to power (among other things) a hot version of the Fiesta, it’s likely to fan the flames of hot-hatch lust. You’ve put up with the ancient Focus long enough, so this is ample reward for your trials and tribulations: Ford confirmed today that the 2.0L version, tuned for diesel-emulating torque characteristics, will come stateside in 2010. More info after the jump.

2011 Ford Fiesta

What do you get exactly in these Ecoboost fours? Well, for starters, you get better fuel economy and emissions but performance equivalent to a much larger engine. To loosely speculate, we can imagine that the 2.0L Ecoboost will probably have performance equivalent to a mid-3.0L V6, but utilizing technologies such as Ford’s excellent direct-injection system and full variable valve timing to deliver the economy and emissions profile (PZEV certification is likely) of a much smaller engine. Plus, it’ll weigh less, providing better weight balance and theoretically better handling.

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