How does the 1.5 3 Cylinder Engine Do Up Big Mountains?

[thomasm23]

The 1.5 engine is tuned for economy.

With it's added gimmicks like economy mode, auto start stop which is rough and doesn't transition smoothly on restart and cylinder deactivation that cuts off 33% of the engines power in certain conditions it does what it's supposed to do and provides good fuel mileage.

Like most economy tuned vehicles you need to either constantly mash the throttle or develop your muscle memory to automatically switch to sport mode so it performs like a normal vehicle and improves the around town driving experience otherwise it's always wanting to shift into the next higher gear and sometimes lugs and makes it feel rough running.
Also to get the most out of the 1.5 you should run top tier premium fuel, it makes a difference.

As far as going up long grades on the highway, it will do it, depending on the grade you may or may not have to start a run before the actual incline which isn't any different for a number of other vehicles or semi trucks for that matter. There are always people that go faster or slower it just depends on your comfort level.

Many people mention Top Tier Fuel on this forum.

Top Tier is a company that manufactures a detergent additive that gasoline refiners will use in their products. This additive does nothing to improve the quality of the fuel. It does not add to the octane rating of the fuel.

Top Tier has convinced many that you must purchase fuels that include their detergent additive.

Almost all the fuel available to the public will have a detergent additive added and many use Top Tier.

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[RSH]

Top tier came into play when automotive manufacturer's BMW, GM, Toyota and Honda developed a detergent specification to help mitigate warrany claims caused by carbon build up, clogged/dirty fuel injectors, misfire and driveability issues with their vehicles. Research showed the basic EPA fuel detergent package didn't do enough in keeping engine component's clean.
The top tier designated fuels have 2X to 3X the amount of detergent than non top tier fuel. Other manufacturers including Ford recommend top tier fuel.

 

[Stircrazy]

The 1.5 engine is tuned for economy.

With it's added gimmicks like economy mode, auto start stop which is rough and doesn't transition smoothly on restart and cylinder deactivation that cuts off 33% of the engines power in certain conditions it does what it's supposed to do and provides good fuel mileage.

Like most economy tuned vehicles you need to either constantly mash the throttle or develop your muscle memory to automatically switch to sport mode so it performs like a normal vehicle and improves the around town driving experience otherwise it's always wanting to shift into the next higher gear and sometimes lugs and makes it feel rough running.
Also to get the most out of the 1.5 you should run top tier premium fuel, it makes a difference.

As far as going up long grades on the highway, it will do it, depending on the grade you may or may not have to start a run before the actual incline which isn't any different for a number of other vehicles or semi trucks for that matter. There are always people that go faster or slower it just depends on your comfort level.

its kinda halarious reading this and wondering what people realy expext out of a sub compact suv. do you realy expect it to accelerate like buddy mashing his mustang's gas pedle?

premium makes the biggest difference in high rpm and high boost conditions, driving around town you shouldn't see either condition enough to justify premium fuel, but hey maybe your a streetlight racer. thats also where the auto start/stop saves you the most fuel. stop and go traffic.

as for the cylinder deactivation hardly a gimic, the mustand does it, gm's LS motors do it, dodge does it.. why because it works, if you are not under load and stedy crusing down the highway , why not get the best milage you can? the issue comes in in the implamentation of the system. GM did a lousy job and it caused issues, so far ford's method has been good, and I know nothing about the dodge system except it is there.

the hunting for another gear you describe. ya I can see that if your used to a non turbo vehicle. a turbo develops globs of torque compared to the same size non turbo motor so if will have more power down lower in the rpm. its quite amazing actualy. concidering this 1.5L has slightly more torque and HP than my 2.5L NA motor in my 2010 fusion. the fusion used to run at about 2700 rpm at 75mph, my bronco does that speed at 2000 rpm and dosent feel like its lagging at all. plus with the 8 speed trans it shifs down faster when it needs to with out jumping as much rpm as the gears are a little tighter spaced in the ratios

I don't run it in sports mode, I don't mash the gas pedel and I accelerate quicker off the line than 65 to 75% of the vehicles around me. I guess if your that person that has to be first to the next set up lights.... but then you should have bought a mustang

 

[RSH]

its kinda halarious reading this and wondering what people realy expext out of a sub compact suv. do you realy expect it to accelerate like buddy mashing his mustang's gas pedle?

premium makes the biggest difference in high rpm and high boost conditions, driving around town you shouldn't see either condition enough to justify premium fuel, but hey maybe your a streetlight racer. thats also where the auto start/stop saves you the most fuel. stop and go traffic.

as for the cylinder deactivation hardly a gimic, the mustand does it, gm's LS motors do it, dodge does it.. why because it works, if you are not under load and stedy crusing down the highway , why not get the best milage you can? the issue comes in in the implamentation of the system. GM did a lousy job and it caused issues, so far ford's method has been good, and I know nothing about the dodge system except it is there.

the hunting for another gear you describe. ya I can see that if your used to a non turbo vehicle. a turbo develops globs of torque compared to the same size non turbo motor so if will have more power down lower in the rpm. its quite amazing actualy. concidering this 1.5L has slightly more torque and HP than my 2.5L NA motor in my 2010 fusion. the fusion used to run at about 2700 rpm at 75mph, my bronco does that speed at 2000 rpm and dosent feel like its lagging at all. plus with the 8 speed trans it shifs down faster when it needs to with out jumping as much rpm as the gears are a little tighter spaced in the ratios

I don't run it in sports mode, I don't mash the gas pedel and I accelerate quicker off the line than 65 to 75% of the vehicles around me. I guess if your that person that has to be first to the next set up lights.... but then you should have bought a mustang

I agree that the 1.5 gets good fuel mileage, I say that in my first paragraph.

A number of people do not care for auto start stop and disable it as they see it as a nuisance and believe it will cause premature starter wear and degrade the battery or as a safety concern and think it may not restart when it's supposed to.

Cylinder deactivation has its own caveats, it is something else that some people want to disable as they believe it causes undo stress on the engine and excess wear.
It's possible that the latest tunes for the Sport offer that as an option, I have not followed up for quite a while.

When driving small displacement vehicles you typically work the throttle a bit more than when just cruising around, that's why people buy pedal commanders or the pedal max that improves the throttle response, or you can use sport mode, really not a big deal.

Using premium fuel doesn't cost that much more, it's not a deal breaker and the Sport runs better with it than without it.

 

[Stircrazy]

I agree that the 1.5 gets good fuel mileage, I say that in my first paragraph.

A number of people do not care for auto start stop and disable it as they see it as a nuisance and believe it will cause premature starter wear and degrade the battery or as a safety concern and think it may not restart when it's supposed to.

Cylinder deactivation has its own caveats, it is something else that some people want to disable as they believe it causes undo stress on the engine and excess wear.
It's possible that the latest tunes for the Sport offer that as an option, I have not followed up for quite a while.

When driving small displacement vehicles you typically work the throttle a bit more than when just cruising around, that's why people buy pedal commanders or the pedal max that improves the throttle response, or you can use sport mode, really not a big deal.

Using premium fuel doesn't cost that much more, it's not a deal breaker and the Sport runs better with it than without it.

ya, I don't see the auto start stop very much. going to work and back there are 3 or 4 stop lights on the highway going through town and you rarley have to stop. coming home I might hit one or two. we have had the wifes edge since 2019 with the auto start/stop so we are used to it. it is also a good indicator to tell you when to change your battery out as if it stops working normaly it means its time to get a new battery as your current one isn't holding the charge good enough for autostart stop to reliably activate so the comouter lockes it out.

ya in sport mode steady crusing on the highway it still activated the cyclinder deactivation, but it doesnt take much to turn it off, like you said a small engine works harder, not in a bad way, but when you need to accelerate or maintain speed on a hill the deactivation shuts off faster than you know it.

as for premium fule, like I said if you are driving it in a manor that it can take advantage of the premium yes it is worth it, but if you are like me and just accelerate normaly up to 75mph then turn on the cruse control for the next 65 miles, then do the same on the way home, there is no advantage. I did hmm must be close to 3000 miles each with regular, premium, in both eco, sport and normal modes and there was absolutly no difference in fuel milage no mattery what the fuel. very slight between eco, notmal and sport. I am talking about a 0.2L/100km between eco and sport (when you drive to work and back on the cruise control at 75mph) but like I said, I am not heavy into the boost or higher rpms trying to accelerate fast. the only way premium helps is if you are experianceing pinging in heavy acceleration. Infact, the bronco sport is desinged to run on regular gas, and burning premium will not benifit in any ways over regular fuel in Canada, the detergent level is the same in both, it won't make you faster, just burn more money. if I ran premium it would cost me an extra 5 bucks a day for my work travel. now maybe fuel in the us has less standards/quality, I know their diesel does.

 

[Warped9]

Way back I had a '79 Volkswagen Rabbit L with a 1.5L 4cyl. w. 4spd. manual and 78 hp. It was German built and a blast to drive. Back then I certainly didn't think it was underpowered in any situation, but context matters. After more than forty years our expectations have changed as overall performance has evolved across the board. But, of course, vehicles in general have also gotten heavier along with the increased power over the years. So it's hard to say if overall everyday performance is really that much better than it was decades ago.

My previous vehicle to my '24 Bronco Sport Big Bend was a 2004 CrownVic LX. I had modified the car in engine and suspension so it didn't drive like a regular CrownVic, but perhaps more like a police cruiser. The "04 CrownVic's standard horsepower was 250 if I recall correctly. With my modifications I got somewhere around 270-280 hp and improved throttle response. And the upgraded suspension and transmission greatly helped in using the extra power. That said it was certainly a blast to drive, but it never felt really fast. And often enough, even though the car was always well behaved, you were aware of the car's weight.

Now here is where it gets funny. My Big Bend isn't that much lighter than the CrownVic, about 500 lbs. lighter. And the 1.5L is 185 hp. versus my CrownVic's 270-280 hp. But the Bronco Sport with the 1.5 certainly feels quicker all around in throttle response and overall handling. You can't really ignore four decades of advancement in engineering. You have to remember that although my CrownVic was a 2004 the design and engineering of it go back to the square LTDs and CrownVics of the 1980s--thats a forty year difference in engineering.

In comparison My Bronco Sport feels just as stable, perhaps moreso, than the CrownVic on the highway. The Bronco Sport has better throttle response than my CrownVic. Steering is definitely better on the Bronco Sport. The CrownVic wasn’t really quieter than my Bronco Sport given the CrownVic had Stainless Works dual exhaust and headers. I don't really find the Bronco Sport noisy, but I’m tempted to call it a draw with the distinction between the two vehicles being the kind of sound they each make. And with my suspension upgrades I don't think the CrownVic rode better than the Bronco Sport.

My CrownVic was a very cool car--no question it had more presence and was more noticeable than my Bronco Sport. But if I'm being honest I prefer driving the Bronco Sport for lots of reasons, chief among them being its responsiveness, comfort, agility, steering and handling. I've driven my Big Bend in the very same driving conditions and manner as I drove the CrownVic and never have I felt the Big Bend with the 1.5L was lacking.

 

[jkernitzki]

Old big block Fords were legendary. Give me a 390/C6 combo any day.

 

[AndyMac204]

Been through Alberta, BC, yukon and Alaska a few times and the 1.5 power has never been an issue. Loaded with gear and a roof top tent as well.

 

[jasongitar]

Hey everyone, I know it's been a little while since I posted this. I wanted to say thank you for all your help, gave me a lot to think about and consider. I am getting ready to pull the trigger no later than next week. I think I may just go with the 3 Cylinder Bronco Sport, found a free Wheeling edition that I absolutely love. I had one last question. In my worries about the engine strength I did notice there are good deals on used engine replacements with low miles, I know it probably sounds out there and I am no mechanic, but I was thinking is it possible to replace the 3 cylinder with a 4 cylinder Badlands engine later down the road? Is it compatible? Would be an awesome upgrade later on if it worked, I am guessing no, but thought it would be fun to ask. Hope you all had a great 4th of July weekend and any words of advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Warped9]

Candidly if you are actually considering this then why not just get a Badlands now and be done with it?

 

[jasongitar]

Just candidly exploring all options mate!

 

[Stircrazy]

Hey everyone, I know it's been a little while since I posted this. I wanted to say thank you for all your help, gave me a lot to think about and consider. I am getting ready to pull the trigger no later than next week. I think I may just go with the 3 Cylinder Bronco Sport, found a free Wheeling edition that I absolutely love. I had one last question. In my worries about the engine strength I did notice there are good deals on used engine replacements with low miles, I know it probably sounds out there and I am no mechanic, but I was thinking is it possible to replace the 3 cylinder with a 4 cylinder Badlands engine later down the road? Is it compatible? Would be an awesome upgrade later on if it worked, I am guessing no, but thought it would be fun to ask. Hope you all had a great 4th of July weekend and any words of advice would be greatly appreciated!

you could but you will need the harness electronics, and transmition stuff also. very do able but in my opinion not worth the hassel, but thats just my opinion

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