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Ford Territory won’t go LPG

  • By Neil McDonald
  • Herald Sun
  • 22 April 2010
  • image

    The Falcon will be the first Ford to get the new liquid-injection LPG engine from early next year.

Diesel is go but LPG is on the backburner for Ford's Territory wagon.

As the company moves ahead with plans for a V6 turbo-diesel Territory, a liquid-injection gas version is not likely any time soon, according to Ford Australia chief, Marin Burela.  Burela says Ford is looking at LPG for the Territory but "we want to make sure we get the petrol and diesel right first".  "The LPG becomes another opportunity for us," he says.  "But it will be market driven."

The Falcon will be the first Ford to get the new liquid-injection LPG engine from early next year.  The engine comes as a significantly revised six-cylinder petrol engine and new V8 arrive later this year to comply with Euro IV emission standards that come into effect from July 1.

The more fuel efficient engines are part of a $230 million investment by Ford into sustainability initiatives.  The newer liquid-injection LPG Falcon will deliver better fuel economy, lower C02 emissions and significantly improved performance over the existing engine.

Ford has not revealed numbers, but engineers expect better performance and driveability than the current 156kW/371Nm E-Gas Falcon.  By comparison Holden's dual-fuel LPG 3.6-litre Commodore delivers 175kW/318Nm.

Apart from the six-cylinder petrol upgrade, the new V8 is expected to provide a performance shot in the arm for enthusiasts.  The current "Boss" 5.4-litre V8 is expected to be replaced by a hot supercharged 5.0-litre V8 - codenamed Coyote - when the existing engine is put out to pasture.

Ford is in the final engineering stages with its turbo-diesel Territory, which arrives next year.  The diesel promises significant fuel economy gains over the petrol six.

Apart from economy, the diesel is expected to get a particulate filter to reduce harmful emissions.  Ford says the "clean" diesel version of the 2.7-litre V6 turbo-diesel, shared with Land Rover, will reduce C02 emissions by 25 per cent compared to the existing six-cylinder petrol engine.

Burela is not talking Territory diesel sales numbers but he is confident it will be successful, particularly given an expected output similar to the Land Rover engine, which develops 140kW/440Nm.  "We haven't refined the numbers but clearly the whole concept behind the diesel Territory is to have an uplift in volume on the total Terrtory vehicle line," he says.

"We're very confident we'll achieve that.  "We'll have a petrol Territory, a diesel Territory and we can hardly wait."

Comments on this story

Displaying 3 of 20 comments

  • Has anybody fitted LPG on the territory?...after some feedback please?

    Reebu Idichandy of Australia Posted on 31 December 2011 11:48am

  • Jonno - 'start on petrol and switch to gas' is for the vapour phase injection system. Some of the older gen1 diffuser systems do this too. The reason is that to ensure the systems do not inject liquid gas into the manifold when the engine is very cold (ambient temp at or lower than 5 deg C). Due to amount of gas that would inject either the engine will not start (effectively 'flooded') or will back fire explosively. Once the engine is slightly warm and the diffuser has got above 20-30 deg C then the engine can be run on gas ok. Liquid phase injection does not need that warm up on petrol at all. The ECU has a cold run mapping that allows for the cold engine and so runs the engine rich for a little while, which warms the engine up quicker than if it was on petrol. This is part of the 'better efficiency' that LPi engines have over petrol, they can get the engine up to temp quicker. Add in the fact that engine sucks in a full cylinder of air each cycle before adding the fuel and it starts to make sense why LPI is a better system than the older vapour systems. On older systems the cylinder only sucks a cylinder of air + fuel , less air, less efficiency.

    Ozzy of Sydney Posted on 07 December 2011 12:29pm

  • Actually, if you go dedicated LPi only on the engine, the Terry makes more torque than when it ran petrol. I managed to pick up a near new 'write off' LPi Falcon from the Brisbane floods and cleaned it all up and fitted the engine, computer and wiring harness to an SY II Terry (engine blown up by previous owner somehow). All up cost of both vehicles and approved guy to do the conversion - $14000. 90L capacity tank gives 74L usable, which translates to 600Kms with 5 people, bags and push bikes on the tow bar on a trip, 540kms around town. Dyno says slightly more torque, same power as the stated power of the petrol engine. Missus hates diesel because of the smell, the pumps are always dirty and the concrete is often slippery. She loves the gas prices too. Come on Ford - if you did the LPI Terry and advertised it (maybe your marketing department are just lazy and don’t want to do the work) for the LPG price difference, you would kill everyone else in the SUV market. As for Captiva selling more than the Terry, strange, when we looked for them on the road and in the yards it was about 3:1 the other way!

    Ozzy of Sydney Posted on 04 December 2011 11:59am

  • I think we should have a LPG Territory as well.

    Vabes of bega Posted on 06 July 2011 9:22pm

  • We're soon to have a 3rd child under 3, so the wife wants an SUV for all those car seats side by side, not a sedan and NOT a bus (Tarago etc), so Territory is on the short list. As well as space/comfort, fuel economy is a priority, but not for the obvious reason, but because of PEAK OIL, which is expected to seriously impact the market by midway thru this decade. (Don't wait for the govt to tell you that, they're too busy trying to tax us to death to supposedly stop climate change) At first, I was attracted to the idea of diesel, BUT virtually the entire global commercial land and sea transportation fleet/military runs on diesel, as does aux power gen, so in any potential rationing, they would receive priority, so I'm even more sold on LPG. After all, we (apparently) have a virtual abundance of the stuff, it's clean, it's (currently) cheap, and in a squeezed market, it would hopefully still be AVAILABLE. Seems like a no-brainer to me. I'm even seriously considering a new SZ petrol Terry and converting to LPG-just started research, but it seems like the easiest engine to convert, given the avail kits for falcon etc. BTW the SUV I "can hardly wait for" is the electric Tesla Model X

    Dave of Brisbane Posted on 21 June 2011 10:56pm

  • Territory could be dedicated LPG if they used the 'older' vapour system currently in my FG ute. Newer liquid systems I'm led to believe require petrol to start with to warm the fuel ignition(?) system up whereas the older vapour system needs none of this. Liquid injection appears to be the way forward but obviously this dual fuel issue is a limitation. One step forward..two tanks backward??? I'm more than happy with the performance I get from my 'old' LPG system. This way the spare wheel is in it's right place and there's no probs with the boot space.......or am I missing something?

    Jonno of Lancefield Posted on 06 April 2011 5:55pm

  • I want an LPG Territory with 7 seats.....I agreee with Ben Come on Ford lets see it soon.

    Michael Leslie of Melbourne Posted on 27 January 2011 9:25am

  • Diesel Territory? Say ... 5 years too late ... horse has bolted?

    John Gordon Posted on 13 December 2010 1:01am

  • Bring it on. LPG is the way! SOOOO cheap! Bugger the Dual Fuel and just go dedicated LPG. Just got to find somewhere to put the spare tyre! Come on Ford, let's see it.

    Ben Wright of Sydney Posted on 10 August 2010 7:56pm

  • It's not about pulling power, it's about the amount of room it takes up in the boot that makes it viable or not. It's about saving fuel as well as having seven seats and boot space, and not how much it can pull. 80% or more either don't tow or load up the car that much and if they do it's only once or twice a year. To save money on petrol and have as much space is the one thing the customers of today's market want, it's good to see that ford are listening to customers needs and building them the way Holden have for the past three years. Before you start Captiva is the highest selling SUV in the country, and it's that way for a reason, it's meets peoples needs. Not everyone, but enough to be #1. Ford have been behind the eight ball for a while on this issue, but it's good to see changes made for the good.

    Holden mad of Brighton Vic Posted on 29 April 2010 9:35am

  • I see plenty of Terri's driving around converted to LPG, Surely ford has the resources to add this option cheaply. I would much rather a liquid-injection gas version of the Terri then a diesel.

    Ben Kent of melbourne Posted on 29 April 2010 4:49am

  • it will be good but the 3.O v6ttd which produces 180kw and 600nm would be better.

    andrew rich of newcastle Posted on 28 April 2010 10:30pm

  • I agree with James, Ford, struggling to survive in Australia as a carmaker, should bite the bullet and put a turbo diesel into Falcon. If it does . . . it will also force Holden to follow. Look, LPG is a great fuel and I have owned many LPG/Dual fuel vehicles but Diesel vehicles develop so much torque, only need one tank and deliver awesome economy. 20 years ago I was in Sydney and I rode a Taxi that the owner had converted to a 2 litre (non turbo) diesel. I would not have known if he hadn't told me. He said it cost 75% of an LPG alternative to run and still gave his passengers a full boot.

    Wayne Maxwell of Mt Gambier SA Posted on 28 April 2010 7:37pm

  • Marin Burela can 'hardly wait' for a turbo diesel Territory, for ### sake the Territory should have had a TURBO DIESEL from the get go. The wording of the story almost suggests turbo diesel is like something new, it is the ideal dino fuel solution for 4WD and towing purposes. Mind you turbo Diesel is not half bad in sedans either!!

    deejay51 of Gold Coast Posted on 28 April 2010 6:04pm

  • Put that same diesel engien in the Falcon... then they'll be talking sense.

    Jamers Hunter of Metford NSW Posted on 28 April 2010 2:01pm

  • Isnt diesel more suited to the territory rathan than LPG anyways? Given the fact Diesel has more pulling power?

    shaun Posted on 27 April 2010 9:01am

  • Holden mad you have been a busy boy!!!!!

    Wazza of South Aust Posted on 25 April 2010 12:45am

  • It's not really going backwards, if you think about it. This is the first time they have done what the markets want. 7 seaters are what they need to compete with other brands, it's just the 7 seater they have produced isn't very good. I.E to convert the car from 5 to 7 seats is just to hard. For a woman that has children running around, need to convert the car quick. Ford you have made the right move, but just work on the 5-7 thing and this will compete better in todays market. This is the only thing that lets it down. P.S I have 5 children.

    Holden mad of Brighton Vic Posted on 23 April 2010 3:11pm

  • That jag diesel will be a corker in the Tezza, but what about the Falcon?

    jason of melb Posted on 23 April 2010 2:11pm

  • It's a shame that Ford won't do an LPG Territory. The main excuse is that they can't put the third row seat in if they put the gas tanks under the rear floor and that the marketing department has told them that people don't want a gas powered Territory. It's a shame because I have seen the new Territory and it looks pretty good. Any wonder the company is going backwards.

    Luke of Geelong Posted on 23 April 2010 10:51am
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