Ford’s 1.0 liter three-cylinder EcoBoost petrol engine is a technical masterpiece. It might be small, but it packs a big punch. To prove this Ford made a unique Formula Ford race car powered by the tiny engine and send it to the Nurburgring to set a lap time. It recorded the 11th fastest time ever, beating hyper cars like Lamborghini Aventador, Ferrari Enzo and the Pagani Zonda.

Granted, this is a purpose-built, lightweight race car, and it had a tuned 205 PS version of the 1.0 liter, but still, that is a remarkable achievement. The car has a 0-100 km/h (0-62 mph) time of less than four seconds, and while its top speed is expected to be about 255.5 km/h (158.8 mph), the average speed it record around the ‘Ring was 169 km/h (105 mph).

The whole point of this engine is fuel economy though, and it excels at that. Ford’s in-house tests showed that it is capable of delivering 2.4 l/100 km (118 mpg) at 56 km/h (35 mph), and 5 l/100 km (57 mpg) at 120 km/h (75 mph).

“This little engine has people rubbing their eyes in disbelief,” said racing driver and course specialist Nick Tandy, 28, who completed the drive. “It’s simply astonishing that a 3-cylinder, one-litre engine can deliver that kind of performance.”