Has the I6 got anything left?

[Road_Warrior]

Reading about the coming Direct Injection update for the Commodore (3.0L at first, who knows for the 3.6) of course made me think about the Falcon's trusty I6. If the Commodore gets a DI 3.6 litre V6 then the I6 will be out-powered (but not out-grunted) for the first time in years. Probably bring fuel economy improvements with it as well.

So where does that leave the I6? Not really knowing what Ford's long-term plan is for the engine (for argument's sake, let's just say it will be around until 2013) it could be anything, but I would imagine that any sort of investment in the engine of the level required to bring DI to the I6 would be out of the question I would have thought. It's an 'orphan' engine don't forget and Ford is strapped for cash.

I would have thought that the I6 in it's current guise would pretty much be at it's power ceiling (I'm talking about the n/a version here). But there could be some fuel efficiency improvements still to come. Electric waterpump and power steering? Engine block pre-heaters to cut down the warmup times? Cylinder deactivation (which it already has but as an overheating failsafe)? Stop-idle function?

Would Ford even bother trying to compete? The engine may be down on power compared to the 3.6 DI but still would have more torque. And then of course, there is the turbo motor for performance and premium applications. But being green is the thing these days and if they don't compete at least on a fuel consumption level, they'll get left behind.

Discuss.