Laidback
08-02-2009, 10:20 PM
BMW, Mercedes-Benz Developing Three-Cylinder Engines
As soon as Ford started promoting its upcoming four-cylinder EcoBoost engine earlier this week, pundits started quibbling over the marketability of Lincolns with 4-bangers.
Well, how 'bout a Mercedes-Benz or a BMW with a 3- banger?
In the never-ending search for more fuel efficiency, both German automakers are working on three-cylinder gasoline engines for their small and, possibly, medium-size passenger vehicles.
Both companies are motivated by Europe's strict new CO2 limits, which can be met most rapidly by decreasing fuel consumption.
In an interview with Britain's Autocar magazine, a Mercedes-Benz spokesman said the company has a 1.2-liter, turbocharged, three-cylinder engine that cranks out 168 horsepower and up to 185 lb-ft of torque, "enough to drive a mid-size car like the C-class very well."
It also delivers a 6 percent fuel economy improvement over a small four-cylinder engine with the same performance characteristics.
Mercedes, the spokesman said, "will have one on sale in the next four to five years."
At BMW, where three-cylinder motorcycle engines are commonplace, engineers reportedly are working on an automotive version that could be offered in the next-generation 1-Series, according to unnamed sources cited by both Autocar and Sky Motoring, a U.K. automotive Website.
Mercedes-Benz parent Daimler already uses three cylinder engines in its Smart cars, and European automotive market analysts at IHS Global Insight suggest that a Daimler-built, turbocharged three-cylinder engine could be used widely in the company's A- and B-class cars.
That's one way to get people interested in smaller cars: Engine downsizing.
Shrink 'em to the point that they're adequate in larger cars but provide excellent performance in small models and see if there's not a market shift to the smaller but zippier vehicles.
source:edmunds.com John O'Dell, Senior Editor
As soon as Ford started promoting its upcoming four-cylinder EcoBoost engine earlier this week, pundits started quibbling over the marketability of Lincolns with 4-bangers.
Well, how 'bout a Mercedes-Benz or a BMW with a 3- banger?
In the never-ending search for more fuel efficiency, both German automakers are working on three-cylinder gasoline engines for their small and, possibly, medium-size passenger vehicles.
Both companies are motivated by Europe's strict new CO2 limits, which can be met most rapidly by decreasing fuel consumption.
In an interview with Britain's Autocar magazine, a Mercedes-Benz spokesman said the company has a 1.2-liter, turbocharged, three-cylinder engine that cranks out 168 horsepower and up to 185 lb-ft of torque, "enough to drive a mid-size car like the C-class very well."
It also delivers a 6 percent fuel economy improvement over a small four-cylinder engine with the same performance characteristics.
Mercedes, the spokesman said, "will have one on sale in the next four to five years."
At BMW, where three-cylinder motorcycle engines are commonplace, engineers reportedly are working on an automotive version that could be offered in the next-generation 1-Series, according to unnamed sources cited by both Autocar and Sky Motoring, a U.K. automotive Website.
Mercedes-Benz parent Daimler already uses three cylinder engines in its Smart cars, and European automotive market analysts at IHS Global Insight suggest that a Daimler-built, turbocharged three-cylinder engine could be used widely in the company's A- and B-class cars.
That's one way to get people interested in smaller cars: Engine downsizing.
Shrink 'em to the point that they're adequate in larger cars but provide excellent performance in small models and see if there's not a market shift to the smaller but zippier vehicles.
source:edmunds.com John O'Dell, Senior Editor