Downsizing is the road taken by most automakers in their effort to meet new fuel consumption and emission standards, and three-cylinders with forced induction are the new trend.
Ford will offer a 122HP 1.0-liter three-cylinder EcoBoost engine in the Mondeo mid-size family car and BMW has already revealed a 1.5-liter turbocharged three-cylinder engine that is part of the new TwinPower “family”.
On the sidelines of the Paris Auto Show, BMW sales and marketing boss Ian Robertson told reporters that the new 1.5-liter engine, which was displayed on the Active Hybrid Concept, “behaves like a six-cylinder, is half-of a six-cylinder and has the noise of a six-cylinder”.
A source within BMW has told Autonews that the new three-cylinder unit will cross the Atlantic and be available in the Mini models as well as BMW’s own i8 hybrid supercar in the United States – a market which up until recently, followed the motto “there’s no replacement for displacement”.
The same source added that the Munich-based company is considering using the unit in its new front-wheel drive UKL platform-based models in both hybrid and non-hybrid configurations.
Robertson added that not all customers “want to know the ins and outs of their engines, but they want performance”.
The new 1.5-liter unit in petrol flavor (there will also be a diesel) will be offered in numerous outputs ranging between 120 and 220 HP and 180-240 Nm of torque.
If BMW decides to bring the more powerful versions to the U.S., Robertson’s theory will be put to the test.
By Andrew Tsaousis
Story References: Autonews
PHOTO GALLERY
