USA TODAY International Edition
Race is on for tinier engines
Ford plans first modern 1- liter engine for U. S.
After ballyhooing ever- bigger V- 8s for years, the auto industry is now jostling for bragging rights when it comes to making usable engines as small as possible — and thus more fuel efficient.
Lately, the attention is on a new breed of 1- liter, three- cylinder motors coming to the U. S.
Small enough for the block to fit in a suitcase, the first modern 1- liter engine for the U. S. is about to arrive in cars from Ford Motor. General Motors plans three- cylinder engines from 1 liter to 1.5 liters in the U. S. BMW is going to put a tiny three- cyl- inder in a new hybrid. Daimler, parent of Mercedes- Benz and Smart, is showing interest.
The focus on the smallest of engines reflects tightening fueleconomy rules as well as the marketing power when gas prices surge to eye- popping milesper- gallon totals.
“There has been a cultural shift,” says Mike Omotoso, senior manager of global powertrain for analysts LMC Automotive. “Automakers have gone from bragging about big V- 8s to ( promoting) gas mileage on the highway.”
He forecasts that the number of engines 1 liter in size or less worldwide will rise 44% to 28.9 million by 2017. By contrast, engines of 4 liters or more will rise about 2%, to 4.2 million. What automakers are doing:
Ford. A 123- horsepower three- cylinder, 1- liter turbocharged engine will be offered in the Fiesta subcompact this fall. It already is used in the larger Focus in Europe, where it has outsold expectations.
BMW. A threecylinder engine will power the i8 hybrid sports car in the U. S. And, “We don’t rule this engine out for ( another) small- car application,” says Heidelinde Holzer, head of BMW powertrain integration.
uGM. A $ 215 million investment is going into a Flint, Mich., engine plant to make three- and four- cylinder engines as small as 1 liter. GM’s smallest engine now is a 1.2- liter, four- cylinder power plant in the Chevrolet Spark subcompact.
Daimler. The German maker has exchanged engine information with Ford, though there’s no joint venture in the works. It wanted data on Ford’s three- cylinder engine as it works on its own in collaboration with Renault- Nissan.
“There is no cooperation with Ford regarding the development of internal combustion engines,” Daimler said in a statement to USA TODAY. “An informal exchange of information among ( automakers) — as described with Ford — is very common in the automotive industry.”
Beyond the 1- liter engines, an overall downsizing is underway. Nissan, for instance, hopes to squeeze a 40 mpg highway rating from the 1.6liter, four- cylinder engine in the new, lighter Versa Note hatchback, 6 mpg more than the outgoing 1.8- liter engine. “It’s an efficiency play,” says spokesman Dan Passe.
But it’s getting harder. More- efficient turbochargers have let automakers boost horsepower per liter 10% to 15% every three years for a decade, says executive Steve McKinley of Honeywell Turbo Technologies. “There is kind of a natural limit to downsizing.”