New turbocharged 1.0-litre three-cylinder engine from Opel
Opel has revealed a new turbocharged three-cylinder engine which will be destined to debut in the Opel Adam.
The 85kW 1.0-litre engine will be premiered at next month’s Frankfurt motor show and will be the first of an all-new family of small-displacement direct injection petrol engines that will be powering the Opel Adam from next year.
The engine will be a 1.0 SIDI – Spark Ignition Direct Injection – Turbo, capable of producing 166Nm between 1800-4700rpm and will generate more torque than its naturally aspirated 1.6-litre four-cylinder predecessor while matching their maximum power output.
The engine features continuously variable valve timing as well as a lightweight aluminium cylinder-block and an exhaust manifold integrated inside an aluminium cylinder head. According to the company the fuel efficiency of the new engine will be improved by twenty percent over the 1.6-litre unit with carbon dioxide emissions being lower than 100g/km.
The overall goal of the small gasoline engine engineering division was to minimize fuel consumption and emissions but they were also aiming to show that three-cylinder engines could be just as refined as those with four or more.
Dr Matthias Alt – chief engineer in charge of the engine – said that they tacklet the balance, noise and vibration issues which typically affect conventional three-cylinder engines and they are confident that customers will be pleasantly surprised by the result.
The 1.0 SIDI Turbo will be built at GM’s Szentgotthard plant in Hungary and the plan is to couple it with an all-new six-speed manual transmission that, at least according to the car maker, is around thirty percent lighter than the gearbox currently in use.
The new engine and gearbox are part of the company’s renewed powertrain portfolio which is planned to see three new engine families and 13 new engines introduced between 2012 and 2016, featuring several new transmissions.
