It has taken decades for car makers to convince the American buyer that relatively smaller engined cars from Europe have more than enough performance.

They may not always come with a V8 but a six cylinder engine can be enough for most people. It took almost as much to talk them into turbochargers.

Is this enough to consider people will accept a mix between downsizing and turbocharging very soon? BMW certainly thinks so.

The Bavarian company will be sending its new 1.5 liter three cylinder engine over the Atlantic with some of their smaller cars.

Thanks to twin-turbocharging and a lot of engineering work, this engine will be ready to produce anywhere between 120 and 220 horsepower.

Neither of these figures will worry fellas driving muscle cars but in small BMWs it will certainly zip around quicker than most small cars while also being economical.

Decent selling points but how is this going to help out the way the Americans will be buying 1.5 liter engines? Well, according to BMW, it’s the simplicity.

If a car feels like it has decent grunt, buyers couldn’t care less if it’s a V12 or a one cylinder scooter. There is some logic in that, after all, not everybody knows what cares about what’s going on under the bonnet.

In order to further create some confusion, BMW claim that their half a six cylinder engine will actually behave like such an engine and make the same noise.

That might be some optimistic marketing stuff but we’re yet to see people lose interest in the i8 and it comes with this precise engine.

About Post Author

Marcus M.

http://www.bmwcoop.com

The post BMW three cylinder engines are going to the United States appeared first on BMWCoop | BMW Blog, BMW News, BMW Reviews.

Now that the cat’s out of the bag with the BMW Sports Active Tourer or 1 Series GT, its engine is starting to take center stage. The 1.5 liter TwinPower Turbo reckons its worth its own press release.

That press release speaks of the three cylinder engine getting all the toys. Simply because it’s small doesn’t mean it’s missing out on any technology.

In fact, the only thing missing is (at least) one cylinder. The pistons and every component directly involved are now going through a plan to keep things simple.

Every cylinder has a .5 liter capacity. Moreover, BMW have even produced figures over what each of them can develop, depending on fuel used.

40-74 horsepower and 44-59 lb-ft of torque per cylinder is what you can expect for the petrol engines with some 27-60 horses and 55-81 lb-ft of twist coming out of the diesel units.

That means that final outputs will range between 120 and 222 horsepower with 133-177 lb-ft of twist for the petrols, while the diesels will span between 80HP and 180 horsepower, respectively 165-243 lb-ft of torque.

In order to produce these figures, BMW uses twin scroll turbocharging, an aluminum block, double Vanos variable camshaft control, Valvetronic variable valve timing and direct injection for petrol or common rail for the diesels.

There’s one last crucial thing about the 1.5 liter TwinPower Turbo engine family we should mention. BMW claim the sound they make is actually extraordinary.

A torsional vibration damper’s involvement, combined with the three cylinder’s natural tune, make for a decently smooth running engine and a raunchy noise.

About Post Author

Marcus M.

http://www.bmwcoop.com

The post BMW 1.5 liter TwinPower Turbo engine detailed appeared first on BMWCoop | BMW Blog, BMW News, BMW Reviews.