Cylinder Count Ain't What It Used To Be
By Michelle Krebs July 22, 2009By Bill Visnic
DEARBORN, Michigan -- Here we go again. In a repeat of not-too-successful experiments of the past, automakers are once again going to see if luxury-car buyers will go for four-cylinder engines.
General Motors Corp.'s Buick will offer a base version of its new 2010 LaCrosse upper-midsize sedan later this year with a four-cylinder under the hood. GM execs have also said the Cadillac division won't rule it out.
The Lexus HS 250h goes on sale next month, and although attention will focus on the fact that it's a hybrid, the HS 250h still is working with a four-cylinder engine -- a first for Toyota Motor Corp.'s premium division.
Audi AG, with one of the industry's most solid small-engine reputations, will push the
envelope with a new four-cylinder variant of its 2010 A5 coupe, which the company says already is on the way to U.S. showrooms.
BMW, the world's biggest maker of luxury cars, probably will bring back four-cylinder engines, the company's top U.S. engineer was quoted as saying last week.
And here at Ford Motor Co.'s headquarters, the company's chief powertrain executive says there's no functional reason four-cylinder power couldn't be considered as a viable option somewhere in the Lincoln premium-brand lineup.
New-Age Sensibility or a Repeat Train Wreck?
Recent -- and not so recent -- examples of the often uncomfortable marriage between luxo-vehicles and four-cylinder engines are numerous: the Cadillac Cimmaron. BMW's 318. The Mercedes-Benz C230.
The difference this time from failed attempts of the past: more sophisticated technology. And different socio-economic and environmental attitudes that may predispose buyers to accept less sheer performance as a tradeoff for improved economy and environmental impact.
New turbocharger designs and direct fuel injection are advanced new technologies that can combine, as with Ford's much-hyped "EcoBoost" engines -- to pump up the output of four-cylinder engines to a level unthinkable with contemporary technology available for the 1980s Cimarron.
"Specific output" is the term for how powerful an engine is in relation to its displacement; forced induction such as turbocharging and torque-pumping direct injection bring an almost entirely new level of power that can be produced from just four cylinders.
Not long ago, 80 horsepower per liter of displacement from a conventional V6 was pretty formidable. Now, Ford engineers speak of 115 hp per liter -- or better -- from a 2.0-liter EcoBoost four-cylinder engine coming next year. A slightly larger four-cylinder could thump out 300 horses or more -- more than equal to today's best V6s and even challenging some V8s.
The Times Are a-Changin'
The technical ability to get expected levels of luxury-vehicle performance from four-cylinder engines is there. But will customers accept the idea of four-cylinder power?
"I think the days of counting up cylinders are over," Barb Samardzich, Ford's vice president for global powertrain engineering, told AutoObserver.
"We have a set of DNA (for luxury or luxury-sport models). As long as we're meeting that DNA, I think the customer will accept that (a four-cylinder engine)."
At Buick, the proposition for the 2010 LaCrosse might be a little more nip-and-tuck: The LaCrosse's 2.4-liter four-cylinder uses torque-boosting direct injection, but is not turbocharged. The engine develops 182 hp and the four-cylinder LaCrosse will weigh in the neighborhood of 3,900 pounds.
Susan Docherty, vice president for Buick-Pontiac-GMC, thinks LaCrosse buyers opting for the four-cylinder -- it's offered only for the base LaCrosse CX trim level -- will be more focused on the projected 20 mpg city/30 mpg highway fuel economy than on absolute power.
"It doesn't matter whether you're a premium buyer," Docherty said of the new rules in the luxury market. "Everybody's concerned about fuel economy."
Lincoln hasn't pulled the trigger on a four-cylinder engine just yet -- it's using 3.5-liter V6s with
EcoBoost technology for the 2010 Lincoln MKS and MKT to replicate V8 power without the corresponding fuel consumption -- but Samardzich said there's no engineering reason an EcoBoost-enhanced four-cylinder couldn't be used by Lincoln. The brand just has to be careful to avoid a potentially overzealous application.
Four-cylinder power "has possibilities," for the luxury-sport market, Samardzich said.
"I think expectations on fuel efficiency and environmental consciousness are there," for premium-car customers, she added, but says marketing plays a key role. "You have to have a dialogue around the attributes you're giving the customer."
"I think there's going to be a shift," says one GM engineering source. "There are people who are never going back to big engines."
Samardzich said Lincoln marketers would have to make the final call on EcoBoost four-cylinder power for future Lincolns, but cautions that even high-tech four-cylinder power has limitations: She sees potential for vehicle sizes up to the C-D range, but believes full D-segment-sized vehicles would be too large for any kind of four-cylinder power.
"The true D-size is a stretch," she said, conceding that Ford engineers and marketers are having discussions right now about where in the Ford and Lincoln model lineups four-cylinder engines might have potential.
Fuel economy is going to be important, Samardzich said, even for luxury buyers. But she insists Ford won't assume any compromises from a premium-vehicle buyer about performance, either.
"You can't let your customer down," she said. "Not in this business."
Photos by manufacturers
1 - Buick-Pontiac-GMC Vice President Susan Docherty with 2010 Buick LaCrosse (Photo courtesy of General Motors Corporation)
2 - Audi pushes the boundaries of four-cylinder acceptability with the A5 coupe, which gets a turbocharged and direct-injected 2.0-liter four-cylinder for 2010 (Photo courtesy of Audi USA)
3 - Ford heavily promoted its EcoBoost technology at a press event Tuesday to showcase its 2010 product line. The automaker announced EcoBoost would go on a future four-cylinder engine. (Photo courtesy of Ford Motor Company)
LEAVE A COMMENT
Click here to comment on this entry.Definitely a repeat train wreck for two-ton sedans
The more-sophisticated technology should be applied to low rpm V8s. With the many miles driven in the USA, the tiny (< 3.5 L) four cylinder engines will wear out quickly, resulting in a negative environmental impact and angry consumers. The power curve of a turbocharged 4-cylinder will be annoying to those of us used to engines that deliver generous torque at low rpms. A small Diesel might work until drivers notice that nothing happens when they floor their Lincoln at high speeds (not enough horsepower).
Is it really a train wreck?
The Mazdaspeed 3 achieved ~250 hp with a turbocharged DISI 2.3L gas engine in a production car . Many Audi TT owners have "chipped" their dual-turbo 4 cylinders to get some serious power and torque, even at low RPMs.
Personally, I've always preferred the non-forced induction, large displacement engines, but the benefits of modern turbocharging are hard to ignore.
Four cylinder engines are appropriate for small cars ( 5.0 L V8 is very appealing.
(My above post got mangled somehow)
Four cylinder engines are appropriate for small cars ( 5.0 L V8 is very appealing.
(Sorry - "greater than" and "less than" symbols messed up my post.)
Four cylinder engines are appropriate for small cars (greater than 3000 lb loaded). People expect a buzzy high rpm engine in a small car. It's the two ton or greater sedans and trucks that need a V8 to satisfy USA drivers. For heavier vehicles that may be used for towing, the weight savings of a turbocharged I4 vs a V8 aren't worth the buzzy sound, loss of low-end torque, and shortened service life. A V6 might do in a pinch to fit sideways in a FWD car, but the inherent smoothness and balance of a greater than 5.0 L V8 is very appealing.
and finally "greater than 3000 lb" should have been "less than 3000 lb". I've never figured out how edit after posting.
Vehicles that have the word "luxury" in their description need a V6 or preferably a V8. Otherwise they're just overpriced ecoboxes.
With all of the wonderful technology available on four cylinder engines, a 1.8-2.5l V8 with 250 ft lb of torque at around 250 SAE net hp should be doable.
At a price point of $40,000 MSRP or higher a 4 banger aint butterin no parsnips, even if it has higher mpg, and produces more power than a comparable V6 or V8. Size and power don't matter IF the cylinder count is justified in the price.
Before it was called Ecoboost, it was "Twin-Force"--one turbo optimized for low rpms, a second for high. Combined with direct injection, Ecoboost engines appear to have relatively flat torque curves from 1500 up, with a peak in the mid-3000s.
The notion that 4-cylinder "luxury" cars were a "failed experiment" is ludicrous. The 1600, 2002, and 320i made BMW in the US, and the 230 (W115) and 190E sold reasonably well for Mercedes. Saab, Volvo, and Audi sold primarily 4-and-5-pots until the 90s. Cheap gas is made bigger engines, which are smoother with more cylinders, more attractive and it's legitimate to wonder how quickly today's spoiled customers will adapt. But the notion that cylinder count is more important than actual performance is primarily an American, and probably a male American, aberration.
I don't care about turbo/eco-boost and all that crap. Due to their harmonics, no matter what you do, 4 cylinders just sound cheap in an expensive care. It "buzzes" instead of "hums" like a straight/flat six or a v8.
One more thing, unless Buick does something miraculous with that eco-tec engine in the Lacrosse, it's going to be a pretty sad car. I dive a G6 daily with that engine and it's buzzy/thrashy 4-banger. Nowhere near as smooth as any 4 that Honda offers.
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