Two stories on GM's new small turbo engines

[Texan-CST/10]

Originally Posted by racy

you laugh...but i'll bet we'll hear about something like this within the next year.

Detroit Mich. - 2009

GM Introduces new turbo 3-Cylinder Geo Metro.

[DemonKnightDK]

it was humourus but at the same time I do belive it will happen. Those are the power specs on my Accent 1.6L 4 so a if a trubo 3 can make the same power and doulbe the MPG i'd buy it. (as a work/town car, my firebird would still pick up the slack on the weekend.)

[johnstarnes]

I'm the first to admit ignorance about ICE engines as all my life my car passions have been related to provocative car styling and design, and alternative power plants. So to those here who ARE knowledgeable on these matters, I have to ask if these relate in any way to Ford's "Eco-Boost" engines, and if so, how. thanks.

[tamatt27]

Originally Posted by HoosierRon

Hm..the EV1 of the 60's eh?
Why does DI must be accompanied by a turbo?
On the note of the 3-cyl...is the Beat still on schedule for production?

[DemonKnightDK]

about eco-boot, to my understanding, its the same principle. (i liked the twin-force name better my self.. maybe they keeping that for SVT applications ^_^)

[osiris]

Hey thanks for the rep HoosierRon. That's a pretty cool experiment that Chrysler did, most notably making a car that can run on Tequila. My kind of ride senior!

I think the best way these days would be to put in a smaller gas turbine that can run at a constant speed by powering an electrical generator. Something so simple and light with that much torque potential could do very well with sufficient development.

[johnstarnes]

Originally Posted by osiris

Hey thanks for the rep HoosierRon. That's a pretty cool experiment that Chrysler did, most notably making a car that can run on Tequila. My kind of ride senior!

I think the best way these days would be to put in a smaller gas turbine that can run at a constant speed by powering an electrical generator. Something so simple and light with that much torque potential could do very well with sufficient development.

That is an excellent idea! And then run that turbine with a sensible biofuel!

[Michael_S]

For the 1.4 turbo, say for the sake of argument it improves average mileage for a Cobalt from 32 mpg with the current 2.2 liter naturally aspirated 4-cylinder to 37.

If you drive 100,000 miles, that saves you 423 gallons. At $3.75 per gallon, that's $1586.25. Presumably the added cost of the turbo versus the 2.2 is less than $1500.

So it looks like a good idea to offer it, at least as an option.

[eb110americana]

Originally Posted by Michael_S

For the 1.4 turbo, say for the sake of argument it improves average mileage for a Cobalt from 32 mpg with the current 2.2 liter naturally aspirated 4-cylinder to 37.

If you drive 100,000 miles, that saves you 423 gallons. At $3.75 per gallon, that's $1586.25. Presumably the added cost of the turbo versus the 2.2 is less than $1500.

So it looks like a good idea to offer it, at least as an option.

That's a useful calculation, but I sure hope it gets better than 37 mpg. The current XFE Cobalt 2.2L (soon to be the standard model) gets 36 mpg hwy, so I would hope a 27.3% decrease in displacement with more low end torque would lead to better than 1 mpg. I'm really hoping they can break the 40mpg US barrier with this engine.

[Michael_S]

Originally Posted by eb110americana

That's a useful calculation, but I sure hope it gets better than 37 mpg. The current XFE Cobalt 2.2L (soon to be the standard model) gets 36 mpg hwy, so I would hope a 27.3% decrease in displacement with more low end torque would lead to better than 1 mpg. I'm really hoping they can break the 40mpg US barrier with this engine.

I was guessing a 32 miles per gallon overall average, not just for highway mileage.