When Ford introduced its revolutionary 1.0-litre EcoBoost engine, the world was spellbound for what a pint sized motor it was, and could still develop 125 BHP of power from its 3-cylinders. Well, it now seems GM too was paying close attention to the EcoBoost’s developments and went back to its research and development centre to make a revolutionary example of its own and voila, we have the 1.0-litre Ecotec 3-cylinder engine.
GM’s all new 1.0-litre, 3-cylinder, all aluminium ‘Ecotec’ engine was developed in Russelsheim Germany and will be powering the small and medium sized cars in GM’s lineup. The engine will be capable of producing 90 HP and 115 HP of power and 165 Nm of torque from 1800 to 4700 RPM. The engine is mated to an all new lightweight 6-speed manual transmission. The new manual transmission is 36 kgs lighter than its predecessor. GM says that the engine has been tuned for improved economy and is the smoothest running turbocharged 3-cylinder petrol engine.
The 1.0-litre Ecotec engine will make its debut on the Opel Adam city car at the Geneva Motor Show next month. The Opel Adam will be available in both 90 HP and 115 HP configurations, returning an economy of 23.25 km/l (EU driving conditions) with CO2 emissions at 99 g/km. The Ecotec engine also gets other features such as Start/Stop system, variable valve timing, a counter rotating balance shaft to reduce vibrations, integrated exhaust manifold within the cylinder head, low-inertia water-cooled turbocharger and a switchable water pump. You also get acoustically optimised covers for the front and top of the engine to reduce noise levels.
The Opel Adam will be on sale in Europe soon after the conclusion of the Geneva Motor Show. It is certain that GM will plonking the new mill in its next generation of cars and we too might get the new engine possibly in the Adra compact SUV that was showcased at the 2014 Auto Expo. Both the car and the engine would be directly rivalling the Ford EcoSport in its segment. The Ecotec engine will gradually phase out the naturally aspirated units globally on GM’s small and medium cars to provide better fuel economy and added performance.
