3 cylinder cars

OTOH, that's not much more than 100 bhp/liter and there are many production vehicles that have that kind of specific output.
A factor to consider is that the Trax you cite will not be called upon to produce anything close to its rated output for 90% of the time it's running, but then this is true of almost all street vehicle engines.
The 2024 Mustang 5.0 can’t do it. It stops short at 94. 😁
 
Just to add, my Metro was one of those 3 door hatchback types. It was a manual with a 5 speed.
Believe it or not it was pretty nimble. I was just like this, only red in color. Memories of my younger days.

The engine was a Suzuki, in line 3, 1 liter. Probably around 50 hp.

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Remember in the most recent gas crisis, these started getting a lot of public attention? I think it was 2011 or something like that. I recall at that time considered getting one.
 
My dad bought a 94 metro at the time his ride to work was a dodge with a 318 .
he was tickled pink when his weekly gas bill went from $25 to $10.
His burnt a valve at 140k the only repairs he did where timing belt when he had the valve fixed and two wheel bearings. These cars were really a tin can on wheels.
 
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Did you feel they vibrated any more than a 4 cylinder?

Becasue of the weight added to it. 1, 2, 3 cyl engines will do good on motorcycles in terms of mpg but once you put weight on it, (the body, frame, seats and other accesories) it's no better than 4 cyl in terms of mpgs and yet even worst adding the weights of the occupant. Once you get into 5th gear (manual trans) the vehicle starts shaking, so you downshift to 4th to get an extra torque
I had a 3cyl K75C 750cc BMW motorcycle for 158,000 miles. It was about as smooth as an electric engine. How? A balance shaft running at crankcase speed if I remember correctly. Do the 3 banger cars have this or just rubber engine mounts?
 
Yes! At idle there is a slight vibration at idle you can feel in the vehicle that is inherent to odd cylinder vehicles that the manufacturers just can't seem to hide. On acceleration or cruising they are fine. The vibration at idle is so subtle only a car person would notice.
I rented a Ford Escape and noticed it occasionally. The auto start stop seemed to cover it up mostly .
 
Love my 3 cylinder fiesta. Peppier than the 4 cylinder, better gas mileage and handling. Shame they stopped making it.

great for towing behind an RV.

I heard that in Europe they have one cylinder deactivation under light load.
 
I had a 3cyl K75C 750cc BMW motorcycle for 158,000 miles. It was about as smooth as an electric engine. How? A balance shaft running at crankcase speed if I remember correctly. Do the 3 banger cars have this or just rubber engine mounts?

Yes the K75 had as balance shaft and was much smoother than the 4 cylinder K100 that didn't

Most 3 cylinder engines in cars do have a balancer shaft to smooth out the rocking couple but the Ford Ecoboost 1.0 doesn't. It uses an unbalanced flywheel instead to save the frictional losses of a balancer shaft.
 
Most 3 cylinder engines in cars do have a balancer shaft to smooth out the rocking couple but the Ford Ecoboost 1.0 doesn't.

Same with VW's I-3 1.0 TSI. No balancer shaft. Up to 115 HP
and ~150 ft-lb per liter!
To me the main issue with 3-pots, in particular turbocharged,
is vibration at the flywheel. As a result it requires a significantly
stronger and heavier dual-mass flywheel. High rotational mass
makes a dismayingly slow response.
.
 
The Geo Metro was one of many Suzuki Swift clones. They were badged as Suzuki Cultus in the UK in the '80s and '80s. Most were equipped with normally aspirated 3-bangers. Some had I4 engines. They were zippy enough but flimsy.
 
the Geo Metro engine weighs about 130lbs total. You could almost take it out by hand! I remember seeing people getting north of 60mpg with geo metros on the freeway. They would use aero mods and drive at 60mph. Kinda neat that you can do that with old tech.
 
Here is a good comparison between the 2024 1.2 liter turbo 3 cylinder in the Trax vs the 2022 1.4 liter turbo 4 cylinder. It gets an extra 4 mpg in the city but no extra gas mileage on the highway. Since it’s smaller in displacement it makes sense to make the jump to 3 cylinders rather than make the pistons smaller or de-stroke a four cylinder.

View attachment 223374
It also has a wet timing belt. Ask Ford how well that's worked out for them. No thanks.

I get 34-36 on the highway, 23-24 in town with a 20 year old GM 2.2 Ecotec.

What was gained with all this nonsense?
 
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