Does Size Matter? Engine Displacement….How Low Can They Go?

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dkryan

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Dan Neil, in his WSJ ”Rumble Seat” column dated July 17th, opines on the 2025 Buick Envista Sport Touring crossover.

All 1.2 liter, 137 hp with 162 lb-ft. of torque! And a six speed tranny coupled to an open front differential providing front wheel drive only.

I enjoy reading Dan Neil’s reviews, oftentimes on cars I can never afford, but I had to laugh when he described the ride as “…….fetching and fancy, the Envista delivers teacup poodle energy at pound-puppy prices.”

I know it’s built on the Chevy Trax platform.

But lately I thought the 1.5L Honda engine was as low as car manufacturers were willing to go.

The gas mileage on that three cylinder is nothing to write home about.

Are we going to see a future car engine displacement at 1L?

https://www.wsj.com/lifestyle/cars/...2c7d7?st=KMnQCb&reflink=article_copyURL_share
 
^ hard pass for me. I would think American cars, especially something like a Buick would stick to what they are good at... This seems like an attempt at a Kia / BMW mix.

Are we going to see a future car engine displacement at 1L?

Family member had a ~2015 Prius-C (The compact hatchback) it was a n/a 0.9L 4 cylinder.
 
BobsArmory said:
We already have many years ago. Remember the Geo Metro?
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And the Diahatsu Charade, mom had one. We put a pile of miles on that thing. She still owns it, although I think the oil filter mounting pad has given up the ghost and you can't buy the part to replace it without finding a good one in a junkyard.
 
Speedbird001 said:
^ hard pass for me. I would think American cars, especially something like a Buick would stick to what they are good at... This seems like an attempt at a Kia / BMW mix.

Are we going to see a future car engine displacement at 1L?

Family member had a ~2015 Prius-C (The compact hatchback) it was a n/a 0.9L 4 cylinder.
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They are made in Korea. I think the old Daewoo plant which became GM Korea.
 
ctechbob said:
And the Diahatsu Charade, mom had one. We put a pile of miles on that thing. She still owns it, although I think the oil filter mounting pad has given up the ghost and you can't buy the part to replace it without finding a good one in a junkyard.
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I had to look that up. I don't know if I have ever seen one. Had no idea Diahatsu ever sold stuff here.
 
SC Maintenance said:
I had to look that up. I don't know if I have ever seen one. Had no idea Diahatsu ever sold stuff here.
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My parents weren't very well off in the late 80's and needed cars, they bought two of them. Dad had a 4-door 1990 model (I4/Automatic) and mom had the 1989 hatchback (I3/5 Speed). They were cheap cars, but we never had any problems out of them. They just kept going.
 
The Suzuki LJ10 was sold here in the States. It had a 359cc Mitsubishi two-cylinder, 2-stroke engine.

Before that there was the Subaru 360, with it's 356cc two-cylinder 2-stroke engine.

There was also the Honda 600, and several of other small cars with engines under 1 liter.
 
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I feel we are getting past the "sweet spot" of downsizing and turbocharging for economy gains I rented a Trax a couple of weeks ago with this engine and it was, as expected, an inadequate producer. I'd be more OK with it if it returned excellent MPGs, but it did not. The thing is, when you have to get the turbo spooled up constantly on these little turds just to get moving it negates the economy gains of going with such a small displacement.
 
tbm5690 said:
I feel we are getting past the "sweet spot" of downsizing and turbocharging for economy gains I rented a Trax a couple of weeks ago with this engine and it was, as expected, an inadequate producer. I'd be more OK with it if it returned excellent MPGs, but it did not. The thing is, when you have to get the turbo spooled up constantly on these little turds just to get moving it negates the economy gains of going with such a small displacement.
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I think this is a better argument. Yes there is a break over point where the smaller displacement turbo engine is less efficient than its larger NA counterpart.

Ex: Two previously owned Ford Fusions - 2.5 NA with average MPG in the low 30’s and 1.5T with average MPG in the high 20’s.

Basically owned two of the exact same vehicle body wise however the one with the smaller turbo engine did significantly worse in real world MPG.
 
Feel free to correct here:

I know that tiny engine like this probably aren't going to last as long, but given the smaller size isn't it going to make it much easier to DIY replace the engine?
 
Pew said:
We already do, the Ford focus had a 3 cylinder, 1L turbo mated to a 6-speed manual or 6-speed traditional automatic. Sold in the USA from '15 to I think '17 or '19..
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Maybe not directly caused by it's small displacement, but that engine wasn't very good. Turbo was probably pretty busy and had some issues, and it couldn't keep the coolant in the right places, and also the wet oil pump belt shredded and clogged the oil pump. Ford only recalled them for the oil pump belt.
 
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