MOTOR

that indicated he’d been tossing it around

at work for years. Which he had been.

He threw it into the conversation about

why Benz wouldn’t do a three-cylinder,

and it came out exactly like this: “We

are converted to a way of downsizing

without bigger compromises like that.

With a four-cylinder of 1.6 litres, people

can drive at slower rpm compared to the

three-cylinder, and that’s important in

our C- and B-Class cars.”

But Mercedes-Benz has since

backflipped and will even fit a three-

cylinder engine to its next E-Class...

The more we dug, the more we saw

it wasn’t just Mercedes, either, because

downspeeding is now a thing at the

other two Big Three Germans. Former

BMW board member of development,

Herbert Diess, has admitted to MOTOR

downspeeding could become more

extreme than anybody credits, especially

in mass production. “To get below 80

grams we will need longer gearboxes

If the atmo engine is to live on anywhere, it’s likely
to be in the realm of the hypercar; tiny production
volumes mean emissions are almost irrelevant and
huge price tags justify the cost of creating bespoke
engines, such as the 4.6-litre V8 found in the
Porsche 918 Spyder (right)

and down-speeding engines,” he said.

“Initially that will mean 1800-

2500rpm for internal combustion

engines (ICE), but it will really mean

800-1500rpm in the longer term. That’s

where the ICE has to go in the future

to meet those kinds of numbers. High

torque, low revs, higher injection

pressures and probably electric power to

boost at low speeds.

“We all knew this was coming. When

we kept MINI as a brand one of our

major motivations was our fleet CO2

emissions.” Sadly, those same fleet CO2

averages must include quattro, M and

AMG. All three sell only turbocharged

cars (with the exception of the outgoing

C63, the RS4 and the R8), though all

three also have hints of a future that

might save atmo engines.

“Having the i division does not restrict

M from going to hybrid technology,”

M’s head of product, Carsten Pries said.

“We do not define the technology that

and down-speeding engines,” he said.

“Initially that will mean 1800-

2 500rpm for internal combustion

major motivations was our fleet CO2

emissions.” Sadly, those same fleet CO2

averages must include quattro, M and

88 march 2015 motormag.com.au