Mini News Most liked posts in thread: MINI's Three Cylinder Shown

Remember Crash, size doesn't matter. It's how it is used that counts.

Jim

 

Not in all cases Jim :ihih:

 

Don't worry guys at least you will only need to walnut blast 6 intake valves. :smilewinkgrin:

 

Good catch Jim...
Getting rid of the stratifying of the DI engine.... Should mean moving the injection out of the cylinder and back to the intake runners.... If that truly is part of the design of the new engines the intake valves will get a regular woarshing of dino mist.... Hope that's the case....

 

Nice to see they moved the intake to the front of the engine and the exhaust to the back. The exhaust heat won't wash over and heat soak the intake.

 

Sounds really nice to me...

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GE6SGcT_eI]BMW Dreizylinder-Testfahrt als Turbo-Benziner mit 130 kW, verbaut im 1er F20 - YouTube[/ame]

 

IF.... BMW does it right, it could be exciting times... Will wait and see...:fingerscrossed:

 

"The first thing that became apparent is that BMW has been working hard on making this three-cylinder still sound like a Bimmer that BMW fans would happily buy instead of a cracking four-pot."

Gawd..... I hope they aren't doing the sound through the radio speakers....

 

That is a tiny little thing. At least the alternator looks easy to get to. :lol:

 

More information at MotoringFile: http://www.motoringfile.com/2012/09/13/bmw-efficient-dynamics-new-innovations-3-cylinder-engines/

 

I know the power will be about the same, but from a marketing standpoint a 3cyl just doesn't sound right.

 

I had a 3cyl Metro as my first car. You want to talk about a horrible power band and poor balancing, hope this does a little better.

 

So did my sister, I managed to spin the tired in the dry once. I was not even trying. I just needed to turn left on a busy street and I knew I had to floor it.

 

I just don't like the idea of an odd number of cylinders :sosp:

 

Regarding odd cylinder counts, I don't know about the driveability of 3 cylinder engines, but the 5-cylinder in my old Volvo 850 turbo wagon was very smooth.

Of course, 3 cylinders would be one combustion cycle every 240* of rotation instead of once every 144* for the I5...hell, that's got to at least be better than a 1 cylinder diesel engine, right?

 

Looks cool, plenty of power considering the size, but I'm not sure...if I hear 3 cylinder, I think Geo Metro. Yuck!

On the other hand I also think Triumph Rocket III. An aptly name bike. Damn thing is so fast (for a heavy cruiser) that it should come with a seat belt.

 

So you're saying it could be bad, or it could be good. I think you're right!

 

Not nice too see that they still refuse to put the oil filter anywhere other than the worst and least accessible position in the engine bay. And yes, I am assuming that if I didn't see it in the picture it's still in the same ridiculous place.

 

I too have owned a three-cylinder car, a Korean version to the same three-cylinder Suzuki engine in the Geo Metro and I'll say that it is preferable to four cylinders - where a four just buzzes, a three burbles. Lots of nice character.

And any Triumph motorcycle owners will tell you what a lovely engine format it is.

It's probably not the best layout for the many people whose dream car is something like a refrigerator, that works faultlessly and involves them as little as possible. But for a driver, a three is a win.