The latest news on Honda's return to Formula 1 just reminded me of the new rule the FIA announced in 2010.

That the 2.4L V8s are to be replaced with 1.6L V6 turbocharged engines. I think its great. I am familiar with older compact V6 technology thanks to my old Eunos 1.8V6..lelelele.

Anyway, that's not why I am sharing this, what I find most interesting is that while F1 goes in smaller engine direction, we are already seeing a shift in development of new cars where smaller engines will are making headways.

Ford has the Ecoboost 3 cylinder (1.0 in Fiesta and Ecosport SUV) and 4 cylinders small engines (1.5 in Mondeo and 1.6 in the Kuga) in some of their cars. BMW is soon to release a 3 cylinder B38 1.5L engine for the 1 series.

Volkswagen group did a number with their 1.4 TFSI engines a while back. Peugeot has a 3 cylinder 1.0L and 1.2L engines for the 208 (which we may not see it here).

So far it's just big boys for now but expect to see smaller ones follow suit as well. One day, maybe Proton also.

But what I dont understand is that some of us a quick to shoot down smaller engine technology. I've been reading through some post here in the F&F and more often than not I find a large number of adverse opinions concerning reliability/durability and power. I am actually for one, is looking forward to see how smaller engines can perform through applications in larger vehicles, the Ford Mondeo 1.5 for example. the plus point for me, cheaper road tax and the efficiency promise. Sometimes I think there are too many of use spoilt by T & H reliability that we are scared of new things.

Maybe if T & H started this earlier, we would accept it differently..

I guess with F1 going with the smaller engine route will be good start to see how this will work.

This post has been edited by cokeaddict: May 16 2013, 07:43 PM

Where's the "Love it" button when u need one?

I remember, in the 80's it was all about reliability. Then came the 90's it was all about performance. After that, we started moving into efficiency and I guess at this stage is where, a lot of changes were made in vehicle engineering.

We used to get reliability thanks to car makers who often tend to over-engineer certain models in their stable to beat competitors. In the case of Mercedes it was the W124 which I still consider till today as a bullet proof car (hell...it's bombed with a canon and could still crank!), BMW did a number on Mercedes with their E39 5 series.

I guess at some point some bean counter dude must have realised that making reliable cars are hurting their wallets... no one is coming in for part replacements so lets put a cap on reliability..

Frankly speaking, I am not sure how the small engines would fair myself but I know the auto makers and engineers put a lot of time into research and development and even test these powertrains under real life simulations.

To be honest, years back I did have some fun with a 3 cylinder turbocharged engine in my Kancil. had many trips up and down Genting and Cameron plus numerous highway trips. Frankly, never had any problems with the car nor the engine in the 5 years I had it.

Wear and tear is inevitable but if we practise preventive maintenance...change the necessary parts when it is due..I think the engine will last for a very long time.

A generation of us played around with older cars which means we had to study the car and the engines to be sure of what to expect. And due to the fact that these were older cars, tere were heaps of resources available for reference and remedies as well.

I guess new technology scares people because there is a lack of resources in terms of usage as it is still new. Maybe there is merit for people to doubt it then.

Yup, they have one for the Renault Twingo and plans are in place for the engine to be applied to the next generation of Smart For 2.

I guess the interest in the ford engines are probably for future developments or partnerships. We won't know where this is heading unless further news is released.

but hey...mana tau Mb puts this into their A-Class

bro...big or small....any engine will suck fuel in city drive bro... imagine the countless times we get stuck in traffic..on the way to work, meetings and home? Pure waste of fuel.