1.0 litre 3 pot turbo engines

[Chris S]

What they like then, do they have the 3 cylinder out of balance vibration and noise and what about longevity, torque, grunt etc.

The cranks are at 120 degrees to each other so they're as smooth as a conventional 4 cylinder engine.

Having said that I had an Austin Metro that spent the last month of its life running around on three cylinders (it had probably burnt out a valve). The only time I noticed much difference was on the motorway.

 

[Jody]

Ford 1.0 Ecoboost is one of the most popular engines that we sell.

I've not driven one as I don't work in that side of the trade any more but they are meant to be a pokey little engine.

Not sure I'd trust a 1.0 turbo in an Octavia. Imagine the engine load with 5 people and the boot full

 

[Deleted member 26715]

Being in west Wales I'd say 70% semi rural A & B roads with a bit of motorway driving. Current motor 2.0 litre turbo diesel.

You're going to notice a difference going from a 2.0L diesel you can be very lazy driving one of those, the torque makes gear changing a secondary thing. With the 1.0L you'll be using the gearbox more, you simply can't floor it to overtake, you have to think, change down then go. But other than that there's not a great deal of difference, hire one, take an extended test drive.

 

[Gunk]

Being in west Wales I'd say 70% semi rural A & B roads with a bit of motorway driving. Current motor 2.0 litre turbo diesel.

They’re very efficient due to lower levels of friction and they’re also nice and free revving, however you will miss the torque.

 

[Salar]

I'm expecting to notice a difference with gear changes, as you say a torquey 2 litre turbo diesel does make it easy.

Not sold on the idea yet, I might test drive one at the weekend (and maybe put a couple of rugby mates in the back ) before I revert back to bigger turbo or naturally aspired engines.

 

[Deleted member 26715]

I'm expecting to notice a difference with gear changes, as you say a torquey 2 litre turbo diesel does make it easy.

Not sold on the idea yet, I might test drive one at the weekend (and maybe put a couple of rugby mates in the back ) before I revert back to bigger turbo or naturally aspired engines.

A bigger NA is going to be worse, it will lack the torque, a lot of them are built for motorway driving driving so makes them gutless low down, the Honda V-Tec for instance, claimed to be one of the best engines in the world, but to me a gutless wonder under 6K then a screaming banshee over 7.2K, but you can't drive everywhere above 7.2K although some try to do. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised as long as your expectations are correct, as said above the Ford Ecoboost is one of the most popular engines in a whole range of cars these days.

 

[Salar]

I've had three V Tecs over the years, 2.2 Prelude, 1.6 CRX and a 3.0 Accord. Best of the bunch by far at high revs was the 2.2. The 3.0 litre Accord just didn't seem to have any poke.

 

[Profpointy]

3 cylinders are naturally balanced. The C1 engine is very smooth.

I don't think that's strictly correct. A 3 cylinder engine is not particularly well balanced at all, but may seem so as nearly all modern ones have a "balancer shaft" driven from the engine which cancels out the inherent out-of-balanceness of the 3 cylinder arrangement. Thus, BMW's "brick" motorcycles came in 750 3 cylinder and 1000cc 4 cylinder versions. The 3 cylinder had a balancer shaft, and as a result was smoother than the already-balanced 4 cylinder which didn't need a balancer shaft.

My Triumph motorcycle is a triple, with balancer shaft, and is lovely.

But an in-line four is naturally balanced, but not as well as a straight six, whilst a triple is not.
My four cylinder Saab has a balancer shaft as well, and is very smooth indeed.
I've previously owned a straight six, and it was super smooth - no balancer shafts and a fairly unsophisticated engine, so it was inherent in the layout

 

[fossyant]

OP could always get the Petrol 1.5 Turbos if he wants a bit more poke.

 

[Jody]

OP could always get the Petrol 1.5 Turbos if he wants a bit more poke.

If he wants the best of both then remap the 1.0

 

[Salar]

I've just remembered, my better half had a Renault Captur when they first came out, kept it for a year or so, then bits started to fall off. That was a 0.9 three cylinder turbo, my mind must be going.

Have to say fuel economy was very good, but if you pressed the economy button it would struggle uphill.

From what little I can remember the engine was much more smoother than the C1.

So I've owned one without even remembering....doh, what a plonker

 

[Profpointy]

The cranks are at 120 degrees to each other so they're as smooth as a conventional 4 cylinder engine.

Having said that I had an Austin Metro that spent the last month of its life running around on three cylinders (it had probably burnt out a valve). The only time I noticed much difference was on the motorway.

Mechanical balance would still be the same on the running-on-three, but four-cylinder engine as the pistons etc would still be going up and down just the same.

Also, at the risk of being geeky, whilst a 120 crank on the 3-cylinder evens out the the firing, you still get a mechanical wobble due to lack of balance. Some Laverda 3 cylinder motorcycles had 180 degree cranks which sounded as if they were "missing" as the firing sequence was uneven but it reduced the mechanical out-of-balance-ness. These didn't have balancer shafts. Very appealing machines !

 

[Faratid]

After 25 years of 1.6-2.0ltr turbo diesels, I've been driving a Focus with the 1.0 ecoboost engine for the last 3 years. We've done long distances in France, Spain & Italy as well as local stuff. It's smooth, quiet, nice to drive and produces 125ps (123.3 bhp) which provides good acceleration and sustained high speeds over long distances with no difficulty. MPG is around 8-10 less than the diesels. VED is £20 a year. For those who drive in France occasionally it has a CRIT'air rating of 1, which is as low as you can get before being all electric, and means there are no prohibitions for driving in Paris, Lyon, Grenoble or many other French cities.

 

[Faratid]

With the 1.0L you'll be using the gearbox more, you simply can't floor it to overtake, you have to think, change down then go.

Not in my experience.

 

[Salar]

The Captur (from what I can remember) was an easy going comfortable car and very practical.

Wonder if they are screwed together better now. We had one of the first when they came out.

I wouldn't have another one though, not because of the engine, but because of poor build quality.