GM Creates More Fuel Efficient Small Engine Family

General Motors is creating a family of more fuel efficient small engines for small cars, which it says will be quieter and more refined than those found in some rival models. The suite of engines will consist of 11 powerplants ranging from a 1.0-liter turbocharged three-cylinder to a 1.5-liter turbocharged inline-four, the company said today. GM says the new Ecotec engines will offer more refinement than competitive engines from Ford and Volkswagen. The three-cylinder Ecotec, GM says, will be as much as three decibels quieter than Ford’s 1.0-liter three-cylinder. GM isn't saying how much it is spending on the new Ecotec engines. But the company recently invested $200 million in its Flint plant to tool up for at least one variant. 

The three-cylinder engine is notable because rival Ford Motor Co. has been selling a highly regarded three-cylinder engine since fall in the Fiesta subcompact. Ford's three-cylinder engine also will be available in the 2015 Focus compact.GM did not disclose how much it expects the new engines to boost the fuel efficiency of its small-vehicle lineup.
 

The new Ecotec engines will have:

• Double overhead cams with four valves per cylinder.

• Water-cooled exhaust manifolds that enable faster warm-ups and the car's heater to deliver warm air quicker.

• Variable oil pumps that save energy by delivering only the amount of oil the engine needs based on speed, load and temperature.

• Piston cooling jets to control piston temperatures.

• Variable valve timing, which adjusts the opening and closing of the intake and exhaust valves and enables the engine to run more efficiently at different speeds.
 

Depending on the market and the application, some engines will be offered with direct fuel injection and turbocharging, which enables small displacement engines to deliver far more power. The engines also will be used in plug-in hybrids, such as the Chevrolet Volt and Cadillac ELR.With the Pontiac Solstice GXP and Saturn Sky Redline sports cars, GM in 2007 was one of the first automakers to offer turbocharging, direct fuel injection and variable valve timing to boost power. The 2.0-liter engines in those cars were rated at 260 hp.

Ford later used the same suite of technologies branded as EcoBoost. Ford has sold 1.2 million EcoBoost-equipped vehicles since they were launched in 2010. The engines will be built in Flint, Mich.; Shenyang, China; Szentgotthard, Hungary; Toluca, Mexico; and Changwon, South Korea.