The future of tiny-engined new cars

Just your normal general chatting in here..

Moderator: Moderators

User avatar
Welly
The moderator formally known as Welton
Posts: 15033
Joined: Tue Jan 10, 2006 12:52 pm
Location: East Midlandfordshire

The future of tiny-engined new cars

Post by Welly »

Renault have announced the new Laguna will come with a 1.5dCi (1461cc) with 109BHP instead of the 1.9 unit.

VW have a 1.4 petrol supercharged/turbo'd unit.

Seems that cars of the future will have tiny highly tuned engines to cut down on emissions but it makes me wonder how long-lived or reliable these highly strung engines will be?

Our 2.0 pug petrols will cruise on effortlessly for ever but imagine a 1.4 engine in a 406 :lol:

In some ways our future generations will have more things to play with as more and more 'normal' cars will have turbo's so the tuners will be happy in the future but I can't help thinking the enthusiast will feel short changed in terms of cubic capacity.

What do you think?
Cars in my care:
2021 Kia Spottage 1.6 Pez Turbo Dual Clutch Gearbox Trickery
2013 Renner Twingo - donkey work
User avatar
mjb
Site Admin
Posts: 7983
Joined: Wed May 31, 2006 9:06 pm
Location: Stoke

Post by mjb »

Great idea from their point of view... Make a tiny engine work twice as hard so you half its life expectancy and kill the 2nd hand banger market forcing more people to buy new cars

:evil:
<steve_earwig> I think this forum is more about keeping our cars going with minimal outlay than giving our cars more reason to go bang
mbell666
3.0 24v
Posts: 642
Joined: Mon Aug 08, 2005 10:11 pm
Location: Cambridge

Post by mbell666 »

110 horses shouldn't be a problem for a 1.5, the 1.4k series has been kicking out 105 in standard form for years, they don't die (if the head gaskets last that is).

If there going to put a lot of power they just need to make sure the bottom end is up to it, the cc of the engine doesn't really matter.

Happened to be a donnington for the formula Renault a few weeks ago (please don't mention the traffic). Was looking at the old F1 cars in the paddock, The JP Lotus car said that it was ~1000 BHP which is pretty impressive in its self. Then when I read it was a 1.5 turbo i had to pick my jaw of the ground and tap it closed.
1997 Honda Prelude 2.2 VTi
Previously - 1999 406 Executive HDI
User avatar
darrenwall
2.0 Turbo
Posts: 471
Joined: Wed Feb 14, 2007 7:43 pm
Location: caerphilly , south wales

Re: The future of tiny-engined new cars

Post by darrenwall »

Welton wrote: imagine a 1.4 engine in a 406 :lol:
they put a 1.4 engine in the 405 when that first come out but they never sold it in this country only france cos it was so underpowered and the 405 was a lot lighter than a 406 :shock: .
this country has gone too far with all this global warming bullshit , i read recently that something like 97% of CO2 was produced naturaly and only 0.3% from cars . even car adverts are going green , back in the 80's a car advert would show a car being driven fast emphasing its performance then in the 90's adverts were more towards safety but just last week i seen a car advert that very briefly showed the car from a front angle and spent the rest of the advert saying how little CO2 it produced , i dont even know which car it was :evil: :evil: .
thats my rant over for today but it does piss me off how motorists are blamed and ripped off with so called " green " taxes for global warming when it has been proved it is a natural thing that occurs every couple of thousand years , take the last ice age for example , how many cars were about then ? errrr none :shock: . i really must stop ranting now and go out for a needless blast in my Mi16 before they ban motoring altogether :cry:
User avatar
Welly
The moderator formally known as Welton
Posts: 15033
Joined: Tue Jan 10, 2006 12:52 pm
Location: East Midlandfordshire

Post by Welly »

Heh I saw the same thing aswell about rotting vegitation and dead leaves producing CO2 it's just part of natures cycle.

Maybe one day some bearded wonder in a white coat will appear on the 10 o'clock news and tell us all to De-CAT our cars and drive flat out to build up the pollution again because they were sorry and made a mistake about it :lol: :lol:

*starts looking at a Vauxhall Monaro
Cars in my care:
2021 Kia Spottage 1.6 Pez Turbo Dual Clutch Gearbox Trickery
2013 Renner Twingo - donkey work
Andreus84
1.8 8v
Posts: 44
Joined: Wed Sep 26, 2007 10:02 pm

Post by Andreus84 »

Lil engines are the way forward.

the way technology has moved on you can get the performance from the smaller engines.

No CO2 is a different matter, it is cheaper for the missus' dad to tax his 1.3 diesel ford fusion than it is for me to tax my 600cc Suzuki Bandit.
I swear he produces more CO2!!
User avatar
TooT
3.0 24v
Posts: 1228
Joined: Sat Mar 24, 2007 1:34 pm
Location: North Yorkshire

Post by TooT »

I have a mate that drives a Polo 1.4TDI. Its got 75bhp being produced from its 3 pots and is surprisingly quick :shock:
2006 207 GT THP 150
User avatar
mjb
Site Admin
Posts: 7983
Joined: Wed May 31, 2006 9:06 pm
Location: Stoke

Re: The future of tiny-engined new cars

Post by mjb »

darrenwall wrote:it does piss me off how motorists are blamed and ripped off with so called " green " taxes for global warming when it has been proved it is a natural thing that occurs every couple of thousand years , take the last ice age for example , how many cars were about then ? errrr none
On the radio this morning was someone talking about how much pollution is caused per person in different countries. I think the UK was around 12 million tons per person and France was the "cleanest" European country only kicking out 8 million tons per person. Why? Because France uses more nuclear power!
<steve_earwig> I think this forum is more about keeping our cars going with minimal outlay than giving our cars more reason to go bang
User avatar
jameslxdt
3.0 24v
Posts: 2512
Joined: Wed Apr 26, 2006 9:30 pm
Location: London, on me bike
Contact:

Post by jameslxdt »

Andreus84 wrote:Lil engines are the way forward.
have to disagree there, diesel is the way forward, petrol engines will never produce enough low down torque to keep CO2 levels low, and petrol will never burn as clean as diesel, and with most new diesels being fitted with particulate filters, particulate emissions are zero, and CO2 is almost none existant

as for hybrid technology it will never be reliable enough, and is just far too expensive to maintain, the batteries cost as much as a new engine!

then you have Bi-fuel, more like Bi-bollocks :lol: the combustion temperature is far too high and engines wear very prematurely, you still have to start using petrol which emits a huge amount of CO2

Diesel rules!
i just wish i had one :lol:
Peugeot wrote:what are you worried about? we made car that lasted 10 years"..."Zat is very goode non? :|
FAQ - 406 D8 petrol (excl. V6) running and starting problems
User avatar
STALLED
The moderator down under
Posts: 1175
Joined: Sat Jan 06, 2007 6:26 am
Location: Syd - Aus

Post by STALLED »

My favourite to be honest is the Citroen BX 1.1 for the dutch market! They didn't sell many (I wonder why....) and they are a bit of a collectors item these days because they are so rare. Probably would be the slowest thing in the world!
1997 406 D8 ST Manual 2.0L!

Image
User avatar
DaiRees
Site Admin
Posts: 5377
Joined: Sat Aug 06, 2005 8:24 am
Location: Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales (God's Country!)

Post by DaiRees »

The problem with all this environmental propaganda bolox is that it all depends who you listen to. I personally think that Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth" and Channel 4's " The Great Global Warming Swindle" should both be compulsory viewing in schools. For my 2 penneth I agree that climate change is a naturally occurring and cycling phenomenon, but have no doubt at all that the upsurge of industry and technology and subsequent rape of the planet that's occurred over the last 200 years or so, coupled with an ever increasing global population is certainly contributing to the problem, and making the current cycle the most extreme yet.

Anyway, as far as cars go. Hybrid is bolox, have you seen the carbon footprint of a toyota prius? Mostly due to the production and later disposal of it's batteries.
Electric cars? Batteries again! But also where do you get the power from to recharge it? The coal fired power station down the road? Unless the owner has their own windfarm they should be shot!
Consumption of any oil based fuel is going to be a problem, not so much the emissions any more but the depletion of the resource.
Bio fuels? OK it'd solve the depletion of natural resources problem, but the world will never be able to grow enough crops to make all the fuel it needs.

Then there's the added problem that just as the developed world is realising what we've done to the place and starting to address it, the developing world is just starting their own rape of the planet. What, are we supposed to try and stop those less fortunate than ourselves from improving their lives in case their actions "damage" the planet? That would be really humanitarian wouldn't it (and it is going on!)?

The word of the day is "Sustainability". :roll:

I reckon we're screwed :lol:

Right, I'm gonna buy a 20 year old V8 landrover and tear up some countryside.... :P :wink: :oops:
Image
Playtime_Fontayne wrote:"Dai Rees Supplier of Fine Automobilia. Established 2007"
V6Exec
3.0 24v
Posts: 535
Joined: Mon Apr 23, 2007 11:17 pm
Location: Herts

Post by V6Exec »

DaiRees wrote:Right, I'm gonna buy a 20 year old V8 landrover and tear up some countryside
Better yet, get a straight 6 - mine is tax exempt. :cheesy:
User avatar
STALLED
The moderator down under
Posts: 1175
Joined: Sat Jan 06, 2007 6:26 am
Location: Syd - Aus

Post by STALLED »

I took a "Geoscience" course at uni and it dabbled in the notions of global warming. As much as carbon dioxide emmissions are making things worse, the earth has cycles in which it heats and cools its self. I think that we all have to do our thing for the environment, but at the same time we have to consider things like:

"Will driving a Toyota Prius make the environment healthier"....No

At the end of the day its still a car which emmits pollutants into the atmosphere. It took natural resources to build, its going to degrade eventually in a landfill somewhere. A false economy really!

To be honest, If I really cared about the environment, I'd buy a 20 year old 405 TD and run it on veggie oil. By then the carbon footprint would have worked itself off, you can use spares off other cars and the biodiesel is merely a wasteproduct - again another win win situation!

Joel
1997 406 D8 ST Manual 2.0L!

Image
V6Exec
3.0 24v
Posts: 535
Joined: Mon Apr 23, 2007 11:17 pm
Location: Herts

Post by V6Exec »

With global warming there is so much information out there it tends to get contradictory.

It has become far too political and is now just another buzz word. Given that the main consumers are not going to cut back I say enjoy - get a V6 :mrgreen:
V6Exec
3.0 24v
Posts: 535
Joined: Mon Apr 23, 2007 11:17 pm
Location: Herts

Post by V6Exec »

How about the ultimate diesel hybrid? Note that CD player and aircon are options
Post Reply