Small engine, BIG car....

[barmonkey]

We had a 6 door Mercedes W124 limo at work for a bit. This was essentially a saloon cut in half with a heavy middle section and some reinforcing welded into the middle. Add in the weight of 7 passengers and the driver and it was a very heavy machine indeed.

And the mighty beast tasked with dragging that lot around? The 2.5 litre non turbo diesel engine which IIRC made about 95 hp.

[daemon]

Does engine size really matter these days? Surely its about BHP?

Does the new 1.0 Ecoboost not put out 120BHP or something in its highest output guise?

[va1o]

daemon said:

Does engine size really matter these days? Surely its about BHP?

Does the new 1.0 Ecoboost not put out 120BHP or something in its highest output guise?

Yep agree with this but a lot of people can't see past the capacity.

[MC Bodge]

daemon said:

Does engine size really matter these days? Surely its about BHP?

Surely it is about the torque curve?

[MrsThatcher]

va1o said:

daemon said:

Does engine size really matter these days? Surely its about BHP?

Does the new 1.0 Ecoboost not put out 120BHP or something in its highest output guise?

Yep agree with this but a lot of people can't see past the capacity.

There's no replacement for displacement ;-)

[jonnM]

Willy Nilly said:

Quhet said:

The new Mondeo's going to have a 1 litre engine is it not?

but it's 125hp though.

Same bhp per litre as a Veyron!

[cheddar]

va1o said:

daemon said:

Does engine size really matter these days? Surely its about BHP?

Does the new 1.0 Ecoboost not put out 120BHP or something in its highest output guise?

Yep agree with this but a lot of people can't see past the capacity.

MC Bodge said:

Surely it is about the torque curve?

999cc, 123bhp and 148 lb ft torque on overboost.

Not long ago it would've taken an engine of twice the capacity to achieve those outputs.

The 1000cc/200bhp production car is coming.

[MarshPhantom]

Our next door neighbours had a bright yellow 1.3 Capri for many years when I was young.

[s p a c e m a n]

E34 518 touring has to be up there as a stupid spec, guessing about 100bhp dragging about 2 tonne along.

[ajprice]

Volvo S80 1.6D Drive, 107bhp, much torque though (177lb ft).

[Mr2Mike]

MC Bodge said:

Surely it is about the torque curve?

Surely it's not.

[HustleRussell]

s p a c e m a n said:

E34 518 touring has to be up there as a stupid spec, guessing about 100bhp dragging about 2 tonne along.

518i was never going to set the world alight but I think you are underestimating the power output and overestimating the weight... I thought it was more like 130bhp & 1,500kg, which makes, what, 87bhp/ton? Quite a bit more than a lot of small 6v or 8v hatchbacks...

[HustleRussell]

Mr2Mike said:

MC Bodge said:

Surely it is about the torque curve?

Surely it's not.

Surely torque curve has quite a lot to do with it.

[folos]

Was there a 718i or am I imagining things?

[ejenner]

TheDoggingFather said:

DELETED: Comment made by a member who's account has been deleted.

I believe the Greek/Cypriot market got a 1.1 Capri. Low Compression at that, for their ste fuel.

I'm not buying the whole 'Capri' idea. It's not a big car. Might be externally large but only in the same way as a GT/sports car.

[Drive Blind]

yes it's a 1.9 but I give you the Skoda Octavia Estate SDi - 67bhp and 98lbft.

google says 0-60 was just over 19 seconds, which is 3 seconds slower than the mighty 1.3 capri.

[s p a c e m a n]

HustleRussell said:

s p a c e m a n said:

E34 518 touring has to be up there as a stupid spec, guessing about 100bhp dragging about 2 tonne along.

518i was never going to set the world alight but I think you are underestimating the power output and overestimating the weight... I thought it was more like 130bhp & 1,500kg, which makes, what, 87bhp/ton? Quite a bit more than a lot of small 6v or 8v hatchbacks...

Had to wiki it as I remember the engine being crapper than that..

The 518i was available in Europe only with a 110 hp M40B18 SOHC 8 valve 4 cylinder engine. Offered with only the Getrag 5 speed gearbox

Performance was 0-60 mph (0–100 km/h) in just under 14 seconds, with a top speed of 118 mph

Curb weight 1,565 kg (3,450 lb) (love to see one with a tow bar )

[lincsls2]

HustleRussell said:

Surely torque curve has quite a lot to do with it.

Of course it is! Since BHP is a calculation based on torque.
A 1.0l engine producing 140bhp may sound very good (and it is), but if its produced at 8000rpm its going to be hard work to drive relaxingly.

[ejenner]

folos said:

Was there a 718i or am I imagining things?

I think there was. But often BMW badges (and mercedes) say 18 or 16 or whatever... when the engine is a 'similar' size but not. BMW also would have gone for good performance so their small 4 cylinder engines are usually relatively powerful.

As for turbocharging small engines... If you can get 400hp out of a 2.0 fairly eaisly then 200hp from a 1-litre shouldn't be too hard. In fact, look at what they already achieve with bike engines. Although you wouldn't want your Focus doing 10,000rpm at a cruise on the motorway. With modern ball-bearing turbochargers and more exotic materials such as ceramics comming into play you can see the potential for a production engine running with 2-bar of boost smoothly applied with all the right design features.

Torque or BHP - normally relative. Quote either and you ought to know more or less what whoever is talking about.

Edited by ejenner on Sunday 29th December 18:12

[TheDoggingFather]

ejenner said:

'm not buying the whole 'Capri' idea. It's not a big car. Might be externally large but only in the same way as a GT/sports car.

Bearing in mind the 1.1 was rather sluggish in an Escort, the Capri was more of an equivalent to the Cortina. It would be relatively heavy.

Can we include vans? 1600 pinto MK3 Transit. I went in one once, the performance was glacial, it made my dad's Di n/a Transit feel like a sports car.