Experiences of 3 cylinder automatics?

[tjh290633]

I may be wrong, but I thought that the fabled smoothness of a straight six engine was due to the crankshaft big ends being offset 120 degrees from each other, which could be replicated in a three cylinder engine, surely?

Watis

It has been claimed that a 5 cylinder engine has better balance than a 4 or 6, usually in reference to the Gardner 5LW diesel, much used in buses in the past.

There have been a few 5 cylinder cars in the recent past.

TJH

[MonsterMork]

Possibly someone can tell me of a car with more than four cylinders in a transverse mounting.

Pre 2013 Ford Focus ST for one ...

As for the 3 cylinder car debate - in my experience of driving them at parking speed no rice puddings were harmed in the manufacture of these vehicles. Mind you I may be biased as my previous cars have been gert big diseasel powered 4x4's or gert big tuned v8 powered 4x4's, and I also ride gert big uber-powerful v4 motorcycles*

MM


*Yamaha VMax for them wot rides bikes

[BT63]

I have yet to drive or experience a 3-cylinder engine (modern turbo or nat-asp) which doesn't send unwanted vibrations through the car under acceleration and which doesn't sound rough, especially as the miles pile on.
Many people seem to like the rough sound and driving experience (along with harsh suspension), especially the young 'uns.

I'm not convinced that the 1-litre turbo triples are actually economical due to them being almost unable to move without using boost (an engine on boost will run rich, sometimes very rich). I think manufacturers went too small because of the pathetically unrealistic NEDC test.

(I have a modern downsized turbo in my runabout but it's a 4-cyl 1.4T; enough cylinders to not sound/feel rough and enough capacity that it doesn't depend upon the turbo all the time)

[redsturgeon]

Possibly someone can tell me of a car with more than four cylinders in a transverse mounting.

Pre 2013 Ford Focus ST for one ...

As for the 3 cylinder car debate - in my experience of driving them at parking speed no rice puddings were harmed in the manufacture of these vehicles. Mind you I may be biased as my previous cars have been gert big diseasel powered 4x4's or gert big tuned v8 powered 4x4's, and I also ride gert big uber-powerful v4 motorcycles*

MM


*Yamaha VMax for them wot rides bikes

Honda CBX1000 was a transverse 6 cylinder motorbike!

John

[GrahamPlatt]

The current BMW K1600GT motorcycle has a 6 cylinder (transverse) motor.

There’s more than just 2 & 4 stroke: https://www.sixstroke.com/sixstroke.htm

[raybarrow]

Hi Folks,

I did do a 'Thanks for all the comments' reply the other day but it seems to have not arrived. So thanks.

The proof I suppose will be in having a go when Boris and Covid permits easy movements about. I did, briefly, consider electric but the initial cost and lack of convenient charging infrastructure put me off. Having said that I did notice yesterday that our local Tesco has installed electric charging points. It's not a big store and has no petrol station, so that's encouraging.

Cheers,
Ray.

[MonsterMork]

Honda CBX1000 was a transverse 6 cylinder motorbike!

John

And the Kwak Z1300 and Benelli Sei I would throw the small block V8 Boss Hoss into the equation, but it sits longitudinally* in the frame

MM


*big word for this time of day, isn't it?

[airbus330]

My wife has owned a 3cyl Mini Cooper for 4 years and we both love it. I've had a few 3cyl Triumph motorcycles and just like those the Mini has a the same character of enough offbeat feel to be characterful, but enough smoothness to be civilised. Mate had a 5cyl Audi years ago and it had the same torqy character.

[DrFfybes]

And the Kwak Z1300 and Benelli Sei I would throw the small block V8 Boss Hoss into the equation, but it sits longitudinally* in the frame

MM


*big word for this time of day, isn't it?

Certainly long-ish.

Paul

[BT63]

My wife has owned a 3cyl Mini Cooper for 4 years and we both love it. I've had a few 3cyl Triumph motorcycles and just like those the Mini has a the same character of enough offbeat feel to be characterful, but enough smoothness to be civilised. Mate had a 5cyl Audi years ago and it had the same torqy character.

My next door neighbour has one and I think it sounds spluttery and rough. Not to my taste. I like quiet, smooth engines.

My larger car has a six-cylinder turbo-petrol engine which is very smooth and silent in normal driving (and can easily keep up with the flow of traffic without needing the turbo). It's so quiet and free from vibration in normal driving that people have asked me if it's an electric car.

[Lootman]

My wife has owned a 3cyl Mini Cooper for 4 years and we both love it. I've had a few 3cyl Triumph motorcycles and just like those the Mini has a the same character of enough offbeat feel to be characterful, but enough smoothness to be civilised. Mate had a 5cyl Audi years ago and it had the same torqy character.

My next door neighbour has one and I think it sounds spluttery and rough. Not to my taste. I like quiet, smooth engines.

My larger car has a six-cylinder turbo-petrol engine which is very smooth and silent in normal driving (and can easily keep up with the flow of traffic without needing the turbo). It's so quiet and free from vibration in normal driving that people have asked me if it's an electric car.

My taste is a petrol engine with at least six cylinders. Rather than a turbo or high tuning (too much to go wrong) I prefer the old school "brute force" approach to motive power i.e. lazy, large displacement, long-stroke, low-compression and tons of torque.

More common with US cars. I had a 6 cylinder 1970s Ford Mustang convertible for a while. Although it was a manual gearbox, it didn't really matter what gear you were in. You could pull away from a stop in 4th gear and it would not complain. In top it would do 70 mph at 2,500 rpm.

In keeping with many American muscle cars, it was great in a straight line but a tad unpredictable on corners.

[airbus330]

Horses for courses, I don't mind the feedback from the Mini triple, in the same way that an old v8 makes its character known.. Most cars these days are dull to the point of being no more than transport, which is fine if that's your thing. The step to electricity will be painless! Ran a few Jag/Daimler straight 6's years ago, they were smooth as silk, but they had to be as chauffeur driven cars

[9873210]

Hi Folks,

I did do a 'Thanks for all the comments' reply the other day but it seems to have not arrived. So thanks.

The proof I suppose will be in having a go when Boris and Covid permits easy movements about. I did, briefly, consider electric but the initial cost and lack of convenient charging infrastructure put me off. Having said that I did notice yesterday that our local Tesco has installed electric charging points. It's not a big store and has no petrol station, so that's encouraging.

Cheers,
Ray.

If you have the slightest interest I'd suggest you do a web search or download an app that shows charging stations. There's a good chances are you've been driving past a few for quite some time but haven't noticed. They don't all have balloons, banners, strobes and dancing inflatables.

[9873210]

Are we talking three physical cylinders or three working cylinders?

I drove a Camry with an inline-4 with no compression on one for a couple of months. Can't say I noticed much difference.

[Breelander]

Are we talking three physical cylinders or three working cylinders?

I drove a Camry with an inline-4 with no compression on one for a couple of months. Can't say I noticed much difference.

Three physical cylinders. The OP may find this review helpful...

This is our list of the seven most powerful three-pot power plants currently available in any car (and one model you can have it in), in ascending power order.

https://www.topspeed.com/cars/these-are ... 83861.html

[AF62]

I did, briefly, consider electric but the initial cost and lack of convenient charging infrastructure put me off. Having said that I did notice yesterday that our local Tesco has installed electric charging points. It's not a big store and has no petrol station, so that's encouraging.

If considering buying a new car as you seemed to indicate then the numbers are getting far closer for electric cars.

You can now lease an electric Seat Mii for around £180 a month (same car as the VW Up!), a Nissan Leaf for £210, or a Hyundai Ioniq for £230 over three years (1+35 deals), which would give a fuel cost of around £180 for 15k miles over that time compared to £2k in petrol, and with no road tax saving £450. However even lower fuel cost if you use Tesco to charge as they are allowing people to charge up for free at 7kW.

Depreciation on a new VW Polo or Ford Fiesta from new over 3 years - £10k? so around £12.5k plus servicing to run, so even if you were looking at a discounted pre-reg car to reduce the depreciation that is still likely more expensive to own than a Mii at under £7k or a Leaf at less than £8k.

Obviously numbers don’t work if comparing with a several year old used car.

[Urbandreamer]

Three physical cylinders. The OP may find this review helpful...

This is our list of the seven most powerful three-pot power plants currently available in any car (and one model you can have it in), in ascending power order.

https://www.topspeed.com/cars/these-are ... 83861.html

Well I was interested. However while they did include one that is in a hybrid, and admitted that it was at the most powerful end of the engines, I'm surprised that they didn't mention Koeningsegg's TFG 3 cylinder engine. Possibly that only turned up in the last 3 years. It's deffinately not mainstream but hugely interesting in terms of engineering. At 600 horsepower it is signifficantly more powerful than any in that article and they claim that it can also use less fuel at lower power demands. Not to mention less polution as the engine warms up. Very flexible in terms of fuel too.

There are some great explinations of the engine on youtube, but here is the companies own engine claims (with some mention of the car that they fit it to).

https://www.koenigsegg.com/gemera/tiny- ... nt-engine/

I understand that the car is an automatic, but then many/most hybrids or EV's are.

[scotview]

As a relpacement for my wife's 3 year old Ford Kuga Vignale (nice car which has sat on our drive for a year) we are going to test drive a Dacia Stepway, 3 cylinder petrol with CVT drive. Maybe she will hate it.

We were thinking of a Ford Kuga hybrid but they have been taken off the market due to battery problems.

I have a Dacia Duster for transporting my golf clubs and taking me on fishing trips (lock down notwithstanding) and the value for money is outstanding.

Lockdown has made us look at having a car more as a utility than a luxury.

[staffordian]

Coincidentally, I have today driven a three cylinder automatic for the first time. Whilst my Tucson is in for service I've been given a 70 reg 1.0 litre Hyundai i10 automatic.

Not unduly impressed, I have to say.

The box is apparently a five speed manual with clutch and gears operated by a robot (according to a road test I've just read). Whilst I realise this is probably the best from an economy viewpoint, my initial reaction is that the changes are sluggish and the car seems to hunt between gears at times when trundling along.

I suspect a CVT might be a better fit, but some of these, particularly those from Nissan, from what I've read, might be made of chocolate or similar based on their reliability.

So, in summary, whilst I don't think three cylinder engines are bad, I'd be very keen to give an auto version a decent test before making any decisions.

[Leif]

I have a VW Polo 1L 75PS manual box bought new in 2018. It has three cyclinders, drives well and is economical. The Summer before lockdown I got 70 mpg from a tank of fuel 3 or 4 times, I might have got under 60 mpg from a tank full once in Winter, so basically 60-70 mpg for regular commuting and pleasure on B roads. It does have a slight diesel thrum. I drive gently, but if you are an ‘enthusiastic driver’ you’ll notice a slight delay when accelerating from low speeds due to the turbo lag. I’ve been quite impressed.

For short journeys, and with speedy gonzales driving, you won’t get 60 mpg.

And the entry level non turbo engine is sluggish and noisy. Perfectly fine, but I’d spend more.

You might want to ask on a VW forum to check if the auto box is reliable.