More three-cylinder downsizing at VW

The first fuel-thrifty Volkswagen 1-litre, three-cylinder direct injection turbo engine will make its debut in the second half of the year in the new Polo TSI BlueMotion.

The engine will deliver 66kW/90PS and offer drivers fuel consumption of 4.1 l/100 km and a CO₂ figure of 94g/km. Its predecessor, delivering an identical 90PS, consumed 4.9 l/100 km (equating to 113 g/km CO₂).

This is the latest phase of downsizing in the TSI engine range for which Volkswagen AG again received the 'International Engine of the Year Award'.

Earlier this year, Audi revealed that it will introduce three-cylinder FSI gasoline engines to its A1 and A3 entry-level models, though no date was given. More than likely they will be in the 1-litre to 1.4-litre range.

Just how far up the Audi range the three-cylinder engines will migrate remains to be seen. But increasingly four-cylinders will take the place previously occupied by six-cylinder engines.  

Meanwhile, the 1.4 litre TSI twincharger, which won for the 'International Engine of the Year Award' for the ninth time in succession in the 1.0 to 1.4 litre cubic capacity category, is thus the most successful engine in the history of this international competition for engine technology.

For several years, the TSI brand has represented VW’s approach to ‘intelligent downsizing’. Despite their comparatively small cubic capacity the TSI engines produce levels of power output that until recently only engines with a considerably larger capacity could offer.

The TSI engine is currently available with differing cubic capacities and levels of power output ranging between 66kW/90PS and 221kW/300PS.

The first TSI engine in 2006 was the twincharger - now again an award winner - which thanks to an additional turbocharger and mechanical compressor develops high torque and is efficient.

TSI twincharger is available in different power levels from 103kW/140PS to 125kW/170PS and continues to be offered across the VW range from the Beetle, Jetta, Eos, Golf Cabriolet and Touran, to Tiguan, Passat and Sharan.

With active cylinder management (ACT), Volkswagen has since last year also been offering a technology that enables an additional reduction in fuel consumption by temporarily turning off the second and third cylinder.