Displacement on Demand Promises Big Power and Low Fuel Consumption
WARREN, MI: General Motors showed off three new engines for North America at a media presentation in this Detroit suburb recently, as well as an existing GM engine that's not on the agenda for this continent. Yet.
The wishful-thinking engine was a 3-litre diesel that powers various members of the GM auto family in other parts of the world, including the Saab 9.3 and the Opel/Vauxhall Signum in Europe.
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| General Motors showed off three new engines for North America, and teased journalists with the Saab 9.3's 3-litre diesel, which won't be coming our way. (Photo: General Motors) |
The real-world engines included responsive V6 and V8 powerplants that feature the long-awaited displacement on demand (DoD) technology that will deliver significant fuel economy gains in many larger vehicles by de-activating cylinders when they're not needed, and a smaller displacement inline-four that will deliver more power to a pair of models that should be giant sellers in Canada.
The compact Chevrolet Cobalt and Canada-only Pontiac Pursuit that are coming next year as 2005 models will now get a 2.4-litre version of the inline-four Ecotec engine as their optional powerplant, with the 2.2-litre version of the same engine serving as the base motive source.
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| The upcoming compact Chevrolet Cobalt will get a 2.4-litre version of the inline-four Ecotec engine as an optional powerplant. (Photo: General Motors) |
Equipped with variable valve timing and a bunch of improvements from the 2.2-litre version, the Ecotec 2.4-liter generates 170 hp at 6000 rpm and 90 percent of the 170 lb.-ft. peak torque over a wide 2400-5600 engine rpm range. All max figures will be recalculated when actual production starts, by the way.
Those torque figures are particularly interesting, since it is of course torque rather than the more famous horsepower that delivers the goods in most driving situations. It should be quite entertaining in cars as light as Cobalt and Pursuit will be.