Featuring displacements between 1.4 and 1.6 liters, these power units will be present in the next generation of the A/B class and also in the C class range.
According to a company’s senior official, using a three-cylinder engine “was relatively expensive to optimise ”. It’s simple: taking into account that using 3-pot units means having to cope with considerably higher levels of noise, vibration and harshness, compared to the 4 cylinder ones. Therefore, Mercedes should increase the level of sound proofing, develop more advanced engine mounts and tweak the chassis if it wishes to develop in this direction. All these measures would then mean increasing the production costs of the entry-level models in the company’s range.
As the same source states, it would be cheaper to partially outsource the task, finding a supplier who would provide a cost effective, conventional four-cylinder unit, which would then be brought to Mercedes standards by having direct injection and a turbine fitted to it by the company.
In spite of all this, BMW has already decided to use a three-cylinder engine on the next generation 3-series. This can only be good news, as a complex automotive landscape is what we all want.
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