Nissan Micra
 

I do a fair bit of travelling with work using hire cars and usually get a decent sized automatic. This week the hire company rang me up and said they only had a manual 1.0 micra left - I was a bit peeved as I was doing 500 miles over 2 days but sucked it up buttercup and was seriously amazed by the speed out of that little motor! Literally a pocket rocket and nothing like the micra I learned to drive in 20 years ago - I couldn't believe it! It was actually good fun racing it round like Mario kart lol and it kept up with the best of them. Anyway it got me to thinking surely those engines can't last any significant amount of time with that output?? This one only had 12k on it and wasn't idling correctly. I'm sure there was a bit of a miss somewhere between 70 and 75 too. But when I returned home after flooring it for 2 days I'd averaged 64mpg! I had no idea engine technology had come on so much in recent years - what's the catch!?

Perhaps I am old fashioned but I dont consider a 1 litre engine a long distance car, more of a town car particularly with 4 people in them. Yes they will do long distances and keep up with traffic but I am not convinced that these size engines will take the strain day after day after day and last the distance.

Now for people to the list 1 litre or less engines with over 100,000 miles on the clock :)


macafee2

My daily driver is a 1972 Citroen Dyane 4 with an air cooled 435cc engine ! It has done over 120000 km and starts and runs like a sewing machine ! Admittedly I do also have a Volvo 940 for long runs and towing but locally the Citroen is perfect . Must be one of the smallest engine cars around, unless you know different ?;)

Our daily driver is a 2016 Dacia Sandero Stepway which uses a turbo charged 900cc 3 pot Renault engine, it drives like a 2.0 litre and can keep up with the big boy stuff.

It's surprising really because it's not a small car, more medium sized with rugged SUV styling. The bonus is the raised driving position, something small engine cars just don't have, it still amazes me how the little 900cc engine does it. :shrug:

Nice one Norm! Saw a Dyane 4 at the Harpenden Classics on the Common on Wednesday. Very rare car now I would think!

We all (macafee, yourself and little 'ole me) seem to be in agreement about small engines not good enough for constant long distances but I wonder if the statistics would prove us right or wrong? After all they say most engine wear is done on start-up, followed by cold engine. Motorway is a constant temp and thus less wear?

Kev

We recently purchased a Citroen C1, 1000 engine made by Toyota.

It is truly amazing for what it is. Very lively off the mark, and very often leaves much bigger cars behind from the lights, it would leave my re mapped diesel 75 with no problem.

It has very high gear ratio's so the engine doesn't sound to be doing much at at 70 mph. The trip computer also shows that while cruising at 70 ish it is returning 65 to 70 mpg.

As for engine life, there are a few owners with over 200k on their forum.

This is the same engine that has been around since 2013 in the clio 0.9tce. It has always been identified as the best engine in the clio and I don't believe there are horror stories of the engines blowing up due to stress or wear.

I certainly would not buy a 1.0l Mondeo sized car but these small engines are well suited to smaller cars.

Based on nothing more than it sounds right then:

Little engine + little car = :}

Big engine + big car = :}

Big engine + little car = :D

Little engine + big car = :mad:

Little engine + big car + big mileages = :duh:

Over my decades of motoring there's always seemed to be a sweet spot in every range where the engine size has matched the chassis dynamics. From memory the Peugeot 1.6 205GTi was a "nicer" overall car than the 1.9GTi. And it's often been said on here that the 1.8T gives the nicest overall package.

My sons 1 litre 3 cylinder VW Up with only 60hp was no ball of fire, the 115 hp turbocharged version is meant to be a hoot.

you have probably seen it already, the project Binky guys entered a race series with one HERE

What about a GLA Merc? (see below)

It seems to be the way manufacturers are going. Emissions seem to be driving this. But the surprising thing about it is the power coming from some of these engines. It is this I fear, will lead to their relatively 'early' demise, and turning them into even more disposable items in the future (along with the attitude of 'it will be fine it can be recycled'). The joys of small engines, whack a turbo on it and suddenly you have an engine that can keep up with traffic. The heat and stresses combined with lighter materials cannot end well surely? :shrug:

GLA Merc mentioned above, has an option of a 1.3 litre (turbo of course) that produces 250Nm of torque with 160 PS (according to Wikipedia). Put that into context, The Rover 75 2.5 V6 is, or was, 240Nm and 177PS! :eek: (Wikipedia)and to top that off, it is Renault/Nissan developed these engines!

I cannot believe these engines are capable of interstellar miles, that their forebears were, but I just hope they I am wrong.

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As an aside, badge engineering has reached shock levels in my mind, the X-Class. Mercedes? No, actually a Renault/Nissan.