1 litre turbo engines: poor man's way to 0-60 under 10 seconds!

Yes! we know electric vehicles will soon take over the majority of the car market but on the sidelines, since the last few years the small turbo-petrol engines are gaining popularity for being cheap, powerful and offering good fuel economy! Before the internet who would have thought a 1 litre dragging the Skoda Octavia – a mid-size sedan would be possible!

Why we are seeing them more and more -

Emissions and efficiency

The golden times where natural aspiration was the craze and engines used to get bigger and bigger in displacement but were low on mileage. With modern times the introduction of technologies like turbocharging, electronic fuel injection, variable valve timing, direct injection the internal combustion motors have gone through a revolution! Just to get things into perspective - the Mk1 golf GTI was a 1.6 litre, 110 bhp but did like 22mpg which also led to bad emissions but fast forward to today, a 1 litre 3 cylinder with the help of turbocharging produces 115 bhp and 200nm of torque helping with (claimed) economy at 60mpg!

They are cheap to buy

In the 80s an average man wishing for a 0-100 under 10 seconds motor would not be as easy as it is today! Currently in India VW is offering this brand new at under 10,000 USD which is a 1 litre turbo VW polo - very affordable. Being a 1 litre also helps keep the price low – low road tax!

The 1 litre turbo Skoda rapid - starting price 10,500 USD in India (starting variant shown above)

The 1 litre turbo Skoda rapid - starting price 10,500 USD in India (starting variant shown above)

Performance and tuning capabilities

The way these engines are build today – for example the VW 1 litre TFSI – under in Audi, Skoda, Seat and other VW cars like the UP GTI, Polo etc., these engines have cast aluminum block and cylinder head with an integrated exhaust manifold. The engines also have forged connecting rods and aluminum pistons. They weight under 100 kilos making the front end of these cars lightweight. With only a stage 1 tuning these put out up to 130+ bhp and 240+ nm of torque making them punchier. The 0-60 reading range from 8 to 10 seconds depending on what state of tune and the weight of the car! Being turbocharged, these engines are willing to be revved hard, the VW unit revvs happily till 6800 rpm thus with tall gearing enabling the car to cross 60 in just the second gear! The revv happy nature differentiates this engine from others as other naturally aspirated economy cars do not have the same sporty tone and punchy mid-range.

Some downsides -

- The 60mpg is an ideal figure, for when you are cruising at highways in the 6th gear yes, that figure is true, however in city traffic or when you want to drive it hard due to the dense fuel mixture the mileage falls down drastically!

- With all the modern technology there is a downside – unreliability. Too many electric components lead to a greater number of failures.

- These engines due to the high compression ratio require premium fuel. For the VW India unit the recommended fuel is RON 95! And if we use lower grade fuel, chances of engine knocking increase!

- Another downside is poor low-end torque. Being small in capacity these engines on their own don’t have sufficient power until the turbos spool up!

- Its not recommended to turn of the engine after a long drive – we don’t want the hot lubricant to cool down in the turbo and make it a living hell! So, we should let the car idle for a minute at the end of the trip for the engine to cool down properly.

- Also, as a turbo is hard on engine oil, its recommended to follow the service schedule religiously!

Conclusion -

These small capacity engines require a different driving style – being 1 litre they are not so smooth and require precise gear shift (also very good revv matching) else may lead to a jerky drive but I think this even makes it more engaging for the motor enthusiasts! When you know your way around how to keep it in the meat of the powerband, it’s pure bliss and at the end of the day – that’s exactly what petrolheads want!