1.4L turbo engine

GM announced on thursday that it was going to build an I4 engine at a new plant in Flint Michigan.  The I4 is one of the most important engines in GMs history, it’ll be powering the Chevy Volt and The Chevy Cruze.  Two vehicles that GM is relying upon to help it’s sales and image.

The new 1.4 liter I4 isn’t actually an entirely new engine.  It’s an evolution of GMs Family 0 engine that are used in the Opel line overseas.  The new 1.4L will be the North American debut for the engine.  There will be two versions of it in North America.  A normally asperated engine that outputs about 100 HP, that one will be used to power the generator in the Volt.  The Cruze version will get a turbo that boosts the HP up to 140 with 148 lb-ft torque.

The port injection system (direct injection was considered, but deemed too expensive at this time) has been designed to use E85 as well as regular gas.  The Volt will be E85 compatible, it is still unknown if the Cruze will have the same option.

The actual engine is a cast iron block with aluminum heads.  It has a hollow frame where possible to bring the overall weight of the car down as much as possible.  It also has a variable flow control oil pump to pump as much oil as needed through the engine based on demand.  In addition it also has an electronically controlled thermostat that can control the flow of coolant as the engine needs it.

Right now no hard MPG numbers are known though Chevy did say last week during the reveal of the Cruze that it would get 40 miles per gallon.  It is assumed by most that the Volt will get about 50.

Source: autobloggreen