Volvo Unveils New Drive-E Three-Cylinder

by Cameron Aubernon

Published: December 12th, 2014

volvo unveils new drive e three cylinder

Volvo unveiled its new Drive-E three-cylinder engine Thursday, with prototype testing already underway.

The engine was developed in-house, and is considered “a natural next step in Volvo’s strategy of downsizing.” Horsepower and torque are unknown at this time.

Per powertrain vice president Michael Fleiss, the new Drive-E is being developed alongside Volvo’s CMA architecture, and will also power Volvo’s 60 Series with a little help from turbocharging. R&D senior vice president Dr. Peter Mertens adds the engine “can be built on the same production lines” as the four-cylinder Drive-E engines, providing “flexible production potential” as needed.

#Drive-E #Three-cylinderEngines #Volvo

Cameron Aubernon

Seattle-based writer, blogger, and photographer for many a publication. Born in Louisville. Raised in Kansas. Where I lay my head is home.

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Carguy67 on Dec 12, 2014

Don't tell me those are rubber hoses clamped to rigid pipes right next to the exhaust manifold? A single exhaust port for 3 cylinders ... is that a good thing?

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- Heavy handle on Dec 12, 2014
  
  I think that the exhaust manifold is cast into the cylinder head (and liquid cooled). That's a common feature for many new engines. The single exhaust port that you see is after the manifold and goes to the exhaust turbine.
  
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Zamoti on Dec 12, 2014

We're Volvo and we do whatever the hell we want! Rwd brown diesel station wagon manual, did that. 5 cylinder transverse mount turbo awd? Did that. Adding a supercharger to a pair of turbos? Why the hell not. Tiny 3 cyl in a 4000 lb car? Damn right. They may not be known for their engines but they sure got balls for making some of the strangest ones around.

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- Wmba on Dec 12, 2014
  
  Perhaps you're not up on the latest 3 cylinder engines. Volvo is about fourth to introduce them, so they're hardly strange. The MINI has the new BMW 3 cylinder, nobody complains about it. All the new FWD BMWs will feature the three, and the i8 sportscar uses it as well, and it's well over $100K. Displacement is what matters, not cylinder count. Most new Fusions are sold with a 1.5 liter turbo 4, so I'd expect the BMW 1.5 turbo 3 and this new Volvo equivalent will both turn out to be nicer long term than the Fusion 4, because they're quite a bit more modern in basic design. GM Opel is also making 3 cylinder engines, not to mention the Ford 1.0 liter. It's the trend. It's hardly the end of the world. The 4 cylinder Volvo version of this engine has been praised on this site, so the 3 will no doubt be good as well. Volvo also makes a lot of cars that weigh nowhere near 4000 lbs that this engine is likely to motivate.
  
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- Tostik on Dec 13, 2014
  
  @wmba And let's not forget, Volvo will soon be making a 450HP 4-banger. It'll be in Volvos fairly quickly. I can't wait. http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2014/10/volvo-goes-death-metal-triple-turbo-two-liter-four/
  
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