DickieG wrote:You say you have fond memories of driving a small engined car yet now drive a version with an engine 50% larger than any other available on the same car, do you not see the irony in that?
But I didn't buy this car with economy or the environment in mind, I bought the V6 because I do still love the Xantia and after previously owning and driving the 2 litre models wanted to at least once, have the most powerful version of the Xantia that was produced purely for fun and enjoyment and sheer grin inducing appeal before they all go the way of the dodo... Now that I've found a good one I fully expect this to be the last Xantia I ever own and its also unlikely my next car will be a V6. For various reasons my next car will probably have to be much more practical. But for now I will enjoy it!
That doesn't mean I can't enjoy smaller engined cars...
My point is that these small engines are not just being used to power small car's, they are being used in quite sizeable cars such as C-Max's and the like where previously a 2.0 would have been the norm
I'm old enough (and I'm guessing you are too) to remember the days when a mid sized car that today has a 2 litre engine as standard would come with 1300cc or 1600cc if you were very lucky. Carburettor too. Somehow we got by in those days with those "tiny" engines installed in mid sized cars...
Throw some actual modern technology at those 1300 cc'ish sizes such as modern materials and lubricants, fuel injection, VVT, modern turbos etc and I see no reason why they can't perform well and still last. For 1.2 litre you don't need 4 cylinders either. For anything below about 1.2 litre 3 larger cylinders performs better and is more robust than 4 smaller cylinders of the same total cc. Daihatsu knew that 30 years ago when they developed their 3 cylinder 1 and then later 1.2 litre engines and continued to develop them for decades.
Even those early 80's 3 cylinder Daihatsu engines were very robust and did huge mileages - the turbo was a bit iffy I'll admit and I did destroy a turbo in mine (albeit the car was already 13 years old and high mileage when I bought it) but the non turbo version of those 3 cylinders (of which I knew several friends who owned them) went on forever without problems. It can be done.
When it comes to emissions what appears to be the way to go today, in a few years time becomes the devil, hence why I'm reserving judgment on these small petrol engines until they have been properly proven in service.
If ever stricter emissions regulations are on the horizon it still seems to me that Diesel is the wrong horse to back. Eventually the stuff hanging off the engine to meet the emissions is going to become ridiculously burdensome... some would even say we've already reached that point.
Compare that to a petrol where a modern fuel injection system and 3 way cat can achieve extremely low emissions with little difficulty. Treated well the cat can last the lifetime of the car without maintenance, unlike a DPF that requires maintenance or replacement if not regularly regenerated.