For Mercedes and Audi, three-cylinder engines have no future

Downsizing has not only affected V8 and V10 engines, but also some four-cylinder engines have had a combustion chamber shaved off to turn them into three-cylinder engines. The idea is far from new, but it seems that it will not work in the eyes of the engineers at Audi and Mercedes-Benz.

Lately some manufacturers such as GM have embarked on the great adventure of latest-generation three-cylinder engines with a dedicated line of 1-litre Ecotec engines, and even Hyundai has wanted to join the game with the future Eon. We are not counting the many manufacturers that have used them over the years, European, Japanese and North American alike. So why are they not well regarded in the eyes of two of the German brands?

They say there is simply no benefit with three cylinders because they are noisy, vibrate too much and are not known for smoothness. They need to be revved too hard to maintain a brisk pace on the road, which penalises consumption, one of the main selling points announced for these small engines.

Certain Daimler engineers have already said that the A-Class will definitively not use three-cylinder engines, while Audi has not yet decided whether to use them, but the signs are not good, according to the opinions of some of its executives.