2020 Buick Encore GX to Offer Two 3-Cylinder Engines
Back in April of this year, Buick unveiled the updated Encore at the Shanghai Auto Show. Fast forward a few months and new information has arisen from the luxury brand. The upcoming 2020 Buick Encore GX, a slightly larger version of the current Encore, will be available with two 3-cylinder turbocharged engines.
3-cylinder engines are not a new invention as they have existed for some time in other markets around Europe and Asia. More recently Ford has offered a 1.0L 3-cylinder turbo engine in the little Fiesta subcompact car. However now with the increasing demand for more fuel efficient but inexpensive vehicles, GM is taking a gamble on this little engine design.
Performance
The first engine will be a 1.2L turbocharged 3-cylinder that will produce 137 hp and 166 lb-ft of torque. The second will be a slightly larger 1.3L turbocharged 3-cylinder that will produce 155 hp and 174 lb-ft of torque. The 1.2L engine will be mated to a Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT) while the 1.3L engine will be available with a CVT on FWD models and a 9-speed automatic on AWD models. All-Wheel-Drive will not be available on Encore GX models with the 1.2L engine.
By comparison the current Buick Encore is available with a 1.4L turbocharged 4-cylinder engine that produces 138 hp and 148 lb-ft of torque. Or a more powerful version of this engine with auto start/stop technology is available and it produces 153 hp and 177 lb-ft of torque. So as you can see, there’s not much difference in power between the current 4-cylinder engines and the upcoming 3-cylinder engines.
Why the change?
So why did Buick decide to develop these new engines? Mostly to improve fuel efficiency but also partially to reduces taxes in some markets. In certain countries around the world, vehicles are taxed based on their engine size. So it makes sense to reduce the size of an engine if you can keep the performance levels the same.
There’s no word yet on estimates of fuel efficiency targets for these new engines. But it stands to reason that having one less cylinder will greatly reduce friction inside the engine as well as the overall weight of the engine.
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