Last year, Dongfeng Nissan braved the world to produce a new generation of X-Trail using a three-cylinder engine, which caused a lot of controversy in China.
Consumers made a choice with their wallets, and after the launch of The New Qijun in July, sales fell from nearly 20,000 vehicles per month in 2020 to no more than 5,000 vehicles, solidly punching Nissan in the face. Nissan cannot use Zhengzhou Nissan to urgently resurrect the old Qi Jun and name it Qi Jun Glory.
Not only Nissan X-Trail, but also Ford Focus, Buick Yinglang, these models that have suffered Waterloo sales after the replacement, most of them are equipped with three-cylinder engines.
For the three-cylinder machine, the biggest concern for consumers is the problem of jitter.
In fact, the three-cylinder engines launched by major car companies in recent years can basically achieve the same vibration level as the four-cylinder engine in the car through technical means such as balance shafts.
And not only three-cylinder engines, four-cylinder engines, V-type six-cylinder engines, and V-type 8-cylinder engines cannot fully balance the second-order vibration, but also need to balance the shaft.
If the engine is really self-balancing, it depends on the in-line six cylinder (L6), the horizontally opposed six cylinder (H6), and the V-type 12 cylinder (V12), these three forms of engine. Among them, the cost of the inline six-cylinder engine is the lowest, and the following models are equipped with inline six-cylinder engines.
BMW M3 Thunder Edition
Manufacturer guidance price: 84.99 ~ 899,900
Wheelbase: 2.85 m
Powertrain: 3.0T in-line six-cylinder engine + 8-block hand in one
Because the six cylinders of the inline six-cylinder engine are arranged in the same straight line, the length of the engine is very long, and the V-type six-cylinder engine with two cylinders opposed to the two cylinders is only half the length of the inline six cylinder, which is more dexterous in the engine layout, so in the past, major car companies have abandoned the inline six-cylinder engine, and only BMW has been insisting on developing this engine.
Compared with "BMW soul in the 3 series", "buy BMW must buy L6" is much more niche, and M3 can be said to be a combination of these two statements.
The M3 is equipped with an in-line six-cylinder engine code-named S58B30A, which has evolved again compared to the stunning S55 of the previous generation, with a maximum horsepower of 510 hp on the head on the M3, a peak torque of 650 Nm, and a peak torque that can last from 2750 rpm to 5500 rpm.
Of course, as an inline six-cylinder engine, the S58's smoothness is impeccable, if you are not too interested in sportiness, you can also choose to import bmw 540i, equipped with a inline six-cylinder engine code-named B58, the overall orientation is more comfortable, and the guidance price is also 240,000 cheaper than the M3.
Another point that needs to be mentioned is that the cost performance of this generation of M3 and M4 options is very high, especially a variety of carbon fiber options, it is almost like not money, and it must be selected if there is a condition.
Mercedes-Benz AMG E53
Manufacturer guidance price: 94.82 ~ 978,800
Wheelbase: 2.93 m
Powertrain: 3.0T in-line six-cylinder engine + 9-block hand-in-one
Since 2017, Mercedes-Benz has begun to promote the 3.0T inline six-cylinder engine codenamed M256 on its high-end models, and then launched a smaller displacement 2.5T version, which can be said that Mercedes-Benz fully embraced the inline six-cylinder engine.
The reason Mercedes-Benz started pushing the inline six cylinder is simple, that is, large-displacement engines such as the V-type 8 cylinder will be difficult to meet the increasingly stringent emission regulations in the future.
The V-six can be extended upwards to V-8 engines and V-10-cylinder engines, and the in-line six cylinders can be backward compatible with in-line four-cylinder engines and even three-cylinder engines. In order to ensure the development of small displacement engines in the future, Mercedes-Benz naturally began to turn the bow of the ship to push the inline six-cylinder engine.
The 3.0T inline six-cylinder engine on the Mercedes-Benz E53 has a maximum horsepower of 435 hp and a peak torque of 520 Nm, and the peak torque range can last from 1800 rpm to 5800 rpm, which is not much inferior even compared with bmw's S58, which is deeply rooted in inline six-cylinder engines.
This engine is also mounted on the Mercedes-Benz S-Class S500L, if only for comfort, the S-Class is a better choice, but the starting price is 830,000 yuan.
As for the Mercedes-Benz 2.5T displacement inline six-cylinder engine, compared to the 3.0T is much inferior, if you buy a car simply for the inline six-cylinder engine, it is completely unnecessary.
Jaguar F-PACE P340
Manufacturer guidance price: 598,000
Wheelbase: 2.87 m
It's not just Daimler that's re-embracing the inline six-cylinder engine for the future, it's also Jaguar Land Rover.
As early as 2015, jaguar Land Rover after leaving Ford launched the Ingenium module engine series, and this series of engines perfectly explains the significance of inline six-cylinder engines for car companies: Ingenium series engines have expanded six-cylinder and four-cylinder engines, and there is no big problem in expanding three-cylinder engines in the future.
The inline six-cylinder engine code-named PT306 on the Jaguar F-PACE P340 is the six-cylinder version of the Ingenium engine, with a maximum horsepower of 340 hp and a peak torque of 480 Nm, which is much inferior to BMW's S58 and Mercedes-Benz M256. Considering that this is the first time jaguar Land Rover has developed a new series of engines since leaving Ford, it is understandable.
Of course, the P340 is also available in high-power versions on the Land Rover Defender and Range Rover, with a maximum horsepower of 400 hp and a peak torque of 550 Nm, but it is also much more expensive than the Jaguar F-PACE.
It is certain that the above three in-line six-cylinder engines can meet most people's requirements for engine smoothness; but most people's wallets cannot meet the requirements of these three engines.
Touch your dry wallet and ask yourself, is the three-cylinder really shaking?
Is It because of the price, or because the three-cylinder can't be sold?