(May 19, 2010) Nearly half of new-vehicle buyers in April and the first week of May this year purchased or leased new vehicles with 4-cylinder engines, according to Power Information Network (PIN) retail transaction data from J.D. Power and Associates. In relation to recent strong demand for smaller engines, Powergram asked Kevin Riddell, manager of Powertrain Forecasting, J.D. Power and Associates, to answer some questions about why 4-cylinder engines appear to be a more popular powertrain choice:
Q: Has the performance of 4-cylinder engines improved significantly?
A: Yes, it has. Thanks to increased use of technologies such as dual-variable valve timing, variable valve lift and direct injection, the engines are increasing in power and improving their fuel economy, although the revised fuel economy standards make better performance difficult to compare with older vehicles.