I bet you’ve found yourself in this position: you’re sitting at an outdoor cafe, a hoagie in one hand and a sock puppet in the other, because you hate eating alone. As you’re happily feeding your puppet friend finger-bites of hoagie, a man frantically approaches you, knocking over chairs and children and climbing onto your table. He seizes your face in both his hands, brings his face nose-to-nose with yours, and demands, loudly, “Tell me what the biggest three-cylinder car is!”
Now, usually when this happens, most of us will mutter something like “a Wartburg?” and then pepper-spray ourselves to freedom, taking off running in the opposite direction of the three-cylinder weirdo before he can recover to ask you again.
I may take issue with the methods, but the three-cylinder questioning vigilante brings up a good, and, let’s be honest, important question: what is the largest passenger car ever to rock a three-banger?
I wasn’t really kidding about the Wartburg guess there; the Wartburg 353 Tourist wasn’t exactly a small car, especially by the standards of three-cylinder cars. I think by far the most common three-cylinder engine type used in passenger cars – there are likely some large, weird diesel three-cylinder engines, so I’m not counting those – were two-stroke threes, the kind pioneered by DKW.
DKW’s two-stroke three was a very clever engine design, with minimal moving parts and good fuel economy, with the added plus of being smoky enough to give everywhere you idle a certain moody, noir-film-like feel. A number of other cars adopted this engine design, like the aforementioned East German Wartburgs, and companies like Saab, which adapted the design for most of their early cars.
But none of these cars was especially large. It wasn’t until the advent of the modern re-emergence of three-cylinder engines that we actually saw some larger vehicles using them. I think the two best candidates for Largest Three-Cylinder Gasoline-Powered Passenger Car are the Chevy Trax and the Ford Bronco Sport.
Here’s a Trax:
…and here’s a Bronco Sport:
Between the two, the Bronco Sport is a good bit larger: about 3 inches wider, nine inches taller, 500 pounds heavier, all that. And it’s still definitely a three-cylinder engine under the hood! I counted, even:
I’m pretty sure the Bronco Sport has to be the largest mass-produced passenger vehicle ever to rock a gas-powered three-pot engine. Everything else is Suzuki Swifts or Festivas or Mirages or whatever, all small city cars.
But I could be wrong. The BMW i8, for example, has a three-cylinder engine as part of its hybrid drivetrain; it’s smaller than the Bronco Sport, but by some metrics, just barely. The Bronco Sport weighs 3,458 pounds, while the i8 is 3,455 pounds – only 3 pounds lighter! I’ve made sandwiches bigger than that!
So maybe there is some other unit of a three-banger I’m forgetting? Or does the Bronco Sport deserve the prize here? Please, help me think this through in the comments so I can finally get some sleep!
Top graphic image: Jason Torchinsky
Back in the day I would have bought an Ecosport if it was available with a manual, they never made one.
I would have bought an Bronco Sport if it was available a manual.
Now I got a family too big for either.
You avoided a giant turd
Yep, still would have bought it at the time though. I liked it having a full size spare option.
The regular Bronco (Bronco III? ) has a manual, is it big enough?
4 Door would probably work, but if you want a manual you’re stuck with the 2.3L I4.
My brother had a Ecosport as a rental with the 1.0L ecoboost. It had a tough time going up the really steep hill on the way to our house. I liked the compact size, but it didn’t really get much better fuel mileage than the larger Escape??
Weirdly, I’ve been seeing an increasing number of these Ecosports lately in my area, like a fleet company dump a bunch of them for cheap.
Point of order, Festivas had a 1.3L Mazda-derived 4 banger. Sounded like a real car compared to my friend’s 3 cyl Geo Metro.
Now I’m picturing a bar brawl between rabid Festiva and Metro fanboys… which sounds like something that would happen in a Torch article.
He and I had a funny back and forth with our tin cans. His Metro had the 1.0L 3 cylinder, and was lighter and had more power than my Festiva. It was clearly faster but man it felt _cheap_. My Festiva was slower and less fun to drive but seemed to share that 1980s Mazda build quality and felt like a real car. Both cars were reliable and took a huge amount of abuse though.
As it happens I have one friend who owns a clean 1.0L Metro, and another who annually hosts the largest gathering of Ford Festivas east of the Mississippi. I should really get them together sometime.
I owned a Metro. I would have given a non-essential toe for another cylinder.
Let me guess, the middle toe?
Probably the 4th toe. The one next to the little toe. Middle toe is usefule for balance.
Yeah but not a real bar brawl I’m thinking a 3 stooges bar brawl with cream pies or the nerdy slappy with both hands type brawl.
Renault sells a 1.2 3 banger Duster in Latam
Rode in several Dusters as Ubers when I was in Colombia. Of all the econboxes down there, for some reason, I had a soft spot for the Duster. A pleasant little vehicle that doesn’t feel like it’s trying too hard, but also isn’t a complete tin can.
I saw quite a few when I was in Chile a couple months ago, but didn’t get to ride in one.
Is Chile not an automotive wonderland? I saw so many fantastic cars there that I’ve not seen other places…like a huge melting pot of random vehicles.
Unrelated but not: apparently Chile has the most species of birds in the world, and it’s a big tourist attraction.
I was most amused by the stray dogs. They are numerous, but extremely well behaved. They stroll through the city with purpose, like they have places to be. And the best part is they cross the street at crossswalks and…get this.. THEY WAIT FOR THE LIGHT.
How cool!
Torch, please post pictures of these bigger-than-a-bronco-sport sammiches. I’m both hungry and curious.
I assumed Torch was implying he’s made sandwiches larger than the difference in weight between the Broncos spirt & the i8, i.e. 3 lbs, which that would be one honker of a sandwich.
Now a sandwich bigger than a bronco sport… that would be interesting, especially with a side of a wheel barrow of shrimp
And a 5-gallon Menards bucket filled with cocktail sauce.
If we’re including hybrids, I propose the Li Auto One luxury 3-row crossover. It’s an EREV powered by a 1.2L turbo making 129hp, and is 5020mm (197.6in) long with a 2930mm (115.6in) wheelbase and weighs 2,300kg (5,070lb). Of course it’s powered by a 40.6kWh battery (weighing est. 285kg/600lb), but once the 155km of WLTP range runs out it’s all on the 3 banger. It was the top complaint about the model, which is why all subsequent models use a 1.5L turbo I4. It ended production in 2022 so it doesn’t count as being on sale right now, but it’s still part of the modern era and was on sale concurrently with the Bronco Sport and Nissan Rogue.
There’s a chance that I’m forgetting some older Geely PHEV model which uses some version of the Volvo-Geely I3, or one of those super cheap Wuling vans.
You opened the door Jason, so what’s your go-to sandwich?
hmmmm… 3 way between tuna melt, Reuben, or a good Italian sub.
FYI I had an Italian Club from Jersey Mike’s for the first time in years today… they seem to have upped their game.
I’ve had sandwiches from JM’s a few times, and they’re pretty solid. If you’re on the West Coast, it’d be in your best interest to pay a visit to Ike’s Love and Sandwiches. Their Adam Richman is a phenomenal sandwich.
SoCal resident here: Can confirm about Ike’s Sandwiches. Very good!
#9. Always.
A reasonable trifecta! I would go with Reuben, quality Italian sub, classic BLT (but has to be actual tomatoes and not the store blandness) with real, thick cut bacon.
oh man there’s a place right near me that makes FANTASTIC BLTs. We use their parking lot for NC reader meetups!
Solid choices all! I love a tuna melt with black coffee on a cold overcast day.
Ah, memories.
I’d ALWAYS get a tuna melt after XC skiing in the ‘Gunks in NY state. I’d basically inhale the thing in about five minutes.
Did my heart good to check The Google and learn that the Plaza Diner is still there in New Paltz, waiting for me, more than 25 years after I moved away.
I don’t think I’ve had the heart to order one of those sandwiches since those days. It wouldn’t be the same.
You should go! Maybe it’s the same, maybe it’s different, mayhap it’s better!
Ok. I’ll face my fears if I’m headed up that way again.
How about a grilled ham and cheese with tomato soup or clam chowder with shrimp ettoufee?
At 3 pounds I’m thinking a Dagwood, but a nice hoagie wouldn’t suck. Screw that tuna fish. I mean a 3 pound sandwich with diet food for filler? Are we not me
Tuna melt for the win!
Just so much comfort.
We can tell Jason is a truly cosmopolitan man of the world – within one article and comments he references hoagies, sandwiches, melts, and subs.
While tactfully avoiding mentioning Wawa or Sheetz. Truly a master of journalism!
Your lack of sliced bbq brisket sammy disappoints me. Plus these are pretty easy to get over 3 lbs.
Is van a car? Ford made Transit/Tourneo Phev with the 1.0 Ecoboost.
Stellantis crammed the 1.2 puretech into various crossovers, including 7-seater Peugeot 5008. Also vans, Citroen Berlingo (and the same basic car as Peugeot, Opel, Vauxhall, Toyota(!)).
The thing is, while the Bronco Sport might be a big vehicle with a triple, said triple is smaller than the Triumph Rocket 3’s massive nearly 2.5l unit. Which I’m pretty sure is the largest displacement road-legal 3…In The World.
The 1905 Rolls-Royce 15 hp has a three-liter three-cylinder engine. There are some other sizable early three-cylinder cars, too, but I’m not aware of any that weigh more than a Bronco Sport.
I bet they all were heavier due to alloys and manufacturing techniques
Yeah, also size. A Rolls of that era was much longer than a Bronco Sport. According to webs, the chassis weighs over 2k lbs alone, and total weight depended on the bodywork attached.
…yeah, I have a massive gap in knowledge of anything pre WWI. And Luxury.
I always enjoy the chaotic and vaguely-violent set ups for Torch’s random-ass articles like this.
In Torch’s world, there’s always someone running up to him in a panic shouting a question like Doc Brown would.
So, cultural differences-wise, it makes you wonder if in the event you are going to meet Torch IRL, if that is the appropriate way to introduce yourself.
“WHAT’S THE CORRECT WAY TO REMOVE SWOLLEN LEAD-ACID BATTERIES FROM A CONTAINER????”
“There’s that word again. “Heavy.” Why are things so heavy in the future? Is there a problem with the Earth’s gravitational pull?”
Funny thing is he doesn’t really look ???? like a guy you would ask questions unless it was directions to the nearest soup kitchen. Lol
This doesn’t happen to you?
Weird 🙂
Like it doesn’t happen to everyone at some point!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrolet_Montana#Third_generation_(2023)
This has to be in contention I think.
I saw Montana and for a moment thought that Pontiac put a 3-cyl into a large minivan at some point in some market.
Honestly, in my searching through GM 3 cylinder applications, I was surprised how many familiar names were/are reused in foreign markets.
Tracker, Monza, Cavalier, and Montana are all models using just the current generation of 3 cylinder engines.
That’s a lot of name recycling, but why not I guess.
Montana is an objectively great name for just about anything large. My personal favorite being the Big Montana (Arby’s). I’m not sure this small Trax-based pickup should use it though. Gives me more Delaware vibes.
Dammit! now I’m craving Arbys.
I’m a fan. So much so that my son was referred to as Big Montana for a while. My wife put an end to that though.
We got picked up by a Cavalier at the Mexico City airport a couple of years ago. Before that I hadn’t been in one since 1991!
Does a V6 running in limp mode count?
I guess it depends on how the ECU handles limp mode?
This also raises fun philosophical counters, such as the smallest ever V12 powered car sold to the public. Early F1 cars with the footprint of a shoebox with V12’s under 2 liters obviously not counting.
I would guess this is it unless someone can find a smaller one.
Sub 2000 lb curb weight + V12 can’t be common.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferrari_166_Inter
For that matter, neither can a V12 with 2 digit horsepower.
95″ wheelbase and 155″ length is going to be hard to beat alone, but 55″ width is tiny!
Yes, the evolution of the 125 and 159.
The first postwar Ferrari sports racer, the 125S, had a 1.5 liter V-12. It dominated almost immediately.
Not knowing for sure whether this means I’ve pepper sprayed the perpetrator or myself to get to freedom in this situation is why I read Torch’s stuff. Because in this situation it is just as plausible to imagine the sock-puppet handed hero blasting himself in the face with pepper spray and shocking the three-cylinder weirdo with the absurdity of it all.
Pretty easy for everyone to end up spicier.
Both
The Indian market Mahindra Bolero SUV comes with a 3 cylinder diesel and it’s a 7-seater (officially).
What about the 2015-18 Mondeo Wagon 1.0 Turbo? That thing was some 4.9 meters (191.6”) long and 1.85 meter (72.9″) wide
I think it’s maybe a little shorter and narrower, but similarly you could get the 1.0L i3 in the Grand C-Max, which is a lot of car for that motor.
I forgot about the Grand C-Max having the 1.0 EB as an option. But about the dimensions, the Bronco Sport is 4.39m (172.7”) long and 1.89m (74.3″) wide.
I was looking for a Mondeo mention. And if we talk biggest as in weight, the Bronco Sport might be heavier, but in a power-to-weight sense I think the Mondeo would take the title.
Mondeo with 1.0 Ecoboost. Yes, Fusion.
Wonder if the ‘Egg is ever going to figure out a used for their “TFG” Camless 3-cyl? They designed it for the Gamera, but then everyone wanted the V8 instead.
So, now they have a completed 3-cyl engine that makes 600HP and isn’t used by anything.
Was going to say the Gemera, which is longer, wider, and significantly heavier – although certainly not taller or roomier inside. TFG never officially made it to production though.
Engine to overall mass, Triumph Rocket III with 2500cc has a bit of giddy-up. A little over 800cc per cylinder.
It’s gotta be the Nissan Rogue, right? Same width and Bronco Sport is a couple inches taller, but the Rogue is like 11 inches longer and weighs more. Edit to add, I misread the chart I was looking at, Bronco Sport is like 2 inches wider and more like 4 inches taller, but the Rogue is still much longer and a little heavier.
I was gonna say the Rogue too. Its available with a 3rd row so I figured it was bigger than the B Sport
It’s not. Only the Outlander has a third row. And the Rogue PHEV.
Didn’t the older Rogues offer a 3rd row? Maybe that was before the 3 cylinder.
I did the sock puppet thing to my high school senior just before her graduation. Sock puppet #1 “I’m your dad. And I say you’ll be an engineer!” Sock puppet #2 “But I don’t want to be an engineer, I want to be a chemist!” Sock puppet #1 “Being a chemist is the path to poverty. You want to be a chemical engineer!” Sock puppet #2 beaks Sock Puppet #1 while screaming.
Sarcasm is our love language.
Okay, a little fact checking here.
Google says that the Bronco sport is 82.2″ wide with the mirrors (74.3″ wide without the mirrors), and the Chevy Trax is 71.8″ wide without the mirrors.
Gotta watch those qualifiers when googling, Jason!
oh, very true. It’s still wider, though! That did seem like a lot. I’ll fix it, thank you.
That stripe graphic on the Bronco stirs something deep within me. Bronco Sports are kind of whatever but with that graphics package…I don’t know man, I want it real bad.
For me, the only problem with the Free Wheelin’ package is that the stripings’ also on the hood too. It’s just a little too much for my taste. Also, more humdrum wheels might set off the stripes better as well.
They are very tasty stripes, indeed.
They are a strangely appealing little CUV in some guises (the heritage models are also quite nice). I was even thinking about how I liked them while reading TMD today.
But then Jason reminded me they’re powered by a high strung turbo 3. IDK how the reliability is actually shaking out for these, but man does it need the Mav hybrid drivetrain.
Honestly that’s the thing that holds me back, ideally I’d want a plug-in hybrid version or at very least regular hybrid.
As time goes on and the market evolves, conventional ICE automatic transmissions seem more and more pointless to me.
I’m a manual enjoyer, but if I had to buy something I can’t shift, why would I not get a hybrid?
Fully agree with this take, with the caveat that it’s a good hybrid system that actually reduces complexity vs the fully ICE option.
Which is why I now own a Mazda3 with a stick and a Highlander hybrid.
I’m still skeptical of some of the turbo + engine + conventional auto trans + electric motors + battery method of hybridization as compared to a conventional auto paired with a NA V6, though.
Agreed, the complexity is the main concern, but the well-proven hybrid platforms like the Toyota one largely out that worry to rest.
I also like the execution of hybrids like the Chrysler Pacifica, which will do 30 miles all-electric before the special Miller Cycle Pentastar V6 kicks in. That’s a good chunk of a minivan’s daily errands done gas-free.
Man I want so bad to believe in the Pacifica PHEV. A PHEV would be great for us and that one fits my needs so nicely. I even looked at a bunch of good deals on used ones, but I’ve heard too many Stellantis stories about the reliability that I didn’t trust it.
It’s a shame, because it’s the same concept as the Toyota hybrid/PHEVs with a planetary gearset and a non-turbo ICE running a more efficient cycle, but it just falls flat.
Yeah I just got a Highlander Hybrid and don’t think I’ll ever own a downsized turbo car with a 8+gear auto or belt driven CVT as is becoming the default ICE-only option.
That said, I would be completely charmed by one of the heritage bronco sports with a manual and 2.5 or so NA 4 cylinder.
Some engines look like 3 cylinders but are really 6: many transverse V6 engine bays, especially Toyota, only have the front cylinder bank visible, so it looks like an I3. But they pile everything on top of the rear bank so you can’t even see it 🙁
Toyota tilts theirs back so that the front bank is almost vertical like an inline! And alllllllllllllllllll of that shit has to come off when it’s time for spark plugs, or if the valve cover gaskets leak, so be careful not to break the ignition coil connectors!
Here’s the 1MZ-FE for example:
https://schematron.org/image/toyota-1mz-fe-engine-diagram-23.jpg
I have a few Highlander hybrids I have to do valve cover gaskets on. Not looking forward to it. I swear they leak more because they are tilted in there like that too. I bet a fair few of people have done the front and chickened out for the rear.
I’m rather afraid to purchase a new vehicle with 3-cylinder engine. Should I be?
Yes. It depends, but in general, yes. They aren’t available new anymore, but the Mits Mirage was surprisingly decent, very much a modern Geo Metro. Beyond that I have not heard good things about the longevity of any of them. Ford’s first foray into the 3s was a 1.0 that has an incredibly bad reputation and so many problems. The newer 1.5 and the Chevy ones are still too new for there to be a ton of info on them.
Having said that, it also depends on how long you want to keep a car. Will these modern 3s make it to 200k and beyond? Likely not. But I feel like they will go to 100k without major issues most of the time.
Also interesting to see how the GR Corolla/Yaris engine holds up long term. It’s slightly large at 1.6L for a 3, but heavily boosted, but it’s a Toyota powertrain, so I would have more faith in it than either of the offerings from Ford or GM. The Bronco Sport is still relatively new, but it’s a Ford, and I’m near certain those things will become problematic in a few years time.
Yeah that’s a good point. I forgot about that one honestly. It’s been modded to high hell and still managed to maintain something resembling reliability up to like 500 hp, but I doubt it would go well long term at that.
The bad reputation for the 1.0 Ecoboost was made with European market issues that were (mostly) fixed by the time it arrived here.
I had 80,000 miles on mine without engine-specific concerns and a friend was nearing 150,000 (in 4 years) on his 1.0 Fiesta without any major issues.
Good to know. The 80k is in line with what I said and not surprising, but the 150k is a first heard for me. The one Fiesta rental I drove made the most awful noises ever and I wouldn’t be able to own it just because of that.
It wasn’t a beautiful sound, but I didn’t find it any more objectionable than small 4 cylinders either.
I’d probably still have the car if I had a long commute.
Post 2018 the 1.0 is in theory almost a new engine with a timing chain and the turbo in the rear along with other fixes. The 1.5 was released in 2017 with a timing chain. But I’ve heard just because a vehicle is post 2018 it doesn’t mean mean its wet belt free. Some in Europe have reported having wet belt engines in to 2020s MY. The oil pump belts have also problematic. There are theories about on how using thicker oil will help as in just about all modern engines.
I had heard bad things about the 3-cylinder in the Bronco Sport when my wife and I were shopping for one, and we got around it by getting the Badlands Bronco Sport, which comes with the 4-cylinder. So I can no longer contribute to this conversation. I mean, I drove both. You can definitely tell the difference and in test drives the 3-banger seemed fine.
I mean I would hope it wasn’t unbearable in the test drive. Pretty bad if it sucks that bad right out of the factory!
Lol, yeah. To clarify, I heard they had long-term reliability issues. As far as power goes, it was enough. You definitely had to wring it out, but the 3-cylinder Bronco didn’t feel underpowered. The 4-cylinder by comparison is pretty darn fun.
Yes. No engine should have an odd cylinder count. I can’t off objective facts to sway you one way or the other, but I have a quasi-religious dislike of engines that aren’t divisible by two.
I drove a VW inline 5 engine to 300,000 miles. It was smooth and great the whole time.
Like I said, I offer no objective facts; I just don’t like them. They’re the devil’s business.
Technically (the best kind) you can fit a passenger in the Lancia 3Ro truck, so does that qualify it?
Jason, you need to sometimes have the hoagie in the puppet hand so that the puppet can feed you, too.