Is the age of the three-cylinder about to begin?

It seems likely, at least within the next decade. Just look at the latest Fiesta ST, it will be the first hot hatch in a long time to be powered by a three-cylinder engine.

There is no denying that three-cylinder drivetrains have an image problem. So much so that many automakers refrain from advertising the amount of cylinders instead referring to performance stats which are getting very close to indiscernible to their four-cylinder siblings. Thanks to advances in fuel delivery, turbocharging and hybrid tech though, they are starting to look very sensible.

Here are some of the most interesting three cylinder cars that just might get your pulse racing

BMW i8

This is clearly the obvious choice. One look at the i8 suggests supercar credentials, but instead it packs hybrid motors and a 1.5 litre turbo triple, this doesn’t stop it from getting to 100km/h in just 4.4 seconds though.
The same and smaller engines are making it into BMW group’s Minis and even the 3-series.

Volkswagen Up GTi

Remember the Up? Volkswagen took it away from Australia because virtually nobody bought the manual-only little city car. It’s a shame because it’s set to receive a GTi variant in Europe next year. It’ll have a turbo version of the original car’s 1.0 litre three cylinder engine touted to produce a whopping 85kw. It ticks a lot of hot hatch boxes: Ultra-light weight, manual, turbocharged. Should be fun.

Honda S660

Another car that will likely never see Australian shores. The little Honda Kei car roadster references the original (1963) Honda S500 roadster while also making a nod to its three-cylinder 660cc engine. It only has 47kW in its home market due to the cars class restrictions, but could see a turbocharged export version producing significantly more. It may not be the fastest little car, but damned if it doesn’t look the part.

Daihatsu Charade GTti

As cool as the new Fiesta ST will be, it’s not truly the first three-cylinder hot hatch, that honour has to go to the… oddly named… Daihatsu Charade GTti. It had a turbocharged 1.0 litre three-cylinder engine producing 75kW or so, but was helped along by only weighing in at 808 kilos. A car ahead of its time indeed