It looks like Cadillac will get greener and the Chevrolet Malibu will get quicker: reports say that General Motors is finishing a new turbocharged four-cylinder engine to replace mid-size V-6 motors in some upcoming models.
GM Inside News reports that the motor will be a 2.0-liter turbocharged I-4. Keep in mind, however, that this isn’t based on the design from the current Buick Regal Turbo/GS; instead, it will be a clean-sheet design.
The report doesn’t say much about the new engine’s technology, but expect it to carry over the old engine’s twin-scroll turbocharger, direct injection, and variable valve timing. GMI also predicts that the engine will produce somewhere between 270 and 280 horsepower, enough to match or beat the current turbo four’s numbers in the Buick Regal GS. That car currently makes 270 hp and 295 lb-ft of torque.
With numbers like that, it’s safe to say the turbo four will obviate some of GM’s smaller V-6 engines. GMI claims that the engine will debut in the upcoming Cadillac small sedan — codenamed the ATS — and then make its way onto the Chevrolet Malibu platform as the top-spec engine.
At current, the 2013 Chevrolet Malibu is confirmed to have a 2.4-liter I-4 hybrid producing somewhere north of 180 hp and 170 lb-ft of torque, and a forthcoming 2.5-liter Ecotec four-cylinder engine making about 190 hp and 180 lb-ft of torque, so there is certainly room to put a larger engine underhood to replace the late 2011 Malibu V-6. GM hasn’t announced any plans to put either a V-6 or a turbo four in the Malibu’s engine bay, but Chevy spokespeople did say that “there’s room for more power.”
