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BMW's long-rumored four-cylinder turbocharged gasoline engine has finally made its world premiere on the X1 xDrive28. Expect the new powerplant to be offered in a variety of models in the near future. This is the first four-cylinder petrol engine to employ BMW's TwinPower Turbo technology. It also benefit from technologies such as double VANOS , VALVETRONIC and direct injection. Closely modeled after the Bavarian firm's force-fed in-line six-cylinder motors, it produces an output of 245 bhp with a peak torque of 350Nm. Its torque figure matches the 2.0 TFSI unit in the Audi A4 and overshadows the A4 in terms of horsepower. The 2.0-liter twin-turbocharged engine is hooked up to a standard six-speed manual gearbox or an optional eight-speed automatic transmission. Mated to with the manual gearbox, the X1 xDrive28 completes the 0 to 100 km/h sprint in 6.1 seconds (6.5 seconds with automatic transmission) and hits a top speed of 240 km/h. In the EU test cycle, the turbocharged 2.0 SUV returns an average fuel consumption of 7.9 lt/100 km with CO2 emissions of 183 g/km. With the escalating fuel price, consumers may be pleased to know that this new powerplant requires a min fuel grade of just RON 91. I am looking forward to its application in the 5 Series and the upcoming 3 Series

More details have emerged on the sharing of powerplants between Renault and Mercedes-Benz. According to Autocar, Renault-Nissan will make available its new 1.6 liter diesel power plant to Mercedes-Benz for use in the A- and B-Class starting next year. The new 1.6 liter diesel produces a healthy 128 bhp. In return, Mercedes-Benz will reciprocate by supplying Renault-Nissan with a 2.0 liter petrol unit, as well as grant access to its range of V6 and V8 engines to be used by the French-Japanese alliance. The sharing of engines is part the global automotive alliance agreement that Daimler AG and Renault-Nissan signed earlier this year. The partnership also involves the co-development of small 3 to 4 cylinder engines ranging from 1.2 to 1.8L capacity, which will be engineered by Daimler but built by Renault-Nissan. Those engines will be shared by all the brands of the two automakers, including Daimler's Smart unit. There was alleged interest involving Nissan's premium marque, Infiniti, adopting AMG power plants for its IPL performance line. That may involve seeing AMG performance engines fitted to Infiniti models such as the G and M series.

Will our frenly neighbour up north make noise?