How a 3-Cylinder Engine Works? Pros & Cons | Top Cars Using I3 Engines

Types of Three-Cylinder Engines Available:
First Inline3, V3, and W3.

The Inline-three engine (also called an inline-triple or Straight-three engine) is a three-cylinder piston engine with cylinders arranged in a line along a common crankshaft. Straight-three engines have been used in various motorcycles, cars, and agricultural machinery.

The V3 engine is a V engine with two cylinders in one bank and one cylinder in the other bank. It is a rare configuration mostly used in two-stroke engines for motorcycles competing in Grand Prix motorcycle racing.

A W engine is a type of piston engine where three banks use the same crankshaft, resembling the letter W when viewed from the front. Due to their shape, these are also known as "broad arrow" engines.

Advantages of 3 - cylinder engines
Compact size: Having one cylinder less to accommodate gives manufacturers more space in the engine bay.

Better fuel efficiency: The fewer the cylinders, the lesser the area for metal-to-metal contact, and the lesser such contact, the better the fuel efficiency of the car.

Less raw material usage: The fewer the number of cylinders, the lesser the total material required to manufacture the engine. This gives a significant advantage to the manufacturer in terms of cost savings that they can transfer towards lowering the price of the car.

Lighter weight: This is a pretty straightforward advantage.

3 Cylinder Engines | Disadvantages
Less Responsive Engine: The lower amount of cylinders makes the engine respond in a bit delayed manner. Although the difference seems negligible, the difference can be felt by someone who has driven or is used to driving a 4-cylinder.

Not Refined: A 3-cylinder engine requires more work than a 4-cylinder engine due to the lower number of cylinders. The 3 cylinders perform most of the work against the 4 cylinders, making them a tad bit noisier than their 4 cylinder counterparts.

---- Time Stamp ---
00:00 - Introduction to 3-Cylinder Engine
01:23 - Types of 3-Cylinder Engines
02:11 - Inline-3 Engine
08:54 - V3 Engine
10:07 - W3 Engine
11:14 - Balancing of 3-Cylinder Engine
12:33 - Top Cars that use 3-cylinder Engine
15:42 - Why 3-Cylinder engines have a Bad Reputation
16:41 - Which is Better?
17:08 - Wrap Up

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[wmhamel]

1989 Geo Metro Hatchback 1L 3cyl, 5sp, 50mpg, 5 doors, a/c, etc Incredible high torgue engine, no lugging with the long stroke, I could drive to Las Vegas at 90mph, great car, I put 200, 000miles on it after 10 years and it still looked and ran like new. The earlier version 1988 Chev version had a turbo and was a beast.

[mronepercent]

I'm a first time car owner. Thanks for this now I have more knowledge to my Toyota I3 engine.

[gazzafloss]

I've owned a Mitsubishi Mirage with a 1.2 litre, 3 cylinder, naturally aspirated engine for 10 years and 120, 000 klms, it has been ultra reliable and consistently gives 4.5 litres per hundred klm, (approx 60 mpg), I find the engine to very adequate to the chassis dynamics of this small car and great, economical transport.

[davidpatterson]

I have owned two Triumph T150 Tridents. The wail of that engine on full song is addictive.

[jacksonwanyoko]

Having someone do a video on 3 cylinder engines only is a privilage thanks man

[mechguy]

Its a comprehensive guide on 3-cylinder engines. Amazing 👌🏻❤️

[philbenson]

I drive a 3 cylinder Mitsubishi Mirage as my daily driver. Great little car

[leewaggy]

I have 06 Daytona 675 speed triple and i have had a few inline 4 motorcycles and the torque I get off the inline 3 is way more than the 4.

[paulpobsanderson]

I had a Honda NSR 400, Nissan Juke 1.2 3 cylinder and a Peugeot 2008 GT line 1.2 3 Cylinder, every one was quick enough. Technology really has moved with the times.

[pipodeclown]

I've owned the Suzuki GT750(2-stroke) and my last bike was a Laverda Jota 180. Both great bikes. The Suzuki was also dangerous fast!

[Gregsheppo]

Back in the 80’s I had a Yamaha V-Max V4. It was so powerful it was banned in some markets. Then I managed to buy a Vincent Black Shadow from 1955 which did 150 mph. Insanely fast & advanced for its era. It was nicknamed the plumber’s nightmare from all the external hydraulic lines. Today I drive a 2022 Subaru WRX, twin scroll turbo 2.4 litre boxer engine.

[tonyg]

My daily driver is a 1994 Geo metro 1.0 3cyl. love this engine especially because it is non interference engine

[gobb]

road tested a 1 litre 3 cyl it...stunning performance. Unreal.

[dannybryant]

Father purchased a new John Deere 1020 tractor. 3 cylinder, no turbos, worked fine. Smaller tractor good for pulling a 3 bottom plow.

[rhiantaylor]

I have a 3 cylinder BMW turbo diesel and I don't like the relative lack of flexibility that inevitably follows the reduction in firing strokes. I like to be able to pull away gently at low revs - maybe 1100 rpm for a 4cyl but the 3 cyl is not happy below about 1500 rpm. I also have a 5 cyl volvo that seems happy pulling away from idle - about 900 rpm.

[mikeallan]

Daihatsu.the kind of 3 cylinder engine!!

[mariobotti]

Absolutely happy about my GR Yaris engine

[raven_mtf]

I love my smart fortwo 453, it sounds great gives me the power I want when I want & let's me hear the turbo flutter when I put it in sequencial :3

[jimpie]

Back in the 1998, I had 2 vehicles. One was a 92 Geo Metro with a 3cylinder 1.0 liter engine, stick, no options basic car with 70, 000 miles. I purchased this car for $100 and it had front end damage. The other was a 1993 Suzuki Swift with a 4cylinder 1.3 liter engine, stick, no options basic car with 5, 000 miles. I purchased this car for $2500 (salvage title). The Suzuki was dropped from the car hauler when it was delivered and had 0 miles and it was totaled. The gal I purchased it from sold it 4 years later. The Geo Metro was a gift to my brother-in-law when he came from Poland. The Metro was repaired, at a cost of less than $500 total, including a hood, paint, clutch and the $100 price of the car. Both of these cars were made by Suzuki and were reliable. The Metro came with only the 3 cylinder and thr Swift only with the 4 cylinder engine. The 4cylinder was stronger than the 3cylinder, everything else was the same. My broth-in-law kept the Metro for 19 months, he would use it to work for 2 weeks on $5 worth of gas. He then sold it at work to a gal for $1150, he needed a bigger car. The Swift I sold 5 months later to my nephew for what I paid for it, he wanted it badly. About a year later the Metro was doing well, but the Swift developed an electronic problem that was intermittent and unreliable and it was sold. Both of these cars were great on mileage, I never really saw or felt any differences between them. Thanks…Jim
PS….I have rented a 1990 Ford Fiesta 1.0 liter 4 cylinder, stick, basic car in 1990 for a tour in Belgium, West Germany, East Germany and Poland. I put on 4500 kilometers in 3 weeks. It had great gas mileage and was comparable to the above cars. Mechanically it was no problem, however it was new and I lost the spare tire on the Autobahn in West Germany at the end of my trip. It was not properly fastened at the factory, being under the car in a covered storage, when it dropped the cover was dragging on the road surface. Luckily traffic was low and I retrieved it and replaced it. Gasoline in Europe was about $4.50 a gallon, in 1990.

[elwetskie]

GOT MITSUBISHI MIRAGE AND IT'S DOING GOOD.