Among the carmakers which made an appearance at the 77th Geneva International Auto Show, BMW is one which showcased the result of their efforts to address the global warming issue. It can be remembered that the aforementioned event hosted a legion of green cars.
The BMW 1-Series is one of the vehicles showcased at the show and this vehicle has been created aiming at reducing the amount of greenhouse gas emission. The hatchback possesses attributes that are commonly found on hybrid cars - like regenerative braking system and electric power steering. The use of the said technologies reduces the amount of fuel consumed.
Since the batteries are charged when braking, the alternator need not depend on the engine alone to provide power to the battery. The electric power steering system meanwhile eliminates the use of hydraulic linkages which derives power from the engine, thus resulting to a decrease in the load carried by the engine.
Aside from those hybrid-like attributes, the BMW 1-Series comes with a choice between a four cylinder gasoline engine and diesel engines. All of those engines are designed to reduce the amount of fuel consumption and also reduced emissions.
The BMW 1-Series can either come with a BMW 120i or a BMW 118i gasoline engine. The BMW 120i is a 2.0 liter gasoline engine which can produce as much as 170 horsepower. The engine produces a good amount of torque which gives it good acceleration - powering the car from zero to a hundred kilometers per hour in just 7.7 seconds, and 7.8 seconds for the five-door variant of the 1-Series. Its gas mileage rating is placed at 37 miles per gallon.
The new engine reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 16 percent as compared to its predecessor. With this engine, BMW succeeded in producing a power plant that not only reduces emission and fuel consumption but also increases the power of the vehicle by 20 hp.
The second gasoline engine is the 118i which can produce as much as 143 units of horsepower. The new engine also improved fuel consumption and emission over its predecessor. Gas mileage is at 40 miles per gallon which makes this engine a real gas miser.
CO2 emission, on the other hand, is also reduced by as much as 20.5 percent. These gasoline engines are maintained in perfect working order by electronics like 's aftermarket products.
The BMW 1-Series also comes with a choice between to diesel engines. Both are 2.0 liter four-cylinder diesel engines with an all-aluminum crankcase in contrast to the grey cast iron used by its predecessors. Both are also provided with extra power from their turbocharger and uses third-generation common rail injection technology.
To reduce the amount of emission from the engine, BMW equipped both engines with particulate filters that are positioned near the engine so that the rest of the exhaust system is protected from the corrosive nature of the engines emissions.
The more powerful of the two souped up diesel engines is the BMW 118d which produces as much as 177 horsepower which is an improvement over its predecessor. Torque is also increased by 7lb-ft which gives the engine enough oomph to give the car good acceleration.
The other diesel engine can produce as much as 143 horsepower and torque of 221lb-ft. Both engines are designed to reduce fuel consumption.
