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Avenue of the Giants Weekend Run - Sat. March 23, 2024

Saturday will be a very full day of cruising from Novato up through the Avenue of the Giants and ending at Eel River Brewing in Fortuna. Sun...

WardAuto Looks At The 2015 MINI 1.5 Litre 3 Cylinder Engine

WardsAuto does an in depth technical review of the new engine and fires off this assessment:
. . . . It helps that this one essentially is half of BMW’s award-winning 3.0L turbocharged straight six and, as such, inherits the suite of state-of-the art technologies that make BMW’s latest-generation 4- and 6-cyl. engines (all with common 0.5L cylinder displacements) so deservedly acclaimed. That TwinPower technology package includes twin-scroll turbocharging, direct fuel injection, dual Vanos variable camshaft control on both intake and outlet sides and Valvetronic fully variable valve control.

The engine also is compact and lightweight – ideal for transverse front-drive applications – with its forged steel crankshaft, aluminum block, weight-optimized pistons, vibration-damping countershaft, a map-regulated oil pump and a mechanical coolant pump that also supports the alternator and HVAC compressor. Its turbocharger is integrated into the exhaust manifold for compactness and a short exhaust-gas path, and fuel injectors are positioned centrally between the valves, right next to the spark plugs. . . .