Showcased at last year’s Frankfurt Motor Show, the new, all-aluminium 1.0 ECOTEC Direct Injection Turbo petrol engine has been developed at Opel/Vauxhall’s International Technical Development Centre and is the first in a completely new family of small petrol engines.

Engineered to offer greater torque than the 1.6-litre naturally aspirated engines along with improved economy, the new unit will come in two power outputs, giving 90hp and 115hp. Both deliver strong, low-end torque of 166Nm from 1,800rpm.

Like the two new-generation 1.6-litre mid-size units Opel/Vauxhall has launched recently, the1.6 ECOTEC Direct Injection Turbo petrol and the 1.6 CDTi “Whisper Diesel”, the new 1.0 ECOTEC is also said to offer benchmark refinement with outstandingly low noise, vibration and harshness.

Featuring Start/Stop functionality as standard, the 90PS version gives the ADAM an official combined cycle figure of 4.3l/100km, with CO2 emissions of 99g/km, according to preliminary data.

‘We not only set out to minimise fuel consumption and CO2 emissions, we also wanted to demonstrate that three cylinders can be just as refined as four or more,’ said Dr Matthias Alt, Vauxhall/Opel’s chief engineer, small gasoline engines. ‘We tackled at source the balance, noise and vibration issues typical of conventional three-cylinder engines, and we’re confident ADAM customers will be enthusiastic about the results.’

The new engine is married up to a new-generation six-speed manual transmission, which is about 30% lighter than units it replaces and also incorporates many of the smooth gear change refinements recently introduced by Opel/Vauxhall. The new gearbox will be rolled out into in other Opel/Vauxhall models.

The new 1.0-litre engine will go on sale on ADAM in the spring.