In 1997, Chrysler Corporation and Rover Group (later BMW) formed Tritec, a joint venture to design a new small straight-4 engine for small cars. They built a factory in Curitiba, Brazil to manufacture the engine.

The common Mini engine name has two meanings: It refers to the small size of the engine and the cars it would power, and also to the most notable of those cars, the BMW Mini. It is also called the Pentagon and Tritec engine. Production began in September of 1999.

The Tritec engine was designed entirely by Chrysler and is related to the 2.0 liter Chrysler Neon engine. It is a modern engine with an SOHC 4-valve head, Electronic Throttle Control, and meets Euro III emissions requirements.

BMW may choose to replace this engine in the Mini with another now that Chrysler is part of their arch-rival DaimlerChrysler. BMW's contract with Tritec expires in 2007.

There are three current versions of the engine, 1.4 L, 1.6 L, and supercharged 1.6 L.

1.4

The 1.4 L (1397 cc) version uses a 77 mm bore and 75 mm stroke. Like all Tritecs, it is an SOHC 16-valve aluminum engine with multipoint sequential electronic fuel injection. Output is rated at 55 kW (75 hp) and 122 Nm (90 ft.lbf).

Applications:

• Mini (Europe)

1.6

The 1.6 L (1598 cc) version uses the same 77 mm bore with a longer 85.8 mm stroke. Output is rated at 85 kW (114 hp) and 149 Nm (110 ft.lbf).

Applications:

• Mini One and Cooper
• Chrysler PT Cruiser (non-US)
• Chery A15 (China)

1.6 SC

The 1.6 SC uses a Roots-type Eaton M45 supercharger with intercooler. The compression ratio is reduced from 10.5:1 to 8.3:1. Output is rated at 120 kW (163 hp) and 210 Nm (155 ft.lbf). The 1.6 SC won the "1.4 L to 1.8 L" category at the International Engine of the Year awards for 2003. It also won Ward's 10 Best Engines award for 2005.

Applications:

• Mini Cooper S

External link

• Tritec Motors (http://www.tritecmotors.com.br/english/index.html)