Do the smaller engines in new cars suffer greater stress, and reduced lifecycles?

[MotCO]

I currently have a Vauxhall Zafira 1.8, which is rated at 104 bhp, and maximum torque of 175Nm. In looking at current cars, a similar size car, the Grandland, only has a 1.2 litre engine, but produces more bhp (130) and more torque (300Nm), presumably due to a turbo. I am of the school that thinks a bigger engine will be stresed less often and will therefore have a longer life. Is there any evidence that today's smaller engines suffer greater stress and are therefore less reliable?

 

[dakta]

It stands to reason - ultimately to make a car move you need to produce torque, and this is done with pressure in the cylinder acting on the piston on the downward stroke - if you make an engine smaller you lose area for this pressure to act on so you have to increase pressure to make up for power (not just cylinder pressures but indirect supporting functions too like turbo boost pressure) And higher pressures bring strains. Its whu when i opted for a larger car i went for the 3.0 variant, less fuel efficient but not particularly stressed.

 

[tomuk]

I currently have a Vauxhall Zafira 1.8, which is rated at 104 bhp, and maximum torque of 175Nm. In looking at current cars, a similar size car, the Grandland, only has a 1.2 litre engine, but produces more bhp (130) and more torque (300Nm), presumably due to a turbo. I am of the school that thinks a bigger engine will be stresed less often and will therefore have a longer life. Is there any evidence that today's smaller engines suffer greater stress and are therefore less reliable?

Are you sure you only get 104 bhp from your 1.8 that is not a lot of power from a 1.8.

 

[Snow1964]

Yes, more power from smaller size, tends to mean more heat and stress.

However, might be built to higher tolerances, use better quality materials, use better oil etc, so won't automatically last less time.

My car is a 1 litre (999cc) 115bhp, uses expensive VW508 spec oil (fully synthetic long life), but being old school, I change the oil 10-12k miles, not take minimal servicing approach, as want it to continue running trouble free for 10+ years.

 

[birchesgreen]

The electronic gizmos which cars are full of now will probably break long before the engine.

 

[dangie]

Stress on engines is probably governed more by on how the car is driven rather than the engine size.