Hyundai launches new turbocharged 1.2-liter four-cylinder

The four-banger will emit less than 110 grams of CO2 per kilometer

Auto manufacturers all around the globe are reducing the size of their engines in order to cope with tough pollution regulations and ever-increasing gas prices.

In the 1.2-liter four-cylinder category, the European heavyweights have recently been Volkswagen's TSI, and Renault's TCE, but Hyundai is about to enter the fray with its new T-GDi Kappa engine.

The new powerplant's exact displacement is 1,248 cubic centimeters, or 76 cubic inches. It has two belt-driven overhead camshafts which open and close a total of sixteen valves.

The 1.2-liter packs roughly the same bits of technology that are found in comparable high-efficiency small-displacement engines built by Hyundai's rivals. One of those is a small turbocharger, which should help the diminutive 1.2-liter obtain performance figures that are on par with those of a bigger engine.

The other is direct injection, a technology inaugurated in mass-produced vehicles by diesel engines. As its name implies, it injects gasoline directly into the combustion chamber instead of mixing it with air in the intake manifold. This creates a more efficient combustion process, and increases gas mileage.

Hyundai has not released any performance or efficiency figures, saying only that the engine will emit "less than 110 grams of CO2 per kilometer."

No word was spoken about precisely which cars the engine is slated for, but its engineers claim that it was developed to be used in B- and C-segment cars. That means that the four-banger will almost certainly end up bolted under the hood of the i20 and the i30, as well as the Kia Picanto and the Cee'd.

The first cars equipped with the Kappa engine will hit showrooms before the end of the year. Both performance and efficiency figures will be available then.