In less than a week, the FIA could vote in a new engine for the 2013 Formula One season, and the smart money is on a turbocharged 1.6-liter four-cylinder to replace the current 2.4-liter V8s.

BBC Sport reports that the downsized engine is an attempt to mirror the mills used in road cars and increase consumer awareness of fuel conservation.

The FIA wants a 50% increase in fuel efficiency, a 10,000 RPM limit and will allow a combination of compound turbos and KERS to keep output somewhere between 600 and 750 horsepower.

Naturally, some teams, owners and principles are against the move, including both Ferrari and Mercedes-Benz. F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone seems to be one of the staunchest critics, saying "We have a very good engine formula. Why should we change it to something that is going to cost millions of pounds and that nobody wants and that could end up with one manufacturer getting a big advantage?"

The FIA is expected to vote on the measure this Friday.

[Source: BBC Sport - F1 - Formula 1 will adopt new 'green' engines in 2013] via [Autoblog — We Obsessively Cover The Auto Industry

For shame. I miss the sound that came from the back of Senna's McLaren MP4/5 with a Honda V10...I also miss its 6-speed manual gearbox for that matter.

 

Interesting proposition. A few teams ran some impressive 4-cyl turbo engines back in the day and I could see why it's relevant again but I think I'm going to have to agree with Bernie here. If they're bringing back KERS, that's enough of a burden on the teams' wallets to last the next few seasons. Why complicate things further?!

That being said, I wouldn't mind seeing 4-cyl turbo engines again, I just think they need to hold off awhile longer. Whoever comes up with these ideas always seems to present them at the least opportune times. KERS was introduced the same year that Bernie and Max mandated those massive budget cuts and it really pissed a lot of teams off. It wouldn't make sense to create a whole new set of expenses when they have a number of new teams that they're trying to retain.

 

How about they just set a displacement limit and let the teams innovate...

Enough of this "your engine shall be a 3.0013 liter with 4 high compression cylinders and 2 low compression cylinders, and it must be capable of running both as a 2-stroke and a 4-stroke."

 

^ because they are trying to lower costs remember lol

i say go for it, we had 1.5L turbos with 1500hp in the 80's.

 

Agreed - if they kept the same restrictions on the number of engines a driver was alotted per season (before taking grid penalties for using new ones) with power around 1,000HP - you would have some crazy, fast, reliable little engines - which could filter down for road use/other series.