Power of Four. So long, V-8. Smaller engines are the big trend in cars

摘要

For a moment, i hesitated. The on- ramp to the highway was short, traffic was charging up the right lane, and I was driving a sedan with a four-cylinder engine. The Hyundai Sonata SE did not hesitate. When I squeezed the accelerator, it woofed onto the highway powerfully, without that "I think I can" whine of so many four-cylinder econoboxes of the past. "Twenty years ago, a four-cylinder car was one you thought you'd have to stick a leg out to push," says Cars.com editor Patrick Olsen. Not this one-the $27,000 Sonata SE model has a turbo-charged, 2.0-L, direct-injection engine that generates a frothy 200 h.p. Not Chevrolet's recently unveiled 2013 Malibu, which will house a 2.5-L, 190-h.p., 35-plus-m.p.g. Ecotec engine. Compare that with the laughable 106-h.p. margarita blender on the low-end Toyota Yaris.