73-636: The Citroën AX is a supermini which was built by the French manufacturer Citroën from 1986 to 1998. It was launched at the 1986 Paris Motor Show to replace the Citroën Visa and Citroën LNA . Development of this model started in 1983, and it was initially also going to form the basis of a sister model from Talbot to replace the Samba ; however, the falling popularity of the Talbot brand - coupled with
146-405: A hot-bulb engine used a 'jerk pump' to dispense fuel oil at high pressure to an injector. Another development in early diesel engines was the pre-combustion chamber, which was invented in 1919 by Prosper l'Orange to avoid the drawbacks of air-blast injection systems. The pre-combustion chamber made it feasible to produce engines in size suitable for automobiles and MAN Truck & Bus presented
219-632: A spark plug . The Cummins Model H diesel truck engine was introduced in America in 1933. In 1936, the Mercedes-Benz OM 138 diesel engine (using a precombustion chamber) became one of the first fuel-injected engines used in a mass-production passenger car. During World War II , several petrol engines for aircraft used direct-injection systems, such as the European Junkers Jumo 210 , Daimler-Benz DB 601 , BMW 801 , and
292-454: A carburettor. Many of the carburettor's supporting components—such as the air filter, intake manifold, and fuel line routing—could be used with few or no changes. This postponed the redesign and tooling costs of these components. Single-point injection was used extensively on American-made passenger cars and light trucks during 1980–1995, and in some European cars in the early and mid-1990s. In the US,
365-581: A central injector instead of multiple injectors. Single-point injection (also called 'throttle-body injection') uses one injector in a throttle body mounted similarly to a carburettor on an intake manifold . As in a carburetted induction system, the fuel is mixed with the air before entering the intake manifold. Single-point injection was a relatively low-cost way for automakers to reduce exhaust emissions to comply with tightening regulations while providing better "driveability" (easy starting, smooth running, no engine stuttering) than could be obtained with
438-549: A dimensions on par or slightly larger than traditional B-segment cars, and often are built on the same platform as B-segment hatchbacks or saloons. B-segment SUVs are usually excluded by analysts from traditional B-segment car sales. 22 percent of SUV global sales were contributed by B-segment SUVs in 2019. One of the first mass-market electric B-segment cars in Europe was the Renault Zoe , released in 2012. Global sales of
511-638: A formal car classification term, eventually being adopted in European Commission classification as the B-segment. The 1990 Renault Clio and 1983 Fiat Uno were significant models in the supermini or the B-segment, being the recipients of the European Car of the Year award. The Clio replaced the long-running Renault 5, although the latter remained in production until 1996. In 1993,
584-572: A fuel injection system are described in the following sections. In some systems, a single component performs multiple functions. Fuel injection is operated by spraying pressurised fuel into the engine. Therefore a device to pressurise the fuel is needed, such as a fuel pump. The system must determine the appropriate amount of fuel to be supplied and control the fuel flow to supply this amount. Several early mechanical injection systems used relatively sophisticated helix-controlled injection pump(s) that both metered fuel and created injection pressure. Since
657-728: A fuel injection system in 1941 and by 1956 it was used in the Jaguar racing cars. At the 1957 24 Hours of Le Mans , the 1st to 4th placed cars were Jaguar D-Type entries using a Lucas fuel injection system. Also in 1957, General Motors introduced the Rochester Ramjet option, consisting of a fuel injection system for the V8 engine in the Chevrolet Corvette. During the 1960s, fuel injection systems were also produced by Hilborn , SPICA and Kugelfischer . Up until this time,
730-602: A global sales of 910,839 units that year, in which 54 percent was contributed by its European sales. It took the world number one spot from the Toyota Corolla at 906,953 sales. Safety features have improved for the cars in the segment. In 1995, both petrol and diesel B-segment vehicles had only around 40 percent of the listed safety options installed (side impact bars, driver/passenger airbag, side airbag, ABS , electronic braking system, stability control), whereas by 2010 they were averaging over 90 percent. This represents
803-415: A length of approximately 3.7–4.2 m (146–165 in), and may vary depending on the body styles, markets, and era. In some cases, the same car may be differently positioned depending on the market. The Euro NCAP vehicle class called "Supermini" also includes smaller A-segment cars alongside B-segment cars. In Britain, the term "supermini" is more widely used for B-segment hatchbacks. The term
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#1732772878644876-669: A more expensive offering. Examples include the Ford Fiesta ST , Hyundai i20 N , Peugeot 208 GTi , Suzuki Swift Sport , Toyota GR Yaris , Volkswagen Polo GTI , among others. B-segment MPV (also called mini MPV or B-MPV) are taller and/or longer derivatives of B-segment hatchbacks with an emphasis in interior space and practicality. Examples are the Citroën C3 Picasso , Fiat 500L , and Ford B-Max . B-segment crossovers or SUVs (also called subcompact crossover SUV, small SUV, or B-SUV ) are crossovers/SUVs that has
949-447: A nominal power output of only 11kW (15hp). The range was estimated by Citroën to be around 75km with a top speed of 90km/h. Accleration from 0-50km/h is quoted at 8.3 seconds. The car also featured a proprietary fast charging system utilising the same input pins used to charge the car at home, and there were a number of such proprietary fast charging stations located around France permitting the car to recharge 20km in 10 minutes according to
1022-580: A passenger car was released the following year, in the Mercedes-Benz 300SL sports car. However the engine suffered lubrication problems due to petrol diluting the engine oil, and subsequent Mercedes-Benz engines switched to a manifold injection design. Likewise, most petrol injection systems prior to the 2000s used the less-expensive manifold injection design. Throughout the 1950s, several manufacturers introduced their manifold injection systems for petrol engines. Lucas Industries had begun developing
1095-641: A place in the Guinness Book of Records as the most economical production car. Also available was a 4x4 variant, but with limited success when compared to the rival Fiat Panda 4x4. The AX 4x4 was only available with five doors and was not sold in the United Kingdom. The first performance version was the limited-run AX Sport from 1987, with a 1.3 engine and twin carburettors producing 95 PS (70 kW; 94 bhp), wearing iconic white steel wheels (5.5" x 13") which resembled those on its brother,
1168-483: A pulsed flow system which used an air flow meter to calculate the amount of fuel required. L-Jetronic was widely adopted on European cars during the 1970s and 1980s. As a system that uses electronically-controlled fuel injectors which open and close to control the amount of fuel entering the engine, the L-Jetronic system uses the same basic principles as modern electronic fuel injection (EFI) systems. Prior to 1979,
1241-401: A relay-style technique of driving and fast charging the car. The modified version of the car featured a 14kWh LiFePO4 battery in place of the original NiCad battery, which allowed the car to drive between 105-115km before fast charging the car in 38 minutes for the next leg of the relay. [REDACTED] Media related to Citroën AX at Wikimedia Commons Supermini The B-segment is
1314-504: A significant improvement in vehicle safety over the period, despite petrol and diesel B-segment vehicles averaging an inflation-adjusted price increase of 6 percent and 15 percent respectively. Studies from the European Union and JATO has found that the average maximum power output of B-segment vehicles has increased by 40 percent between 1995 and 2010, while the average overall vehicle weight only increased by around 20 percent in
1387-480: A single double barrel carburetor 85 PS (63 kW; 84 bhp) 1.4L engine, also found in the Peugeot 205 XS, was introduced. From 1991, this model utilised fuel injection to coincide with the revamp of the entire range and to coincide with tougher 1992 EU emission regulations that introduced exhaust catalytic converters. Late 1991 saw the range revised, with a heavily facelifted tailgate and interior being
1460-399: A sophisticated common-rail injection system. The latter is the most common system in modern automotive engines. During the 20th century, most petrol engines used either a carburettor or indirect fuel injection. Use of direct injection in petrol engines has become increasingly common in the 21st century. In a common rail system, fuel from the fuel tank is supplied to a common header (called
1533-513: A version of the AX with a different grille and a Talbot badge, but this plan was cancelled, as the entire Talbot marque was axed on passenger cars by 1987 following several years of declining sales. Automobiles Citroën also launched the AX Pistes Rouges 4WD 1400 model, based on the standard three-door AX GT 1360cc engine but with a unique four-wheel-drive system developed and produced by
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#17327728786441606-413: Is always intermittent (either sequential or cylinder-individual). This can be done either with a blast of air or hydraulically, with the latter method being more common in automotive engines. Typically, hydraulic direct injection systems spray fuel into the air inside the cylinder or combustion chamber. Direct injection can be achieved with a conventional helix-controlled injection pump, unit injectors, or
1679-546: Is called a manifold injection system. There exist two types of manifold injection systems: multi-point injection (or port injection) and single-point injection (or throttle body injection). Internal mixture formation systems can be separated into several different varieties of direct and indirect injection, the most common being the common-rail injection system, a variety of direct injection. The term "electronic fuel injection" refers to any fuel injection system controlled by an engine control unit . The fundamental functions of
1752-533: Is injected at the same time to all the cylinders; or cylinder-individual , in which the engine control unit can adjust the injection for each cylinder individually. Multi-point injection (also called 'port injection') injects fuel into the intake ports just upstream of each cylinder's intake valve , rather than at a central point within an intake manifold. Typically, multi-point injected systems use multiple fuel injectors, but some systems, such as GM's central port injection system, use tubes with poppet valves fed by
1825-857: The A0-class in China, and the supermini category for B-segment hatchbacks in Great Britain. Category:Subcompact cars ( 306 ) Fuel injection Fuel injection is the introduction of fuel in an internal combustion engine , most commonly automotive engines , by the means of a fuel injector. This article focuses on fuel injection in reciprocating piston and Wankel rotary engines. All compression-ignition engines (e.g. diesel engines ), and many spark-ignition engines (i.e. petrol (gasoline) engines , such as Otto or Wankel ), use fuel injection of one kind or another. Mass-produced diesel engines for passenger cars (such as
1898-517: The EV3 engine ( air engine ) was mounted into a regular Citroën AX car by MDI . Heuliez presented an estate version called the AX Evasion at the 1988 Mondial de l'Automobile . Besides the well known versions that are documented Citroën also produced a few rare variants. Citroën also built a concept car named Xanthia based on the AX. The Citroën AX BB Cabrio was a small roadster derived from
1971-415: The Mercedes-Benz OM 138 ) became available in the late 1930s and early 1940s, being the first fuel-injected engines for passenger car use. In passenger car petrol engines, fuel injection was introduced in the early 1950s and gradually gained prevalence until it had largely replaced carburetors by the early 1990s. The primary difference between carburetion and fuel injection is that fuel injection atomizes
2044-666: The Nissan Micra (K11) , became the first Japanese car company to be receive the European Car of the Year award. In 1999, the Toyota Yaris received the European Car of the Year award, and was noted for its high roof which allowed for improved interior space. Another notable model is the Opel Corsa , which was the best-selling car in the world in the year 1998 thanks to its extensive international presence. It recorded
2117-507: The Renault Twingo , launched in 1992. In 1989, a naturally aspirated diesel AX, using the 1360 cm all aluminium alloy TUD engine, managed a figure of 2.7 litres per 100 kilometres (100 mpg ‑imp ; 87 mpg ‑US ), totalling over 1,000 miles (1,609 km) from Dover to Barcelona . This was the longest ever distance travelled on 10 imp gal (45.5 L; 12.0 US gal) of fuel and earned it
2190-564: The Shvetsov ASh-82FN (M-82FN) . The German direct-injection systems were based on diesel injection systems used by Bosch, Deckel, Junkers and l'Orange. By around 1943, the Rolls-Royce Merlin and Wright R-3350 had switched from traditional carburettors to fuel-injection (called "pressure carburettors" at the time), however these engines used throttle body manifold injection , rather than the direct-injection systems of
2263-479: The Wankel engine . In a manifold injection system, air and fuel are mixed outside the combustion chamber so that a mixture of air and fuel is sucked into the engine. The main types of manifold injections systems are multi-point injection and single-point injection . These systems use either a continuous injection or an intermittent injection design. In a continuous injection system, fuel flows at all times from
Citroën AX - Misplaced Pages Continue
2336-669: The accumulator ), and then sent through tubing to the injectors, which inject it into the combustion chamber. The accumulator has a high-pressure relief valve to maintain pressure and return the excess fuel to the fuel tank. The fuel is sprayed with the help of a nozzle that is opened and closed with a solenoid-operated needle valve . Third-generation common rail diesels use piezoelectric injectors for increased precision, with fuel pressures up to 300 MPa or 44,000 psi . The types of common-rail systems include air-guided injection and spray-guided injection . Used by diesel engines, these systems include: This injection method
2409-437: The throttle body . Fuel injectors which also control the metering are called "injection valves", while injectors that perform all three functions are called unit injectors . Direct injection means that the fuel is injected into the main combustion chamber of each cylinder. The air and fuel are mixed only inside the combustion chamber. Therefore, only air is sucked into the engine during the intake stroke. The injection scheme
2482-557: The 1950 Goliath GP700 small saloon, it was also added to the Gutbrod Superior engine in 1952. This mechanically-controlled system was essentially a specially lubricated high-pressure diesel direct-injection pump of the type that is governed by the vacuum behind an intake throttle valve. A Bosch mechanical direct-injection system was also used in the straight-eight used in the 1954 Mercedes-Benz W196 Formula One racing car. The first four-stroke direct-injection petrol engine for
2555-428: The 1954-1959 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL - all used manifold injection (i.e. the injectors located at the intake ports or throttle body, instead of inside the combustion chamber). This began to change when the first mass-produced petrol direct injection system for passenger cars was a common rail system introduced in the 1997 Mitsubishi 6G74 V6 engine. The first common-rail system for a passenger car diesel engine
2628-452: The 1980s, electronic systems have been used to control the metering of fuel. More recent systems use an electronic engine control unit which meters the fuel, controls the ignition timing and controls various other engine functions. The fuel injector is effectively a spray nozzle that performs the final stage in the delivery of fuel into the engine. The injector is located in the combustion chamber , inlet manifold or - less commonly -
2701-595: The AX (1988). In Portugal, Citroën dealership Benjamin Barral from Amadora in Lisbon created an unofficial convertible version in the 1980s until about 1996 called the BB AX Cabrio, originally powered by the twin-choke carb AX GT 1.4 L engine, but later available with any type of engine that equipped the 3 door AX. At one stage, parent firm PSA Peugeot Citroën had planned to launch a Talbot Samba replacement as
2774-692: The Citroën Broschure. The AX electrique sold for 80,000 French Francs when new. The Citroën AX Electrique was succeeded by the Citroën Saxo Electrique . A modified version of the Citroën AX electrique utilising Lithium-Iron-Phosphate batteries (LiFePO4) by the CEA-Liten, a French government funded research organisation, set a world record in 2011 for a distance of 1,280km driven in an electric vehicle within 24 hours using
2847-589: The Electrojector system, becoming the first cars known to use an electronic fuel injection (EFI) system. The Electrojector patents were subsequently sold to Bosch, who developed the Electrojector into the Bosch D-Jetronic . The D-Jetronic was produced from 1967-1976 and first used on the VW 1600TL/E . The system was a speed/density system, using engine speed and intake manifold air density to calculate
2920-695: The Forte, Spree, Elation and Dimension. In January 1995, the Citroën AX Echo was launched, with a top speed of 110 mph (180 km/h). Its closest competitor, the Peugeot 106 Ski, (that shared components with the AX), was outsold by the Echo. In November 1995 ('96 model year), the AX Électrique was introduced. It was available as a four-seater passenger car, but was sold mainly to administrations, for which it
2993-658: The French Dangel company for between 1992 and 1994. Malaysian car company Proton produced a version of the Citroën AX, the Proton Tiara , from 1996 to 2000. Aixam Mega at one time built an AX derivative called Mega Club and Mega Ranch. It was somewhat inspired by the Méhari , with a plastic bodywork and an optional convertible version, with two-wheel drive or four-wheel drive. It was discontinued in 1998, after nearly 1,000 had been built. A competition version of
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3066-500: The G10 engine in the 2000 Chevrolet Metro became the last engine available on an American-sold vehicle to use throttle body injection. In indirect-injected diesel engines (as well as Akroyd engines), there are two combustion chambers: the main combustion chamber, and a pre-chamber (also called an ante-chamber) that is connected to the main one. The fuel is injected only into the pre-chamber (where it begins to combust), and not directly into
3139-621: The German engines. From 1940, the Mitsubishi Kinsei 60 series engine used a direct-injection system, along with the related Mitsubishi Kasei engine from 1941. In 1943, a low-pressure fuel injection system was added to the Nakajima Homare Model 23 radial engine. The first mass-produced petrol direct-injection system was developed by Bosch and initially used in small automotive two-stroke petrol engines. Introduced in
3212-699: The LCV versions, stripped of their rear seats). From June 1996, following the introduction of the Saxo, the range was slimmed-down, with production of the AX ending in December 1998, after a 12-year production run. In May 1997, the production of the AX in Vigo , Spain, ended after 812,000 vehicles produced in the factory. The assembly of the model was maintained in Mangualde , Portugal for some months. It had been withdrawn from
3285-534: The Mega Club with a tubeframe chassis raced in the Andros Trophy in the early 1990, but powered by Ford and Honda engines. Citroën produced a number of 374 AX Electriques starting December 1993 to 1996. The car featured a liquid-cooled 100Ah Nickel-Cadmium (NiCad) battery running at 120V paired with a 20kW (26hp) electric motor which was capable of this peak power figure for short periods of time, but had
3358-458: The Peugeot 205 Rallye. The AX Sport used Solex ADDHE 40 carburettors until late 1988 and was then replaced with Weber DCOM 40s, just like the Peugeot 205 Rallye. The AX Sport had a shorter inlet manifold than the 205 Rallye, to save room in the smaller engine compartment. In phase 2 guise, the Sport was available in other colours and with optional GT wheels and rear spoiler. Later, the AX 14 GT, with
3431-518: The UK market during the first half of 1997, following the demise of right-hand drive production. A total of 2,561,432 AXs were produced. The Peugeot 106 (launched in 1991) and Citroën Saxo were both developments of the AX. They followed the 1990s trend for heavier, more solid and 'safer' feeling cars that continues today. The AX was designed for lightness, with a 'less is more' philosophy, but with more conventional styling than previous Citroëns. In 1996,
3504-631: The Zoe achieved the 50,000 unit milestone in June 2016, and 200,000 units by March 2020. Other manufacturers followed suit; Groupe PSA introduced the Peugeot e-208 and Opel Corsa-e in 2019, while Honda followed with the low-volume Honda e , and Mini with their Mini Electric . The B-segment is considered as the European equivalent to the subcompact category widely known in North America,
3577-589: The amount of fuel to be injected. In 1974, Bosch introduced the K-Jetronic system, which used a continuous flow of fuel from the injectors (rather than the pulsed flow of the D-Jetronic system). K-Jetronic was a mechanical injection system, using a plunger actuated by the intake manifold pressure which then controlled the fuel flow to the injectors. Also in 1974, Bosch introduced the L-Jetronic system,
3650-708: The country in 2020. The term supermini, which precedes the B-segment term, emerged in the UK in the 1970s, as car manufacturers sought a new design to surpass the influential Mini , launched in 1959, and journalists attempted to categorise such a vehicle. The car which is widely regarded as the first modern supermini is the Autobianchi A112 , launched in 1969. It was later followed by the Fiat 127 , Renault 5 , VW Polo and Honda Civic , which are similar in concept and size. These supermini or B-segment cars were considered to feature better comfort and convenience, with
3723-579: The diesel engine, but also improved it. He increased the air blast pressure from 4–5 kp/cm (390–490 kPa) to 65 kp/cm (6,400 kPa). In the meantime, the first manifold injection system was designed by Johannes Spiel in 1884, while working at Hallesche Maschinenfabrik in Germany. In 1891, the British Herbert-Akroyd oil engine became the first engine to use a pressurised fuel injection system. This design, called
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#17327728786443796-411: The electronics in fuel injection systems used analogue electronics for the control system. The Bosch Motronic multi-point fuel injection system (also amongst the first systems where the ignition system is controlled by the same device as the fuel injection system) was the first mass-produced system to use digital electronics . The Ford EEC-III single-point fuel injection system, introduced in 1980,
3869-493: The final demise of the classic Citroën 2CV in 1990, the AX became the smallest model in the Citroën range. The very earliest cars had an issue with gear shifters falling off; this was rectified by the time the AX reached export markets. It was initially backed by a memorable television advertising campaign filmed in China, starring actress Janet Mas and an elderly gentleman, whose character was simply known as Mr. Wong. The car
3942-441: The first direct-injected diesel engine for trucks in 1924. Higher pressure diesel injection pumps were introduced by Bosch in 1927. In 1898, German company Deutz AG started producing four-stroke petrol stationary engines with manifold injection. The 1906 Antoinette 8V aircraft engine (the world's first V8 engine) was another early four-stroke engine that used manifold injection. The first petrol engine with direct-injection
4015-655: The fuel injection systems had used a mechanical control system. In 1957, the American Bendix Electrojector system was introduced, which used analogue electronics for the control system. The Electrojector was intended to be available for the Rambler Rebel mid-size car, however reliability problems meant that the fuel injection option was not offered. In 1958, the Chrysler 300D , DeSoto Adventurer , Dodge D-500 and Plymouth Fury offered
4088-580: The fuel injectors, but at a variable flow rate. The most common automotive continuous injection system is the Bosch K-Jetronic system, introduced in 1974 and used until the mid-1990s by various car manufacturers. Intermittent injection systems can be sequential , in which injection is timed to coincide with each cylinder's intake stroke; batched , in which fuel is injected to the cylinders in groups, without precise synchronization to any particular cylinder's intake stroke; simultaneous , in which fuel
4161-633: The fuel through a small nozzle under high pressure, while carburetion relies on suction created by intake air accelerated through a Venturi tube to draw fuel into the airstream. The term "fuel injection" is vague and comprises various distinct systems with fundamentally different functional principles. Typically, the only thing all fuel injection systems have in common is a lack of carburetion . There are two main functional principles of mixture formation systems for internal combustion engines: internal mixture formation and external mixture formation. A fuel injection system that uses external mixture formation
4234-407: The huge success of the new Peugeot 205 - had led to Peugeot deciding to axe it by the time the Citroën AX was launched, and so the Talbot version never made it into production. The car was available on the left-hand drive continental markets from its launch on 2 October 1986, as a three-door hatchback with 1.0, 1.1 and 1.4 L TU -series belt driven OHC engines. A range of five-door models
4307-503: The main combustion chamber. Therefore, this principle is called indirect injection. There exist several slightly different indirect injection systems that have similar characteristics. Types of indirect injection used by diesel engines include: In 1872, George Bailey Brayton obtained a patent on an internal combustion engine that used a pneumatic fuel injection system, also invented by Brayton: air-blast injection . In 1894, Rudolf Diesel copied Brayton's air-blast injection system for
4380-519: The most notable changes. The front turn signals were now clear, and the Citroën logo was moved to the center of the bonnet. The much maligned dashboard was replaced by a more conservative design. The following year saw the introduction of the most powerful AX variant, the 100 PS (74 kW; 99 bhp) GTi. The GT was sold alongside the GTi for a few months, but was eventually phased out. New models were also introduced, mostly as limited editions, such as
4453-526: The safety and surefootedness of the Mini's front-wheel drive/transverse engine package. That meant the addition of a hatchback and folding rear seats. The oil crisis in the 1970s was also argued to increase supermini market share. In 1976, Ford launched the Ford Fiesta which became popular. The segment began to be more popular in the 1980s. By the mid-1980s, the term supermini had become established as
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#17327728786444526-470: The same period. Fuel consumption has decreased by around 20 percent, and power-to-weight ratio has increased by 15 percent. Hatchback is the most popular body style for the segment. While the majority is equipped with five doors, many European-oriented hatchbacks was offered with both three-door and five-door versions, with 31 percent of European customers opting for three-door B-segment hatchbacks by 2007. The share has decreased to 13 percent in 2016 due to
4599-648: The second smallest of the European segments for passenger cars between the A-segment and C-segment , and commonly described as "small cars". The B-segment is the largest segment in Europe by volume, accounting for 20 percent of total car sales in 2020 according to JATO Dynamics . B-segment cars include hatchback, saloon , estate , coupe / convertible , MPV , and crossover / SUV body styles. The European segments are not based on size or weight criteria. In practice, B-segment cars have been described as having
4672-554: The shift of market preference which is moving towards prioritizing usability and practicality. As the result, by late 2010s, a number of manufacturers had stopped offering three-door versions of its B-segment hatchback models in Europe. Other body styles currently available in the segment in Europe are saloon (example: Dacia Logan ), estate (example: Dacia Logan MCV and Škoda Fabia Combi ), and coupe/convertible (example: Mini Cooper Cabrio/Convertible ). Performance-oriented versions of B-segment hatchbacks were developed and sold as
4745-424: Was a two-stroke aircraft engine designed by Otto Mader in 1916. Another early spark-ignition engine to use direct-injection was the 1925 Hesselman engine , designed by Swedish engineer Jonas Hesselman. This engine could run on a variety of fuels (such as oil, kerosene, petrol or diesel oil) and used a stratified charge principle whereby fuel is injected towards the end of the compression stroke, then ignited with
4818-512: Was added in 1987 and a 1.4 L diesel engine was introduced in 1988. The latter was replaced by a 1.5 L unit in September 1994. The right-hand drive version for the UK market was launched in August 1987, initially only as a three-door hatchback, with a five-door version joining the range a year later, effectively replacing the five-door Citroën Visa , which was discontinued that year. With
4891-407: Was another early digital fuel injection system. These and other electronic manifold injection systems (using either port injection or throttle-body injection ) became more widespread through the 1980s, and by the early 1990s they had replaced carburettors in most new petrol-engined cars sold in developed countries. The aforementioned injection systems for petrol passenger car engines - except for
4964-659: Was developed in the 1970s as an informal categorisation, and by 1977 was used regularly by the British newspaper The Times . By the mid-1980s, it had widespread use in Britain. In Germany, the term "small cars" ( German : Kleinwagen ) has been endorsed by the Federal Motor Transport Authority ( Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt [ de ] , KBA) equivalent to the B-segment. The segment accounts for 15.1 percent of total car registrations in
5037-500: Was lowering friction in the engines. The AX has fully independent suspension with unusually long wheel travel. It also optionally used self-coloured plastic bumpers. This technology came from the PSA Peugeot-Citroën / Renault / French government ECO 2000 project. The production version was much more conservative than the original 'one box' design prototype, that was closer to the Eco 2000 styling after negative reactions in focus groups. The "one-box" city car eventually came to market with
5110-468: Was offered as a two-seater panel van model. Some pre-production vehicles have been on the road since December 1993, notably in La Rochelle . The AX Électrique was equipped with a 20 kW engine with a maximum speed of 91 km/h. The traction battery is composed of 20 nickel-cadmium monoblocks. The AX Électrique can reach 50 km/h in 8.3 seconds. Citroën reported an estimated urban range of 75 km. The vehicle weighs 995 kg (980 kg for
5183-403: Was previously used in many diesel engines. Types of systems include: The M-System , used in some diesel engines from the 1960s to the 1980s, sprayed the fuel onto the walls of the combustion chamber, as opposed to most other direct-injection systems which spray the fuel into the middle of the chamber. Manifold injection systems are common in petrol-fuelled engines such as the Otto engine and
5256-473: Was the Fiat Multijet straight-four engine, introduced in the 1999 Alfa Romeo 156 1.9 JTD model. Since the 2010s, many petrol engines have switched to direct-injection (sometimes in combination with separate manifold injectors for each cylinder). Similarly, many modern diesel engines use a common-rail design. Stratified charge injection was used in several petrol engines in the early 2000s, such as
5329-406: Was very economical, largely because of excellent aerodynamics for its class of car ( drag coefficient of 0.31) and a very light weight of 640 kg (1,411 lb) for the basic version. This was due to the extensive use of plastic panels in non-load bearing areas and varying the thicknesses of steel in the bodyshell to be the minimum needed to take required loads. Another target for the engineers
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