Automakers are taking engine down-sizing very seriously and we already have small 2.0-litre production engines with 355bhp available in cars like CLA 45 AMG. There have been few concept cars also with a 2.0-litre four-turbo packing around 400bhp.

This time Volvo in collaboration with AVL, Denso and Polestar has some quite interesting news as they have revealed their 450bhp high performance Drive-E powertrain concept.

Exact specs are limited, but the triple-turbo 2.0-litre 4-cylinder petrol engine packs no less than 450bhp. Volvo’s current top of the range 2.0-litre turbo in the new XC90 packs 320bhp, so this is a very impressive improvement.

“When we launched the Drive-E powertrain family, our aim was to deliver the most advanced 4-cylinder engines in the industry based on emissions and fuel consumption relative to performance and drivability,” says Dr. Peter Mertens, Senior Vice President for Research and Development at Volvo Car Group.

“We knew that 320hp in our petrol configuration was just a starting point. The 450hp High Performance Drive-E Powertrain Concept, demonstrates this ambition and the versatility of the Drive-E Powertrains.”

The 450bhp engine utilises two parallel turbochargers, which are fed by an electrically powered turbo-compressor. The compressed air from this unit, rather than being fed to the cylinders, is instead used to spool up the two parallel turbochargers.

The fuel pump works at 250 bar pressure and the triple boost installation and unique fuel system, enables a very dynamic drivability without any turbo lag, compared to a mono-turbo.

There are no production details yet, but we wouldn’t be surprised to see something similar in production in the near future.