Gas engines quietly upstage electric cars at LA auto show

• Buick Regal . The redesigned 2011 midsize sedan also offers no V-6. Standard will be a 2.4-liter four-cylinder good for 182 horsepower and 30 mpg on the highway. Want more power? Instead of the V-6 typical in this class, the option will be a 2-liter, turbocharged four rated 220 hp.

• Toyota Sienna . The minivan, updated for 2011 and on sale in the spring, will introduce a 2.7-liter four-cylinder, though it continues to offer the V-6 that's been the powertrain all along. The four is rated 187 horsepower and expected to be rated 19 mpg in town, 26 highway. The 3.5-liter six is rated 266 hp and 18/24 mpg.

In many of the new engines, fuel mileage is boosted by squirting gas directly into the cylinders – called direct injection – in place of the decades-old method of shooting it into a chamber outside the cylinder where it waits for a valve to let it in.

Direct injection, once an exotic technique for a few high-end brands, is all but necessary now to squeeze more power and fuel efficiency from smaller engines.

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