New downsized engine range by Volvo: without compromising luxury or driving pleasure

The Volvo Car Corporation is taking the next step towards zero emissions and climate impact through a new, downsized engine range consisting solely of four-cylinder petrol and diesel engines.



"It's time to stop counting cylinders. At the Frankfurt Motor Show we will reveal a new concept car. It proves that downsized engines can go hand in hand with our customers' expectations on luxury and driving pleasure," says Peter Mertens, Senior Vice President Research and Development at the Volvo Car Corporation.



The Volvo Car Corporation's upcoming four-cylinder VEA (Volvo Environmental Architecture) engine range includes common rail diesels and direct injected petrol engines. It covers the whole range from high power and torque variants to fuel-efficient derivatives.





"Our four-cylinder focus is the perfect way for us to quickly reduce CO2 emissions and fuel consumption. We will develop four-cylinder engines with higher performance than today's six-cylinder units and lower fuel consumption than the current four-cylinder generation," continues Peter Mertens.



The new VEA engines reduce the number of unique parts by 60 percent. The new powertrains are also up to 90 kg lighter than the present ones and fuel economy is improved by up to 35 percent.



Pioneering flywheel technology

Modularity and compact transverse design are also ideal for future electrification developments. To cover all customer requirements, certain engines will gain added performance via hybrid or other spearhead technology, such as flywheel drive.



Later this autumn, for instance, the Volvo Car Corporation will become one of the first car makers in the world to test the potential of flywheel drive on public roads. The so-called KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System) captures braking energy in a flywheel that spins at up to 60,000 revs a minute. Once released, this stored energy can either accelerate the car or propel the vehicle once it reaches cruising speed.



"The flywheel system offers the driver an additional 80 horsepower while reducing fuel consumption by up to 20 percent," says Peter Mertens.



Competing with the best

The Volvo Car Corporation will promote economies of scale within the company's own model range via a new vehicle architecture: SPA (Scalable Platform Architecture). SPA allows most Volvo models to be built on the same production line irrespective of vehicle size and complexity.



"We're taking our technological future into our own hands. Both our new architecture and the new engine range will enable us to be on par or even beat our toughest competitors in crucial areas such as driving dynamics and fuel economy," says Peter Mertens.



Volvo takes the lead in lightweight design

In addition to the industrial benefits of common vehicle architecture there are also significant product-related advantages. The Volvo Car Corporation will take the lead in automotive lightweight design with upcoming SPA models being 100-150 kg lighter than current models of the same size.



The new architecture enables electrification at all levels - and new chassis technologies combined with the lower weight and improved weight distribution will boost driving dynamics. The electrical architecture is the backbone of the company's drive to reinforce its leading position in active safety.



Promoting exciting design

The new concept car unveiled next week in Frankfurt also shows that SPA offers the Volvo Car Corporation's design team greater freedom to give forthcoming Volvo models more exciting looks.



"The new architecture means we can sharpen our design language, carving out just the right athletic and dynamic aura that is so important to the most demanding prestige car buyers. The Frankfurt concept car is a great example of what we can achieve with the new architecture," relates Peter Horbury, Vice President Design at the Volvo Car Corporation.



| Volvo

Alfa Romeo V6 engine high-performance manual available

Years in the making and following in the tracks of the author's well-known Alfa DOHC tuning manual this new book is the result of a huge amount of research and firsthand experience gained through many projects concerning Alfa V6 rear-wheel drive models, from the GTV6 series to the last of the 75 3.0 models.



A wealth of completely new information can be found here regarding cylinder head modifications, big brake modifications, LSD adjustment procedure, suspension modifications for road and track, electrical system improvements, flowbench diagrams, dyno plots, and much more!







The Alfa V6 has been around for nearly three decades, so this comprehensive performance-enhancing guide for the Alfa V6 is long overdue. V6 enthusiasts everywhere now have a perfect guide for preserving, improving and modifying these excellent cars.



Covers Alfa Romeo 1981-1993 on GTV6 and 75 2.5 and 3.0-litre rear-wheel drive models and all 3-litre Alfa Romeo 164 models.



With over 200 photos and diagrams, and including coverage of the peripheral modifications necessary to deal with the massive increase in power, this book is a must-have for any Alfista.





Alfa Romeo V6 Engine High-performance Manual by Jim Kartalamakis

ISBN: 9781845840211

UPC: 6-36847-04021-5

Price: £30.00, $59.95





Bullet points

- The definitive Alfa V6 engine high-performance Bible!

- Aimed at the do-it-yourself tuner

- Simply described explicit steps with supporting illustrations

- All-important measurements and procedures given

- Unique LSD building procedure

- Unique inductive distributor recurving step-by-step

- Affordable big brake mods

- Complete suspension sub-section

- Electrical system mods

- Up-to-date supplier/specialist list, including web info





About the author

Jim Kartalamakis was born in Salonica, Greece. He went to Toronto, Canada, to study electrical engineering, and at 23 bought his first Alfa, which was where it all started. 30 years later, Jim still fondly remembers the life and times of the ARCC (Alfa Romeo Club of Canada). He returned to Greece in 1979, and ever since has had only one make of car, albeit different models – from a 1750 GT through to an Alfetta GTV, a 75 3.0 to, currently, another 75 3.0 and a 1.8 Turbo. For many years Jim was a technical writer for several car magazines, and the official Alfa Romeo technical manual translator in Greece.



Specification

V4021 • Paperback • 25x20.7cm • £30.00 • 160 pages • 214 colour and b&w pictures • ISBN: 978-1-845840-21-1 • UPC: 6-36847-04021-5



| Veloce

The new engine 1.8 TFSI by Audi

The engines in the updated A5 family set new standards for sportiness and efficiency. Even the base engine, the completely redesigned 1.8 TFSI, showcases the full extent of Audi’s technological competence. The engineers have developed innovative solutions in numerous fields of technology to achieve surprisingly strong performance with minimal fuel consumption.

The high-end four-cylinder engine displaces 1,798 cm3 and delivers a brawny and constant 320 Nm (236.02 lb-ft) to the crankshaft between 1,400 and 3,700 rpm. Peak output of 125 kW (170 hp) is achieved at 3,800 rpm. With a manual transmission, the 1.8 TFSI accelerates the Audi A5 Coupé from zero to 100 km/h (62.14 mph) in 7.9 seconds on its way to a top speed of 230 km/h (142.92 mph). Despite all this power, it consumes just 5.7 liters of fuel per 100 km (41.27 US mpg) on average, which corresponds to best-in-segment emissions of 134 grams of CO2/km (215.65 g/mile). Consumption has been reduced by 21 percent compared with the previous model engine.


Combustion behavior was a particular focus of the development work. In addition to FSI direct injection, the 1.8 TFSI also uses indirect injection. This system injects the fuel at the end of the intake manifold near the tumble valves, where it is swirled intensively with the air. Indirect injection is used in the part-load range. It reduces fuel consumption and particulate emissions to such an extent that the four-cylinder engine already complies with the limits of the future Euro 6 standard, which does not enter into force until 2015.

The rail pressure of the FSI system has been increased from 150 to 200 bar. The direct injection system is active when starting off and at higher loads. It can perform two or three individual injection operations per work cycle. To further optimize gas exchange, the valve control system has been given greater operating freedom. The Audi valvelift system, which adjusts the lift of the valves in two stages, is active on the exhaust side. The two camshafts can be adjusted through 30 or 60 degrees of crankshaft angle.

Fully electronic coolant regulation system
The innovative thermal management of the four-cylinder engine features a new fully electronic coolant regulation system. Two fast-switching, rotating cores, which are consolidated in a module and driven by an electric motor via a screw drive, control the flow of coolant. One of their primary objectives is to bring the motor oil up to operating temperature as quickly as possible following a cold start. This is done by keeping the coolant in the crankcase for a relatively long time. The cabin heating runs off of a separate loop in the cylinder head. The main radiator, which dissipates the heat to the environment, does not come into play until the latest possible moment.

The new rotating core module can set the water temperature between 85 and 107 degrees Celsius as a function of load and rpm to always achieve the best compromise between minimal internal friction and thermodynamic efficiency. Switchable valves throughout the cooling system manage heat flows between the engine, the heat exchanger for the transmission and the cabin. All together, the thermal management system reduces the CO2 emissions of the 1.8 TFSI by around 2.5 g per 100 km (4.02 g/mile).

This concept benefited from the integration of the exhaust manifold into the water-cooled cylinder head. Because this also reduces the exhaust gas temperature, it is not necessary with the 1.8 TFSI to enrich the mixture at full load, which reduces fuel consumption significantly when driving sportily.

The turbocharger in the 1.8 TFSI is also an all-new design that develops the high relative boost pressure of up to 1.3 bar very systematically. Key features include a turbine wheel made from a new alloy that can withstand exhaust temperatures of up to 980 degrees Celsius, the oxygen sensor mounted directly upstream of the turbine wheel, a pulsation damper, a compressor wheel machined from a solid blank and an electric wastegate actuator that adjusts the boost pressure particularly quickly and precisely to further reduce fuel consumption.

Engine weight has been reduced from 135 to 131.5 kilograms (297.62 to 289.91 lb). The new turbocharger/cylinder head module, a new casting process for the gray cast iron crankcase that reduces wall thickness to roughly three millimeters (0.12 in) and the crankshaft with four rather than eight counterweights and reduced main bearing diameters all contributed to this weight reduction. The pistons are made of new, high-strength alloy. Lightweight polymers are used for the oil pan, and many screws are made of aluminum.

Internal friction has also been drastically reduced by the use of an innovative coating on the piston skirts and by mounting the two balance shafts that counteract the second-order inertial forces in roller bearings. The regulated oil pump requires little energy itself, and the oil-jet cooling for the piston heads is controlled via a high-precision electric system.

| Audi

Un millón de motores Kia en la factoría de Zilina

A four-cylinder 1.4 litre petrol engine became the one millionth engine to be produced at Kia Motors Slovakia’s Zilina engine production facility – a mark reached within five years of the factory’s opening.

Built alongside the Zilina facility that produces cee’d Sportage and soon-to-be-added Venga, the KMS engine plant assembles finished units from components both manufactured on site and supplied by European partners including Nemak and ZF Zachs.



Petrol engines represent 60 per cent of the output with diesel units accounting for the rest of the 1,350 units per day production level. Currently the plant has a capacity of 300,000 units but following an expansion programme costing Euro 100 million that level will be increased to 450,000 per year on a three-shift basis.

"We are particularly proud to have produced one million engines within less than five years since the volume production was launched,” said Myung-Chul Chung, President and CEO of Kia Motors Slovakia. “And our expansion plan will allow us to become one of the biggest automotive engine manufacturing sites in Central Europe.”

The Kia Motors Slovakia engine plant produces 1.4-litre and 1.6-litre petrol and 1.4, 1.6 and 1.7-litre diesel engines and the car plant has already built more than 820,000 vehicles since it opened in 2006.

| Kia