May
12
Mercedes’ new Diesel superpower
May 12, 2008 |
Earlier this month we saw the 150th anniversary of Rudolf Diesel’s birth (the clue to his fame is in his name) in Germany. What better way to celebrate such an event than with a range of new engines that use the very fuel of the man himself? Well, with the impeccable timing and quality launch that they are famed for - that is exactly what Daimler Chrysler’s German Mercedes Benz brand have done.
The new four-cylinder Diesel units look set to outstrip any that the manufacturer has produced before in their power output, economy and emissions ratings - not to mention the competition. These factors are all very important to the average buyer of a modern Diesel Mercedes and the manufacturer has gone all out to produce a range of engines which satisfy the need for economy and low emissions but with various power-points in terms of performance.
Produced at Mercedes Untertürkheim plant, the new engines boast up to 20% more displacement than their forebears and up to 25% peak torque. These are staggering figures when you look at how good (and market-beating) current Mercedes diesel engines and cars are. Couple this with the fact that the increased power is coming with lower, yes lower, than ever fuel consumption and around 10% reductions in CO2 output (already beating future EU5 emissions standards) and suddenly Diesel becomes exciting!
The new 4-cylinder unit is intended to replace a range of existing Diesel engines and will be used right across the Mercedes range from the C-Class, through the new GLK SUV being launched this week and onto the Sprinter cargo van. All of these models will be set to benefit from good power response and, in the case of Mercedes saloons, sports-car like performance that simply wouldn’t be put in the same ballpark as Diesel not so long ago.
As we looked at a couple of days ago, Diesel technology is just part of the picture for Mercedes as far as green cars are concerned. If this sort of quality and spec is what we can expect then here’s looking forward to the hybrid and fuel-cell technologies which Mercedes say they will b bolstering their brand with in just a few short years.
Comments
2 Comments so far
Well quite interesting. Mercedes is really working on diesel engines, first the bluetec and now this. Any figures on the power?
Cheers
http://thecarsandmore.blogspot.com/
Yeah, from what I’ve seen the power will be…
250CDI - 204hp (@ 2,400rpm)
220CDI - 170hp (@ 3,200rpm)
200CDI - 136hp (@ 3,000rpm)