New Downsized Gasoline V6 Engine Being Developed in the U.S.

A new downsized engine is currently being developed in the U.S.: Behr America is working on a V6 gasoline powerplant that uses direct injection and forced induction to improve fuel consumption and produce high torque starting form the bottom of the rpm range.

The new unit has been engineered to run on both E0 gasoline and E85 Ethanol, thus receiving the EBDI (Ethanol Boosted Direct Injection) name, and aims to compete with larger capacity naturally aspirated engines in terms of power and torque.

The engines uses modern technologies such as an EGR (exhaust gas recirculation) cooling system and a high spec water-cooled charge air intercooler to achieve low intake manifold and combustion temperatures.

The company has completed a series of test on the engine and has announced that it has registered encouraging results, during the SAE World Congress in Detroit. The company said that it has managed to reduce the knocking level and improve the early combustion process of the V6 unit.

“With significantly improved knocking limits and the ability to tune earlier combustion, Behr's thermal system expertise contributed to an almost five percent fuel consumption improvement over the course of the project," Dr. Uwe Krueger, VP Product and Process Engineering North America said during the company's SAE press conference.

Now that Behr has successfully completed the first stage of the project, the company plans to develop an improved integrated charge air cooler. It wants to have the engine tested installed in a vehicle and perform live driving-condition testing sessions by the end of the year.