Automotive Tech

Audi 2.0 TFSI wins “International Engine of the Year” Award for 2008

* Fourth award in a row for Audi 2.0 TFSI four-cylinder engine
* More than a million ordered by customers to date
* 2.0 TFSI now available with 200kW (272 hp) in Audi TTS

A specialist jury made up of 65 respected automotive journalists from 32 countries has voted the 2.0 TFSI winner of the 1.8-litre to 2-litre category at the International Engine of the Year Awards for the fourth year in a row.

Chevrolet's all-new Midget racing engine was unveiled at Indianapolis Motor Speedway by GM representatives and United States Auto Club (USAC) team owner Tony Stewart. Designed by GM Racing specifically for the USAC National Midget Car Series, the new purpose-built, four-cylinder Chevrolet racing engine will initially power Tony Stewart Racing (TSR) drivers Tracy Hines and Levi Jones in upcoming events. The new Chevy Midget engine will be available to all USAC competitors through independent engine builders.

Researchers at Ford’s advanced driving simulator, Virtual Test Track Experiment (VIRTTEX), are devoting much of 2008 to study how active safety technologies in vehicles should alert drivers of potentially dangerous driving incidents.

Ford also conducted customer driving clinics to test warning systems for its new backup system, the Cross Traffic Alert with Blind Spot Monitoring warning system, which alerts drivers backing out of a parking space when traffic is approaching from the sides. The system will debut early next year and has three warnings – a flashing red light on the side mirror, an audible alert and a written warning on the instrument panel’s message center. The system makes its debut in early 2009

Fuel efficiency standards for both passenger vehicles and light trucks would increase by 4.5 percent per year over the five-year period ending in 2015 – a 25 percent total improvement that exceeds the 3.3 percent baseline proposed by Congress last year – under an ambitious new proposal announced today by U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary E. Peters.

For passenger cars, the proposal would increase fuel economy from the current 27.5 miles per gallon to 35.7 miles per gallon by 2015. For light trucks, the proposal calls for increases from 23.5 miles per gallon in 2010 to 28.6 miles per gallon in 2015.

Piezo technology makes diesel engines efficient, clean and quiet. At the 29th Vienna International Engine Symposium, the Powertrain Division of Continental will be presenting a new piezo injector with direct drive and closed-loop needle control, opening the way for engine developers to further reduce consumption and emissions.

When it was introduced at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit earlier this year, the 2009 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1’s power was estimated at 100 horsepower for each of its 6.2 liters of displacement. GM Powertrain has completed SAE certification of the ZR1’s supercharged LS9 V-8 and the results exceed the estimate: 638 horsepower (476 kW) and 604 lb.-ft. of torque (819 Nm).

“The TH!NK city is the world’s only crash-tested and highway-certified EV and is ideal for markets such as California where we will initiate demonstration projects offering an exceptionally safe and fun car to drive” says Jan-Olaf Willums, CEO of Think Global. –“We are therefore proud to partner with the two pioneering investors in the clean tech field and to launch TH!NK city in North America with them.”

Monroe County, New York, will use a Chevrolet Equinox Fuel Cell Electric vehicle as part of their efforts to promote a cleaner and greener environment in the Western New York area. Monroe County becomes the latest member of Chevy's Project Driveway.

The 2009 Buick Lucerne sedan will join General Motors' lineup of flex-fuel vehicles that can run on either ordinary gasoline or E85, or any combination of the two.

The Lucerne, the first flex-fuel capable Buick passenger car, will be among more than 15 GM models with flex-fuel capability in 2009, up from 11 offerings this year.

Creating an improved aerodynamic shape for truck trailers by mounting sideskirts can lead to a cut in fuel consumption and emissions of up to as much as 15%. Earlier promising predictions, based on mathematical models and wind tunnel tests by TU Delft, have been confirmed during road tests with an adapted trailer. This means that PART (Platform for Aerodynamic Road Transport), the public-private partnership platform, has produced an application which can immediately be put into production.