Autoblog

Not too long ago, Hyundai didn't compete directly with anything coming out of Germany (or perhaps that's the other way around). Now Hyundai is determined not to let up on its recently-made foes. Today it unveiled the R-Engine, a new diesel in two capacities that the company says "can comfortably beat the power outputs of all German and French competitors." So there.

The Euro-V compliant, common-rail lumps come in 2.0-liter and 2.2-liter flavors, each with piezo-electric fuel injectors and electronic variable geometry turbos. Refinement comes via an internal, silent steel timing chain and a lower balance shaft housed in a stiffened ladder-frame housing. Weight has also been reduced thanks to a head cover, intake manifold and oil filter housing all made from plastic.

The 2.0-liter R-Engine puts out 181 hp and 289 lb-ft. That compares to 170 hp and 258 lb-ft for Audi's 2.0-liter TDI. The 2.2 liter Hyundai diesel pushes 197 hp and 321 lb-ft. , which compares with 215 hp and 398 lb.-ft. for Mecedes' 3.2-liter BLUETEC CDI.

Hyundai says the first vehicles to get the new diesel R engine will be SUVs and large sedans sold in Europe. Unfortunately, there appear to be no plans to bring it to the U.S. where our diesel emissions standards are higher than the Old Country's, at least for now.

[Source: Hyundai]

BMW has been kicking ass and taking names in luxury vehicle sales, and the Bavarian Motor mavens hold the top spot in global luxury sales as proof. Even though sales are more than brisk, top management wants to grow profits, and selling the German automaker's silky-smooth engines to its competitors may be part of the profitability plan. Back in February (and last May), news reports out of Germany said team Bimmer was looking for customers for its engines and transmissions, and now we have verification. Friedrich Eichiner, BMW's board member for corporate and brand development, told Automotive News that the company will decide by year end whether to sell its engines to the likes of General Motors, Daimler and Fiat.

For a relatively small company, BMW has a ton of money invested in engine tech, with a full range of turbo-diesel, turbocharged and naturally aspirated petrol offerings. It makes sense for BMW to sell its engines and transmissions to pocket some extra coin, as what makes a BMW an Ultimate Driving Machine is much more than just what's driving it underhood.

[Source: Automotive News - subs. req'd]

So Acura won't be making it to Japan just yet, and the new NSX has been delayed until at least 2010, but parent company Honda is not slowing down for anything. Company President Takeo Fukui is determined not to let Honda get left behind in the battle for global automotive supremacy. In the name of meeting demand, he announced that Honda will be building five factories, two engine plants, and two R&D facilities. Much of the new construction will be taking place in Asia to fulfill demand in the Asia-Oceana region: Thailand, and Tochigi, Yorii, and Ogawa Japan. With everything in place, Honda plans to turbocharge production of its increasingly ubiquitous small cars by an extra 300,000 per year by 2010.

Thanks for the tip, Dylan!

[Source: Car Advice]

Don't go getting too excited, it probably won't mean a crate version of the S65 or N54 for Roundel fans. Running an automaker is expensive, especially a manufacturer that leans more toward niche status than casting a wide net. BMW is looking at all options for future revenue, and one of the thoughts that's occured to the well-respected manufacturer of cars with chutzpah is to bank on its engineering chops and sell engines to other carmakers. Lotus has pimped themselves out for years to other automakers, and the Porsche name has ended up on things like hard drives, so BMW selling their award-winning engines to gain an extra stream of return on their investment is a far less radical move. Hey, if selling their more mundane powerplants to emerging markets like India and China keeps the coffers full and awesome performers rolling our way, we're all for it.

[Source: Motor Authority]

Ford has not been having much luck with the 6.4-liter diesel engines for its Super Duty trucks of late. In the latest twist of a saga that began in January, Navistar, the company that makes those engines, had added additional charges to its $2 billion counter-suit against Ford.

Navistar has been the exclusive maker of Ford's Super Duty diesel truck engines since 1979. In January of this year, Ford sued Navistar over the price of the engine and excessive warranty claims. In February, Navistar halted shipments of the just launched 6.4-liter engines, saying Ford had stopped paying for them. Ford got a court order to compel Navistar to ship the engines (which Ford paid for) -- then Ford had to recall more than 8,000 trucks because customers were reporting tailpipe fires. Navistar has now filed a counterclaim that seeks more than $2 billion in damages, and alleges that Ford is planning to develop its own diesel engines prior to 2012. There is no indication as to which party, Ford or Navistar, has a better case. For now, though, while the engine issues can't be good for Navistar, it is far more damaging for Ford to have to deal with these kinds of problems with its newly-launched bread-and-butter vehicle.

[Source: Automotive News]

Everyone experiences growing pains at some point in their life. Some are more debilitating than others. As it enter its 21st year in the US, Hyundai is feeling a few of its own. In a market dominated by overproduction and a seemingly insurmountable glut of models, Hyundai has a good problem to resolve... maybe. A labor strike in Korea coupled with strong worldwide demand means U.S. dealers can't get enough of the popular Korean-built cars like the three-door Accent -- an issue that may also extend to the new Elantra and the forthcoming reskinned Tiburon.

Before you can build cars, you have to have engines, right? The first issue to work on is improving the currently limited capacity to build four-cylinder engines. The inventory of these engines, which power both the Elantra and Accent, is now and will continue to be a huge problem until something changes. As a result, Hyundai has informed dealers that the automaker is likely to miss its '06 sales target here in the US. Even at full capacity, the plants may fall short of meeting global demand next year as well, prompting concerns that the '07 sales target could be jeopardized, as well.

Undercapacity and overwhelming demand for your products is an enviable position to be in for a short time. Once the issue begins to affect long-term profitability, however, somebody had better deal with it quickly.

[Source: Kathy Jackson, Automotive News via AutoWeek]

Despite the pop culture status of the HEMI, Chrysler now has to cut production on the beefy V8 engines by 20 percent. The lagging sales have been prompted by high gas prices and consumer interest in more fuel efficient vehicles, which have hurt sales of light trucks and SUVs. For Dodge, the numbers tell the story, with a 41.1 percent drop in sales of the Durango, an 11.7 percent dip in Ram pickup sales, and a drop of 12.9 percent overall in light truck and SUV sales compared to this time in 2005.

The HEMI engine hasn't always been a problem child for Chrysler, quite the opposite, as its reintroduction in 2001 sent Ram pickup sales up to a record 450,000 units sold. It's also something of a "halo" engine, because while not everyone is opting to purchase vehicles with the HEMI, it gives the Chrysler Group's light trucks and SUVs a tougher and more desirable image.

[Source: Detroit News]

There are some misguided folks out there who think that big displacement and technology are somehow mutually exclusive. And then there's Tom Nelson of Nelson Racing Engines. His Project F Bomb engine (a twin-turbo 408 cubic inch small-block Chevy that threw down an evil 1480 HP and 1440 lb-ft) recently graced the cover of Hot Rod magazine, and he has plenty of other fine examples showing his ability to build huge power via forced induction.

The video above shows what happens when 522 cubes of big-block Chevy are subjected to 10 PSI or so of boost and stuffed into a classic Pontiac LeMans. We're going to warn our readers that a bit of rowdy driving occurs past the half-way point, so if you're easy upset by hot-testing a rev limiter on public streets, it's probably best to skip to the next post. On the other hand, if you want to see what happens when 1000 HP is applied in 3rd gear at 20 MPH, by all means roll the clip and prepare to receive some goose bumps. Polite words fail to accurately describe such a diabolic creation. Note, too, just how mild mannered this thing is when driving at sane speeds.

Of course, the best feature about such a setup is its adjustability. It can be knocked down to a mere 1000 HP or so for taking trips to the grocery store on pump gas, and then cranked up towards 2000 HP on racing fuel - if, indeed, the rest of your car (and your guardian angel) can handle that sort of power.

[Source: Nelson Racing Engines; a hat tip to JV]

BMW's turbocharged 335i is rated by the manufacturer at 300 HP and 300 lb-ft of torque at the crankshaft, which seemed a bit low to us considering the 255 HP rating of its naturally-aspirated brethren. Sure, the turbo system was designed to maximize the usable powerband instead of creating moonshot-like peak power, but a mere 17% bump in the power ratings just didn't compute.

Investigating the matter further, Automobile Magazine strapped down a 335i to a Dynojet chassis dyno. Such a device measures power at the rear wheels, and translation into crankshaft numbers requires that one account for drivetrain losses. Taking into account the loss of 15% or thereabouts that we'd expect to see from a Dynojet run (don't get hung up trying to determine a precise "loss" number, because there is much more to it than just an estimation of friction), something in the neighborhood of 255 HP would be expected at the rear wheels from 300 HP at the crank - but that wasn't the case. The 335i instead laid down 276 HP, as well as spinning the rollers with 300 lb-ft of torque as measured at the rear wheels. That's about 37% healthier than the 330i.

So, what's up? Yes, the new SAE J1349 dyno standard is supposed to eliminate this sort of rating tomfoolery, but it's only accurate under one specified set of conditions. Dynometers, such as the Dynojet, attempt to correct the results back to a set of conditions, but they're slightly different than those used for J1349. That likely accounts for only a few percentage points of difference, though. More likely is that the Bimmer's engine management system, rather than simply establishing a limit for boost, is constantly attempting to maximize airflow while controlling detonation. Such a system cannot easily be corrected, and putting such a vehicle on a dyno under optimum conditions (usually with particularly cool ambient air temps) can yield results well in excess of the manufacturer's ratings, and this likely explains why the measured torque peak is disproportionate to the horsepower peak.

All this power - accessible at nearly any engine speed, judging by the broad torque curve - gives the 335i performance that nearly rivals that of the previous-gen M3, with the quarter-mile disappearing in 13.6 seconds and with a trap speed of 104 MPH. That sort of performance puts it in the running as Sleeper of the Year.

[Source: Automobile Magazine]

Weber Automotive, a leader in the manufacture of engine blocks and crankshafts (many of the magnesium VW Beetle engine blocks were cast by Weber), has designed a small V4 engine in an attempt to provide an alternative to inline fours in emerging markets such as China.

The V4 configuration has had its fair share of success in the realm of high-performance motorcycles, and Weber claims that its cube-like shape makes it well-suited to compact cars as well. Not only is the 70-degree bank angle said to offer a packaging advantage, but it's supposedly up to 75 lbs lighter than a typical 2.0L I4 of similar power.

Fans of the Yamaha VMax and Honda VFR may also be glad to hear that a 90-degree crank is used. This gives the engine a firing order that effectively is like two 90-degree V-twins which run 180 degrees out of phase, and thus leads to an exhaust noise that can best be described as that of a miniature V8.

The company has posted some specifications on its site, and if they are to be trusted, this engine might be rather interesting, indeed. If someone wants to toss this into a decent sport compact, we'd be more than happy to thrash it around for a while.

[Source: Automotive Design and Production]