Could Nissan's new petrol engine make diesel cars obsolete?

3 months ago

Japanese car maker Nissan claims to have come up with a new engine that could make today’s advanced diesel cars obsolete.

The company says its new Variable Compression-Turbocharged (VC-T) engine, expected to be unveiled at the 2016 Paris Motor Show next month, will be “one of the most advanced internal combustion engines ever created”.

According to Nissan, the VC-T engine combines the performance of turbo-charged petrol vehicles with the efficiency of heavy-fuel engines using variable compression technology – which allows it to choose the best compression ratio for combustion at any given moment.

This is because the engine has the ability to seamlessly raise and lower the height of its piston stroke, which in turn, controls how much fuel and air is squeezed into the top of the cylinder.

The car maker is confident this new technology – which took more than 20 years to develop – could provide a level of performance and fuel economy conventional engines found hard to achieve.

“VC-T technology is a step change for Infiniti,” said Roland Krueger, president of Infiniti Motor Company, Nissan’s luxury vehicle division.

“It is a revolutionary next-step in optimising the efficiency of the internal combustion engine. This technological breakthrough delivers the power of a high-performance 2.0-litre turbo gasoline engine with a high level of efficiency at the same time.”

The move is being seen as Nissan’s attempt to place itself in the growing diesel and hybrid car market as consumers look for higher performance and greater fuel economy from their vehicles.

Nissan is confident that the VC-T engine will deliver “multiple customer benefits including significantly reduced fuel consumption and emissions, greatly reduced noise and vibration levels”.

It adds that the engine is also lighter and more compact than comparable conventional engines.