Ford Motor Company Unveils New Common Rail Diesel Engines

PSA Peugeot Citroen and the Ford Motor Company are introducing two new common rail direct injection diesel engines in the second phase of their cooperative venture.

The engines, a new 1.6 litre and 2.0 litre, are scheduled to gradually equip both partners’ model line ups from the second half of 2003. These engines represent another step towards meeting customer demand in four priority areas: fuel economy, clean combustion, low running noise and outstanding performance.

The engines required an aggregate investment of nearly €1 billion. Production capacity will ultimately exceed 1,600,000 engines a year, providing most of the diesel powerplants in the core model lines of each partner.

Known as the HDi 1.6 litre in PSA Peugeot Citroen’s cars and the Duratorq TDCi 1.6 litre in Ford models, the engines will be available in 110 bhp (80 kW) and 90 bhp (66 kW) versions. They will equip more than 37 different vehicle versions of both partners.

The 1.6 litre HDi/TDCi engine features "all-aluminium" construction, which has kept its weight at a very low 120 kilograms, thereby facilitating its use in small cars. Its combustion system benefits from leading-edge technologies, including a Bosch second-generation common rail injection system with maximum pressures of 1,600 bar. The system also uses the multiple injection technique enabling up to six injections per engine cycle.

These new advances in common rail technology reduce fuel consumption and enhance drivability, noise and vibration performance, while further decreasing emissions.

Certain versions of the 1.6 litre HDi/TDCi, equipped with the FAP particulate filter system, will offer extremely low emissions in early 2004, thus anticipating the Euro IV regulations applicable in January 2005.

Investments made between 2001 and 2003 to produce 1.6 litre and 1.4 litre, 16-valve engines will amount to more than €800 million.