Press Release
Compact and light with high torque
New V6 engine continues the great diesel tradition of the Mercedes-Benz brand
- Successor to the previous in-line engines with five and six cylinders
- Output increased by up to 38 percent with exemplary fuel economy
- Best torque characteristics in this displacement class
- Third-generation common-rail injection with piezo injectors
The diesel pioneer Mercedes-Benz resolutely continued to refine and improve diesel technology. Highlights in this process include the first car turbodiesel engine in the Mercedes-Benz 300 SD (1977), the first diesel saloon with particulate filter in the US state of California (1985), the world premiere of fourvalve technology (1997), common-rail direct injection (1997), the most powerful car diesel engine in the S 400 CDI (2000) and the maintenance-free diesel particulate filter (2003), which is now available in 20 Mercedes models.
Mercedes-Benz is continuing this tradition-laden success story in spring 2005: after a development and testing period of approx. 40 months a new CDI sixcylinder unit is entering series production, combining all the current and trailblazing technologies in diesel engine development -- from the mechanical system and thermal/flow dynamics to the electronic engine management and emissions control. This guarantees outstanding results in terms of output and torque characteristics, economy, exhaust emissions and refinement.
As a further special feature, the new V6 CDI is the first and only diesel power unit to be available in combination with a seven-speed automatic transmission – an advantage which heralds further benefits with respect to agility and fuel consumption.
The most important features of the new Mercedes diesel engine in brief:
- Six cylinders in a V-arrangement
- Aluminium crankcase with cast-in grey iron cylinder liners
- Third-generation common-rail injection with piezo injectors
- Four-valve technology with two camshafts per cylinder bank
- Turbocharger with electrically adjustable turbine
- Peak combustion pressure of up to 180 bar
- Exhaust gas recirculation with electrically controlled valve
- Electrically controlled intake air throttling
- Swirl control by electrically controlled intake port shut-off
- Quick-start glow system
A new dimension in diesel driving pleasure
From March 2005 the new V6 will replace the current five and six-cylinder in-line engines. This means a considerable increase in output, comfort and driving pleasure. With an output of 165 kW/224 hp the new power unit betters the existing five-cylinder engine by up to 38 percent, and the in-line six-cylinder by nine percent. In conjunction with 7G-TRONIC, the maximum torque is increased to 510 Newton metres and is available between 1600 and 2800 rpm. With these torque characteristics the new Mercedes V6 is easily superior to other diesel engines in this displacement class.The high level of driving pleasure provided by the six-cylinder diesel makes itself particularly apparent by its improved agility under acceleration and outstanding flexibility during intermediate sprints. Moreover, thanks to the latest engine technology, particulate emissions are below 0.025 grams per kilometre even without a particulate filter and therefore within the stringent EU4 limits. The fuel consumption of Mercedes passenger cars equipped with this new V6 diesel engine nonetheless remains at the previous, exemplary level.
In Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the Netherlands Mercedes-Benz also equips the new six-cylinder diesel unit with a maintenance-free particulate filter system as standard, producing a further reduction in emissions of soot particles.
Power-to-weight ratio increased by 20 percent
More output, more torque and lower exhaust emissions – the engineers at Mercedes approached the main objectives of their development work in various ways. For example with lightweight construction: owing to an intelligent choice of materials and innovative production methods, the weight of the unit according to DIN has been reduced to approx. 208 kilograms or roughly the level of the inline five-cylinder engine. The power-to-weight ratio of the V6 engine is 0.79 kW/kg – more than 20 percent higher than for the preceding engines. As a world first, Mercedes-Benz has developed this diesel engine with an aluminium crankcase and cast-in grey iron cylinder liners. It tips the scales at only 41 kilograms and is therefore a prime example of lightweight construction. Aluminium is also used for the cylinder heads, cylinder head covers, water pump pistons, sump and charge pressure distributor. Plastics are also used to save weight. Components in the fresh and charge air ducting systems, silencer and engine shrouding are of plastic.
Crankcase
