Small Volkswagens move to 1.5 litres
Up and down for Volkswagen diesel and petrol engine capacities next yearVolkswagen's core small petrol and diesel engines will share the same 1.5-litre capacity from next year, its boss has confirmed.
The two new 1.5-litre four-cylinder engines will have a range of power outputs, and they will be joined by a 1.0-litre turbocharged three-cylinder as well.
Slated to make their debut half a year after the Golf 7 facelift appears late this year, the new 1.5-litre engines will be more costly to make, but lighter and more economical.
Ultimately, the four-cylinder engines will find their way into the Polo and (new) Tiguan as well, along with the Audi A1 and A3 and models from Seat and Skoda.
"They will make their debut in the facelift of the Golf 7, but not at the beginning," Volkswagen brand CEO Herbert Diess said during the Detroit motor show.
"We will launch them when it makes sense to produce them for CO2 regulations, because they are more expensive than the current engines," he explained.
Both new engines use the existing engine architecture in their move to 1.5 litres, with the petrol engine using a longer stroke to move up from 1.4 litres, while the 1.6-litre TDI has its bore shrunk to reach the smaller volume.
The petrol engine will carry over the cylinder-on-demand technology that shuts down the middle two cylinders when the power demands are low, along with direct fuel-injection and a new generation of turbocharging.
Both of the 1.5-litre motors are from the same modular engine family as the upcoming 1.0-litre turbo three-cylinder and will be built on the same production lines.
"It will be an evolutionary step for the petrol engine up from the 1.4-litre," Dr Diess explained.
"The diesel engine will also be a development down from the 1.6-litre turbo," he explained.
Yet Diess, in his former posting as BMW's director of development, pushed the Bavarian company into a uniform cylinder capacity of 500cc, or half a litre, as the best compromise between power, friction, swept volume, weight and efficiency.
So what's changed his mind at Volkswagen?
"The point is for performance and for economy that 1.5 litres is the best compromise for now.
"The difference between my position on this at BMW and at Volkswagen is the scaling of it here. The volumes are much different."
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