The New Nissan VC-TURBO (Variable Compression Turbocharged) 1.5L 3Cyl Engine

Authors

Y. Tsuchiya, K. Matsuoka, S. Kiga, Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., Kanagawa, Japan:

Year

2021

Print Info

Production/Publication ÖVK

Summary

As part of its promotion of electrification and the shift to smart technologies, Nissan is working on the development of a powertrain based on its two pillars of zero emissions and ICE Evolution. As a core unit of ICE Evolution, we have developed the 1.5-L three-cylinder KR15DDT engine. This engine represents the further evolution of the variable compression ratio technology VC-Turbo, which Nissan was ahead of the world in adopting in a mass-produced engine (KR20DDET^[1]). In the future, it will be applied to Nissan's core C- and D-segment models. The aim behind the development of the KR15DDT is to further improve fuel efficiency in a wide variety of operating ranges while increasing output performance. For that reason, we further expanded the area operating under compression ratio of 14 compared to that of the KR20DDET engine, by combining the high combustion stability of the multi-link mechanism used in the VC-Turbo with the cooled-EGR system’s high knock resistance of up to 20%, which is among the highest in the world. We were also able to reduce the vibration level that is specific to a three-cylinder engine to that of a four-cylinder level by adopting the VC-Turbo’s multi-link mechanism and an outer balancer. In this paper, we will introduce the KR15DDT engine and its technologies, with a focus on the VC-Turbo and cooled-EGR systems.

Number of pages

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