The driving force behind mileage - Turbocharged petrol engines

The development of new engines is done in closed chambers of R&D centre (Research and Development), while we witness frequent arrival of in-cabin sophisticated technologies every fortnight. Engine being the heart and soul of a vehicle, keep pressuring manufacturers to bring the more advanced and fuel efficient versions.

In India, the latest trend of bringing fuel-efficient turbocharged petrol engine for entry level cars (under 10 lakh) was first initiated by Ford when it brought the EcoBoost mill closely followed by the Volkswagen's GT TSI. Moreover, in first three months of 2014, two more major automobile giants announced the arrival of their new engine which includes Tata Motor's Revotron and General Motor's EcoTec. Let's find out in-depth details about these recently introduced powerplants.

Ford EcoBoost:

The engine hit the global market back in 2009, but in India, Ford introduced EcoBoost in 2013 with the company's most successful product yet, the EcoSport. EcoBoost engine played the similar role to Ford as VTEC engines did for Honda. This turbocharged mill improves fuel economy by 20%. The engine block is of cast iron instead of aluminium which insures up to 50% faster warm-up. Also for the smoother ride, the flywheel is fitted in slightly unbalanced manner so that it can neutralize the natural vibrations produced by the 3-cylinder engine and hence there is no need of using a balance shaft (as required by three pot engines).

The 1.0-liter EcoBoost engine is tuned to deliver power output in two states, namely, 99bhp and 123bhp. The family of EcoBoost powerplants includes 1.0-litre, 1.5-litre, 1.6-litre, 2.0-litre, 2.3-liter (debuted in the 2015 Mustang) and high performance 3.5-litre V6 engines. The increasing demand of EcoBoost engine can easily be seen from the fact that in the month of September 2013, the automaker rolled out its 2 Million'th EcoBoost engine.

Tata Motors Revotron Engine:

On witnessing the latest trend of bringing small displacement turbocharged engines, the homegrown manufacturer-Tata has also announced new family Turbocharged engines named as Revotron. The first powerplant in the lineup is the 1.2-litre, four-cylinder, turbo-intercooled, Multi-Point Fuel Injected (MPFI) petrol motor which works on the drive-by-wire technology. The engine block is crafted in cast iron and features multiple drive mode - a segment first! The engine generates 83.8bhp and maximum torque of 140Nm. The Revotron family follows Euro IV and BS IV emissions norms and can be coupled with CNG.

General Motor's EcoTec:

GM brought Chevrolet to India and it certainly isn't a big player when it comes to market share. When the world is shifting towards 'Greener' turbocharged engine, the American auto maker too, develops its own turbocharged mill. The company recently unveiled new family of EcoTec engine which will be used in the 2015 Chevrolet Cruze. Starting from Chinese market the new engine will also make its way to Indian shores by next year. The new line-up starts with the 1.0 liter three cylinders, direct-injected, turbocharged motor followed by 10 different engines ranging from three to four cylinder in 1.0 to 1.5-liter configuration. The 1.0-liter engine is present in two power options, 88.8bhp and 113bhp. Unlike the Ford's EcoBoost, EcoTec is an all-aluminium construction and the technologies Incorporated in engine are continuous variable valve timing, counter balance shaft dipped in oil sump and exhaust manifold integrated in the cylinder head. These engines are also compatible with the CNG, FlexFuel and Hybrid technologies.

Volkswagen 1.2 GT TSI:

The TSI engine is the widely used motor in Volkswagen's clan as they used to pull vehicle ranging from Polo to Passat. The TSI (Turbo Stratified Injection) motors basically combines direct-injection with turbocharging. The TSI family includes 1.2-liter, 1.4-liter and 1.8-liter engines, all of these are widely employed in the cars under Volkswagen umbrella. The enhanced versions are christened as TFSI, used in Audi cars.

Maruti Suzuki Turbocharged engine in YRA

As the automotive world is taking a leap forward into small capacity turbo induced motors, it would be foolish to think that India's most prominent player Maruti Suzuki would be left behind in this rat race. If media reports are to be believed, the Japanese automaker is working on a Direct-Injected Turbo-Charged (DiCT) powerplants for the upcoming hatch code-named 'YRA' (which will be placed above Swift). It is expected that 1.0 liter turbo-charged petrol engine is capable of churning a power of 90bhp.The future Maruti might exchange its entire lineup with these DiCT motors including quintessential players, Swift and Ertiga.

With such efforts roping in, the engines have an all new horizon to explore which would not only assist automakers to shoot-up their margin graphs but also would be a big boon for auto buyers.