Upsizing and Atkinsonizing: the new downsizing and turbocharging

Kinja'd!!! by "bhtooefr" (bhtooefr)
Published 01/25/2017 at 11:34

Tags: emissions ; downsizing ; turbocharging ; upsizing ; real driving emissions ; euro 6c ; euro 6 ; rde ; toyota ; yaris ; vitz
STARS: 2


Many a piece has been written about how the trend of downsizing and turbocharging as a strategy for meeting fuel economy standards is coming to an end, including here on Oppo. Real-world fuel consumption and emissions performance of these downsized turbocharged engines is poor, due to boost enrichment, so automakers have begun looking in other directions, saying that future products (especially in Europe) will actually gain displacement.

So, here’s where it begins - in the lowly Yaris. Toyota’s replacing the 1.3 liter 1NR-FE (which isn’t even turbocharged) with the 2NR-FKE in European-market Yarises. Same engine family, but larger displacement (giving it 12% more peak power and 9% more peak torque), higher compression (improving efficiency), and with wide-authority intake VVT (enabling Atkinson-cycle operation at light load, improving efficiency further).

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The engine itself isn’t that interesting - it’s not even new (it’s been around for a couple years now in the Japanese market), the technology is nothing that we haven’t seen anywhere else (Mazda SkyActiv-G engines, for one), and the peak thermal efficiency (38.5%) isn’t even that high compared to where SkyActiv-G is believed to be (closer to 40%), and some other naturally aspirated Toyota gasoline engines are (as high as 41%). And, ultimately, it’s a 110 hp Yaris motor, that gets the thing to 100 km/h in 11 seconds.

What I find interesting about this, though, is that Toyota is claiming that this move - from a port-injected, naturally aspirated engine, to a larger-displacement port-injected, naturally aspirated engine with wide-authority variable valve timing to enable Atkinson-cycle operation at light load - is actually being triggered by Euro 6c and the introduction of the Real Driving Emissions testing regime. If Toyota had to upsize an already naturally aspirated engine and add technology to meet a stricter test on basically the same standard, what does this mean for the aggressively downsized engines with turbochargers and with direct injection, under the new regime?


Replies (12)

Kinja'd!!! "For Sweden" (rallybeetle)
01/25/2017 at 11:36, STARS: 0

All I know is that Atkins = steak

Kinja'd!!! "TheTurbochargedSquirrel" (thatsquirrel)
01/25/2017 at 11:41, STARS: 1

Atkinsonizing?

Kinja'd!!!

Kinja'd!!! "Nibby" (nibby68)
01/25/2017 at 11:44, STARS: 0

What about Cam Atkinson?

Kinja'd!!!

Kinja'd!!! "for Michigan" (formichigan)
01/25/2017 at 11:44, STARS: 0

And bacon.

Kinja'd!!! "HammerheadFistpunch" (hammerheadfistpunch)
01/25/2017 at 11:47, STARS: 1

Wide-Authority is my band name

Kinja'd!!! "Tekamul" (tekamulburner)
01/25/2017 at 11:47, STARS: 1

And weird sodas made with heavy cream

/TheEarly2000sWereWeird

Kinja'd!!! "for Michigan" (formichigan)
01/25/2017 at 11:47, STARS: 1

Kinja'd!!!

Kinja'd!!! "duurtlang" (duurtlang)
01/25/2017 at 11:57, STARS: 1

what does this mean for the aggressively downsized engines with turbochargers and with direct injection, under the new regime?

The end.

Kinja'd!!! "carcrasher88" (carcrasher88)
01/25/2017 at 12:00, STARS: 1

Here in the US, Toyota did half and half with the new Tacoma. They replaced the old 4.0 liter V6 with a downsized 3.5 liter V6 (which is still upsized compared to the 3.4 in the first generation Tacoma), but it’s also the 2GR-FKS, which is an Atkinson cycle engine, the first application of such an engine in a pickup truck.

Horsepower went up from 236 to 278, though torque is down one, from 266 to 265.

Interestingly, the 2017 Sienna has received the same engine, but with more power and slightly less torque...296 hp and 263 lb-ft of torque.

Also interestingly, the addition of an Atkinson cycle engine in the Sienna isn’t the first one offered in a minivan (that honor actually goes to the Chrysler Pacifica plug-in-hybrid), but it is the first non-hybrid application of one in a minivan.

Kinja'd!!! "bhtooefr" (bhtooefr)
01/25/2017 at 12:08, STARS: 0

The Sienna got the 2GR-FKS before the Pacifica Hybrid actually shipped, though. But, the Pacifica’s engine is the first full-time Atkinson cycle engine in a US-market minivan.

The first Atkinson-cycle (full-time, too) minivan in the world, though, was the Toyota Estima Hybrid, using the 2AZ-FXE that would (much) later be used in the 2007 Camry hybrid: http://www.toyota.co.jp/en/news/01/0615.html

Kinja'd!!! "Chinny Raccoon" (chinnyraccoon)
01/25/2017 at 12:25, STARS: 1

This is a good indication of how the downsized engines perform, and the increased gap between the claimed figured and real life examples.

http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/realmpg/

Kinja'd!!! "bhtooefr" (bhtooefr)
01/25/2017 at 12:31, STARS: 0

Another source of info for European-market vehicles is spritmonitor.de , it’s what I’ve usually gone to to figure out real-world numbers for things not available in the US market.

To a limited extent, Fuelly also covers non-US vehicles, but I find it’s not a great resource for those, most of what’s posted there is American (but it’s extremely useful for American numbers, as is fueleconomy.gov ’s My MPG feature).