Tuesday 16 July 2013

EA888 to replace VW’s five-cylinder engine

According to Carscoops.com it is the end of the road in the US for Volkswagen's venerable 2.5-liter five-cylinder gasoline engine as the German carmaker has announced it will gradually replace it with a new 1.8-litre turbocharged and direct-injection gasoline four-cylinder TSI in Jetta, Beetle, and Passat madels.
As already reported in these pages, the EA888 is being ramped up in a new VW assembly plant in Silao, Mexico.

The engine delivers the same output as the 2.5-litre unit at 170hp, though peak torque is improved slightly by 7 lbft to 184 lbft. However, this torque is delivered much lower in the rev range. The German automaker says the engine also offers significant fuel mileage gains - up to 17 per cent on the highway in the Beetle application, for example.

There is much speculation that EA888 will carry a compact graphite iron (CGI) cylinder block to achieve such performance. However, while a UK-based VW insider has noted the application of CGI in this engine, VW has yet to officially announce the use of such an outstanding engine material that is has already been used by subsidiary Audi for many years.

Initially, the new 1.8-litre TSI will be fitted to the 2014MY Jetta range and the Passat SEL, and will be followed by the rest of the Passat line-up and the Beetle later in the model year.

Other notable changes for VW's 2014 model year line-up include the launch of the limited production and retro-themed Beetle GSR, the expansion of the R-Line range to include the Beetle Convertible, Touareg, and Tiguan from this autumn, while all VW models are now E15 capable.

VW added that for the 2014MY, the Routan will carry over without changes as a fleet model only. The Routan sprang from a deal with Chrysler in 2005. It is a seven-seat minivan and rebadged variant of the Chrysler RT platform made alongside Chrysler and Dodge minivans at the Windsor, Ontario assembly plant.


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