Audi TT uses EA888 family engine

The new Audi TT Sportback five-door concept car that will appear at the Paris Motor Show is powered by a 2-litre TFSI engine developing 400PS and 450Nm of torque.

Audi claims that as a member of the EA888 family, the engine in the four-wheel-drive Quattro concept car uses a comprehensive "package of high-end technologies".

In order to generate the high power, Audi notes that the engine has undergone extensive modifications. The camshaft adjustment on the intake and exhaust sides and the Audi valvelft system, which varies the stroke of the exhaust valve in two stages, ensures good filling of the combustion chambers.

Audi notes that the crankcase consists of "a new high-strength casting alloy" and the crankshaft has enforced iaultrahigh-strength steel.

The redeveloped turbocharger has been configured to provide a boost pressure of 1.8 bar.

The gasoline engine has been teamed with a seven-speed S-Tronic gearbox.

VW sees sales grow nearly 6%

Volkswagen Group delivered 2.4 million (January-March 2013: 2.27 million; +5.8 per cent) vehicles from January to March.

Deliveries in the month of March ran at 929,500 (March 2013: 864,100; +7.6 per cent)* units.

SCOOP: CGI set for four-cylinder engine blocks

Confirmation that four-cylinder engines with compacted graphite iron (CGI) cylinder blocks are now not far away from volume production comes with the revelation that Grainger & Worrall (G&W) has been casting prototype blocks for some time.

According to sources, the company has been casting four-cylinder blocks for over 12 months. Typical batch sizes range from 50 units, plus or minus 10 or 20 units.

It is understood the engines are destined for a European passenger car. The cylinder blocks are small, compact four-cylinder units, according to well-placed sources.

Advanced EA888 powers latest Golf R

The latest Golf R unveiled by Volkswagen has a more advanced version of the EA888 four-cylinder turbocharged and direct-injection 2-litre gasoline engine fitted to the new Golf GTI.

Compared to the 227bhp GTI engine, VW’s engineers have boosted power by 69bhp to 296bhp which is delivered at 5500rev/min, thus creating one of the most powerful four-cylinder production engines in the world.

Maximum torque has been increased by 22lbft to 280lbft which is now available over a broad speed band from 1800 to 5500rev/min. To attain this output, the Golf R's 1.984-litre engine was subjected to a motorsports-style development programme.

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.

Who will react first to VW’s CGI engine?

The decision by Volkswagen to use compacted graphite iron (CGI) for the cylinder block of the latest EA888 Gen 111 is being eagerly watched by other automakers in Europe and North America.

It is significant that VW has chosen North America as the launch region for this ground-breaking engine. Here the engine will be put under minute scrutiny by discerning customers.

The market too is close to Mexico where not only the engine will be manufactured but also the CGI cylinder block will be precision cast at Tupy’s foundry in Saltillo.

VW confirms EA888 has CGI cylinder block

Volkswagen AG has confirmed that the latest version of the EA888 engine, production of which has just started at the company’s which new engine factory in Silao, Mexico, does have a cylinder block cast in compacted graphite iron (CGI).

Wolfsburg officials decline to name the foundry but most likely it is Tupy SA, in Joinville, Brazil, the world’s leading supplier of CGI cylinder blocks. Tupy already sources CGI blocks to Audi, a VW subsidiary. Tupy SA uses SinterCast's CGI process control technology to achieve high standards of materials consistency and quality. For this contract, Tupy will source the CGI castings from its foundry in Saltillo, Mexico where SinterCast installed two of its lines earlier this year.

Officials at the German automaker also remain tight-lipped as to just how many of the engines it is currently building at the brand new plant.