To a large degree, the 1998 “merger of equals” between Daimler-Benz and Chrysler Corp. was generally considered an unmitigated disaster. Just like any other failed marriage, great kids can result from the collaboration. In this case, what is now Fiat Chrysler Automobiles is still earning dividends from its LX platform which includes the 300S sedan I recently drove.
3.6-liter Pentastar V-6 adds cooled EGR for model-year 2016
Since its introduction in 2009, the Pentastar V6 lineup has been an enormous success for Fiat Chrysler Automobiles with more than 5 million units sold to date. The Pentastar in 3.6, 3.2 and 3.0-liter (the latter in China only) displacements is offered in everything produced by Chrysler larger than the 200. For the 2016 model year, Chrysler is rolling out the most substantial updates yet for this award-winning engine. At least one aspect of the revised engine points to the upcoming EPA Tier 3 emissions standards.
Most of the revisions to the V6 are pretty straightforward and increasingly common. Two-step variable valve-lift and variable cam-phasing with a range expanded from 50 to 70 degrees will help to reduce pumping losses and contribute to improved torque. Also aiding the torque output is a bump in compression ratio from 10.2 to 11.3:1.
The fuel injectors now have double the holes, going from four to eight for improved atomization of the fuel. However, Chrysler has opted not to follow the latest trend and continues to inject fuel into the ports upstream of the valves rather than directly into the combustion chamber. While this will certainly help keep costs down, during a preview of the engine, FCA powertrain engineering VP Bob Lee explained that they opted to stay with port injection for emissions reasons.
The primary benefit of direct injection is the charge cooling it provides when used in combination with the higher pressures from turbocharging. Conversely, spraying fuel directly into the combustion chamber complicates mixing air and fuel, especially when the engine is cold. This can often lead to higher emissions of particulate matter, aka the soot commonly associated with older diesel engines. Automakers have addressed the problem on diesels with particulate filters that capture the soot and then periodically burn it off at high temperatures.
Beginning in 2017, EPA Tier 3 standards will tighten the limits on particulate emissions for all light duty engines. If you take a look at the area around the tailpipe of many cars with direct injected engines, especially Fords with EcoBoost, you may notice black stains that are typically a sign of particulate emissions. In the coming years, we will like see many, if not all gasoline direct injected engines adopt particulate filters similar to those found on diesels.
Given the experience that many customers have had with mediocre real-world fuel economy on turbocharged GDI engines and rumblings of further adjustments to the way EPA label mileage values are calculated to reflect this, sticking to a normally aspirated engine could work to FCA’s long-run advantage.
Other changes to the Pentastar that will help its emissions performance is the addition of a cooled EGR system and a switch to 100 millijoule high-energy ignition coils. Efficiency will be aided by a two-stage variable displacement oil pump and smaller diameter crankshaft journals for reduced friction. The block casting has been reworked with new ribbing that helps improve noise, vibration and harshness while at the same time reducing the amount of material for lower weight. Despite the 13 pounds added for new hardware like the valve-lift adjusters and EGR, the net weight of the finished engine is only up by two pounds.
Auto stop-start is already included in several Pentastar applications like the Jeep Cherokee and Ram 1500 but it will be standard with all applications of the revised engine. Overall, the revisions to the second-generation Pentastar should boost fuel economy by about six percent. The second-generation Pentastar launches this fall in the Jeep Grand Cherokee and will roll out to other applications over the next year or so.
At the 2012 North American International Auto Show in Detroit, we got the first concrete results of the commitment that Sergio Marchionne made back in 2009 in exchange for getting a controlling interest in Chrysler. Dodge rolled out the Dart compact sedan, the first new product based on a Fiat platform. Unlike the ungainly, outgoing Caliber hatchback, the Dart was a four-door sedan that looked vaguely like a blend of the late lamented Neon and the recently refreshed Charger.
When Chrysler unveiled the new 2015 200 midsize sedan at the Detroit Auto Show last January, the team from Auburn Hills was clearly trying to expunge the final remnants of the company’s lost decade under first Daimler and then private equity ownership. Chrysler’s new mainstream family sedan was certainly a huge leap forward from its disappointing predecessor in the aesthetic department, but could it compete with the class leaders from Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Hyundai and Ford? The only way to find out was to drive one.
When Audi contests the 24 Hours of Le Mans this year with a pair of R18 e-tron quattro hybrids with electro-mechanical flywheels, they will be the first to use that configuration in the classic endurance race.
While Audi will be the first to actually race at Le Mans, they aren't the first to try. Sixteen years before Williams first ran this system in its 2009 F1 car, +Chrysler Group LLC showed off a race car concept based around a flywheel powered hybrid.
The Patriot was shown as a concept in 1993 and it was hoped to run it at Le Mans in 1995. The chassis was designed by Reynard to the then-current World Sports Car rules but the powertrain was completely unique. Primary power came from a two-stage turbine driving a pair of alternators. The turbine was fueled by liquified natural gas. The electricity from the alternators was to feed a 500 hp AC induction traction motor.
Turbines have several advantages including being able to run on almost anything that will burn and producing a lot of power from a very small package. Unfortunately they aren't very good at transient response; that is handling sudden changes in output which is important on a race track where you spend a lot of time braking and accelerating.
That's where the flywheel comes in. Under braking, the motor would spin up the flywheel and then during acceleration the flywheel drive the alternators to generate a burst of electricity for accelerating.
While Williams and Porsche and have demonstrated the viability of using a flywheel hybrid in racing over the last 3 years, Chrysler was ahead of its time. During testing at Chrysler's tech center, flywheel failures destroyed several test cells and there were numerous other problems. By 1994, the project had been cancelled without ever running the completed powertrain in the Reynard chassis. The original concept now sits in the Walter P Chrysler museum in Auburn Hills MI.
As they say, timing is everything.
#chrysler #chryslerpatriot #flywheelhybrid
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Over the years I was fortunate enough to get to drive several different Dodge Vipers in various guises. The first came in 1995 when I was an engineer at Kelsey-Hayes and we had one in the garage for some testing. Kelsey-Hayes supplied some of the brake components including the booster and master cylinder to those original Vipers.
It was more than a decade before I got into another Viper at the Chrysler Proving Grounds when I sampled the club-racer ACR model on an autocross course.
http://www.autoblog.com/2008/06/27/chryslers-whats-new-2008-autocrossing-the-dodge-challenger-an/
Several months later I got to drive a Viper for several days on the street for a full review and my last major Viper encounter came during a 2010 visit to the Walter P Chrysler museum where they had put on a retrospective of the car's first 20 years.
http://www.examiner.com/automotive-in-detroit/dodge-viper-born-to-race-a-retrospectivepre
While the Viper was never particularly sophisticated, it was huge fun to drive and more than almost any other car embodied my philosophy of "There is no such thing as too much torque!"
#viper #dodgeviper #srtviper #chrysler
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Review: 2008 Dodge Viper SRT-10 [w/VIDEO]
2008 Dodge Viper SRT-10 Next January's Detroit Auto Show will mark the 20th anniversary of the Viper's
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At the New York Auto Show in April Chrysler will finally reveal the third generation Viper sports car after a two year production hiatus. In the run up to the reveal, Chrysler has begun to tease the new model with the new logo making its debut yesterday. Each of the three generations has had its own unique take on the snake head design getting more sophisticated as the car evolved.
The Viper has always had an interesting relationship with Chrysler with each generation appearing at a time of rebirth for the company. The original 1989 concept arrived as Chrysler suffered through a recession with an aging product line. Francois Castaing, Bob Lutz and Carrol Shelby conceived a new interpretation of Shelby's original 1960s Cobra with a massive 8.0-liter V10 engine. Like the Cobra, the Viper was very basic, with four wheels, two seats, lots of power and not much else.
The production model arrived two and a half years later in 1992 at more or less the same time a new generation of Chrysler vehicles (the LH models) were coming to market. While it never was a big seller, it quickly became an icon and achieved huge successes on the track over the next decade.
http://www.examiner.com/automotive-in-detroit/dodge-viper-born-to-race-a-retrospectivepre
A decade after the original, a followup arrived at around the same time that the Chrysler 300 revived the classic American big sedan idea. Production of the Viper was wound down in 2010 as sales dropped during the recession and Chrysler put its focus on new mainstream models post-bankruptcy.
http://www.autoblog.com/2008/09/11/in-the-autoblog-garage-2008-dodge-viper-srt-10/
I can't wait to see what the team has done with the new Viper. It will apparently retain the V10 configuration and the classic muscle roadster proportions but little else is known at this time.
#viper #dodgeviper #srtviper #chrysler
In album Viper logos (3 photos)
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