Volkswagen to Unveil New I-4 Engines

STUTTGART – The Volkswagen Group seeks to move past Dieselgate by revealing plans for a new generation of 4-cyl. engines due later this year.

Set to go public at the Vienna Motor Symposium in late April, the new gasoline and diesel units are scheduled to go into production in 2017, according to a senior Wolfsburg official familiar with the German auto maker’s engine strategy.

Conceived around the latest direct-injection gasoline and common-rail diesel processes and what is described as a modular aluminum crankcase, the engines initially share a common 1.5L capacity and will be employed in Audi, Skoda, SEAT and VW models, possibly starting with the facelifted seventh-generation VW Golf.

At this stage it is unclear whether the VW Group will unveil the engines in detail at the Vienna Motor Symposium, or whether it will follow the example taken by its engineers in recent years by revealing simplified single-cylinder concepts of the new units outlining their inner workings and combustion properties.

The new turbocharged 1.5L 4-cyl. gasoline engine replaces VW’s existing turbocharged 1.4L, bringing what one insider described to WardsAuto as the potential for added torque qualities due to the moderate increase in capacity.

The new turbocharged 1.5L 4-cyl. diesel engine  supersedes the controversial turbocharged 1.6L 4-cyl. included among the engines caught up in the Dieselgate scandal.

Among the technical developments said to be included on the new engines is a cylinder on demand (COD) system for the gasoline unit and a selective-catalytic-reduction system (SRC) for the diesel.