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Michael Taylor15 Jan 2014
NEWS

VW's four-pot thumper

Wolfsburg takes aim at high-output Mercedes-AMG four-cylinder

Mercedes-Benz’s AMG division might not have the world’s most powerful production four-cylinder engine for very much longer, with Volkswagen promising to topple it by the end of the year.

Sources at Volkswagen have revealed that the manufacturer had already bettered the AMG motor on the test bench and plans to unveil its own 2.0-litre, four-cylinder performance engine by September this year. It had hoped the new motor would be ready to show the Volkswagen faithful at the annual GTI festival at Lake Wörthesee, Austria, in late May, but the project needed more time. VW is apparently aiming for the engine to reach production by late 2015. 

The new motor, with a target of around 380 horsepower (283kW), is planned to power the next Scirocco, but sources insist it will fit into any of the VW Group’s growing fleet of MQB-based cars.

Sources also say the new motor is based around Volkswagen’s existing 2.0-litre, four-cylinder block, crankcase, conrods and crankshaft, but has developed its power by a trick new cylinder head and a large-capacity turbocharger. It is said to develop closer to 500Nm of torque as well, and will be mated to an all-wheel drive system and a six-speed dual-clutch transmission capable of managing all of the engine’s torque from first gear. AMG limits the engine’s torque delivery in the first three gears of the A 45, CLA 45 and GLA 45 because of gearbox limitations.

Volkswagen last year poached AMG’s head of engine development, Friedrich Eichler, to manage its engine, transmission and hybrid development. Sources insist Eichler, who developed the 265kW, 450Nm A 45 engine for AMG, has been tasked with delivering a four-cylinder engine that will put his own AMG motor in the shade.

“It’s going to be a very fast car,” one source insisted. “Because it will be able to use all of its torque in first gear, it’s going to get to 100km/h in the very low four-second bracket.

The same sources also revealed there's a turf war in progress, with Audi insisting the new engine should arrive first in the Audi TT and be detuned to avoid outshining its 2.5-litre, turbocharged five-cylinder engine, while Volkswagen’s R performance operation wants to up the new engine’s turbo boost from the current 1.9 bar to deliver even more performance.

“The beauty of it is that it fits the MQB architecture, so it can go in any small car from all the brands,” the source added.

“It’s based on an old generation engine block, so it’s cheaper to make than the AMG motor, too, and a lot less complex. It will move the game on again.”

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Written byMichael Taylor
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