May12
With stricter fuel economy and emissions standard emerging worldwide, almost every automaker is looking to forced induction to up vehicle power without increasing engine size. Audi is no stranger to forced induction, as it has been turbo charging engines for years, but the German automaker is currently developing a new supercharged V6 for use in its S4 and A6 sedans. Until now details on the new powerplant have just been speculation, but Audi has now released a bit more information on the 3.0L unit.
Despite using a supercharger instead of a set of turbos, Audi will still call the engine a 3.0L TSFI. The engine will use an Eaton supercharger and will also feature an air-to-air intercooler, according to AutoCar.
AutoCar also pegs the new engine at 286 horsepower at 4850 rpm and 310 lb-ft of torque at 2500rpm — but it remains unclear if that output is for the A6 or the hotter S4. We imagine that rating is for the A6 as it was previously reported that the A6 would produce 290 horsepower with 310 lb-ft of torque while the S4 would generate something in the neighborhood of 350 horsepower.
Eaton - that’s who makes the superchargers for the LS9 for the Corvette ZR-1, and for the LSA for the Cadillac CTS-V. I guess they sold their new lobe design on VW/Audi too.
Must be a centrifugal S/C if they are using air to air charge cooler.
Not necessarily. Roots type superchargers nestled in the valley of the V can be plumbed to an external air-to-air intercooler. The 1989 Thunderbird S/C had a 3.8L V-6 with a roots supercharger and intercooler set up this way.
Well here’s to hoping Z06, I have had a chance to drive several cars with centrifugal superchargers and although they provide a little kick they are really a severe disappointment to me compared to twin screw designs.
I can’t wait not to buy the supercharged 3.0L.
If it’s made by Eaton it will definately be worth the money. Their new TVS superchargers put out tons of power and less heat than previous generations… and you gotta love the torque.
It does not look like gobbles of power in comparison to BMW 3.0L diesel. We are talking less then 40 HP difference (less then 15%) but huge difference in torque. Actually Audi own diesel probably will “out-torque” this supercharged engine. What possessed them to develop yet another high consumption engine for market which is about to open for diesel?
I’m not sold that forced induction is really all that it’s cracked up to me. With forced induction, more fuel gets squirted into the engine, which offsets some of the fuel economy gains by having a lesser displacing engine (i.e., turbo I-4 vs. V-6).
For Audi, the gains probably aren’t that much, because their cars are heavy, especially with Quattro.
The US market isn’t going to be as open for diesel as everyone thinks. Diesel prices are already a doller per gallon more than gasoline… and it keeps going up too. You can’t get the fuel savings with diesel to cover the increased costs. Plus, dispite everything being done to clean it up, most Americans see diesels as noisy clatterboxes reserved for smoke belching big rigs.
Diesel is already dead in the US. Ask anyone who has to feed the 38-gallon tank in their diesel pickup truck — those guys are crying for mercy.
No, I’m laughing all the way to the bank. The better MPG my diesel truck gets more than offsets the additional cost of the fuel. I’ve saved almost $2k in fuel costs with my diesel over a gas version of my truck in just 2 years and 30k miles. And that’s with the higher cost of diesel fuel. 15 MPG versus 10 MPG - do the math.
This is great news. Audi’s V6 has always lagged behind their competitors. This would be a great compliment to the turbo 2.0.
No, you’re the one that needs to do the math — guess who is going to add taxes to diesel, once the EPA comes knocking about particle count violations? Any city and state that can! 5 mpg extra isn’t going to be enough to recover the cost once the finger-pointing begins, and 15 mpg won’t be a feasible amount of efficiency to run any vehicle, 5 years from now. Diesel has been climbing at the rate of 1.5 times the price of gas, so follow that curve up…
but i love turbos