Audi's forthcoming new 2.0 petrol engine

Comhrá

Given that Audi's forthcoming new 2.0 petrol engine has lower emissions than the current VW Passat 2.0 TDI, should that not make a petrol-engined A4 a much more attractive option than heretofore?


For a comparison I'm showing figures for the new VW Passat 2.0 TDI and the new 2016 Audi A4 2.0 TFSI 190 Avant S tronic:

(1) 2015 Passat 2.0 TDI DSG

Source: http://www.volkswagen.ie/content/medialib/vwd4/ie/pdf-downloads/model-range-price-list/_jcr_content/renditions/rendition.download_attachment.file/volkswagen-model-range_july-2015_v2.pdf

2015 Passat 2.0 TDI DSG= 150ps, CO2 = 116g/km, Road tax = €190 (DSG= €200) VRT = 16% (DSG=17%)

2.0 TDI BlueMotion Technology 150hp / 110kw 6 speed DSG


(2) 2016 Audi A4 2.0 TFSI 190 Avant S tronic:

Source: http://www.autocar.co.uk/car-review/first-drives/2015-audi-a4-20-tfsi-190-avant-s-tronic-review

1984cc, turbocharged, petrol;
Power 188bhp ;
Torque 236lb ft at 1450-4200rpm;
Gearbox 7-spd dual-clutch automatic;
Kerb weight na; 0-62mph 7.5sec; Top speed 148mph;
Economy 56.5mpg (combined);
CO2/tax band 114g/km, 17% (Irish road-tax in 2016 around €200?)

Even though I'm comparing an Audi A4 with a VW Passat diesel, I believe both Audi and VW 2.0 TDI diesel engines have similar emissions and road-tax.

Maybe I'm missing something here but a new petrol A4 2.0 with chape road-tax might just be a realistic alternative to the ubiqitous A4 2.0 TDI for Paddy if he's looking for a new A4 in 2016?

Red Kev

Road tax is just one small part of the costs of purchasing and running a car.

The diesel Passat does a claimed 68.9 MPG (Car magazine), plus there's the ca. 10% difference in the price between diesel and petrol to consider.

Add in to that resale value and I'd say most fleet buyers will tilt in the direction of diesels. As such it will also remain the engine of choice for private buyers both new and used for the foreseeable future.

Diesels still have higher servicing and maintenance costs but highly tuned petrols aren't that far behind.

jsd1004

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/environment/11280067/London-will-follow-Paris-and-ban-diesel-cars-campaigners-warn.html

Diesel is a dirty fuel with serious health consequences. It will not be long before governments increase taxes to favour petrol with the environmental excuse (and also to increase revenue), the trend for banning diesels in cities could be something to consider as well.

18MonthsaSlave

Test drive on autoexpress youtube channel with engineers and the engine is described as a miller engine with a complicated valve timing system.

They say that downsizing has gone as far as it can they are now moving to larger capacity engine with more control over ignition.

ba_barabus

18MonthsaSlave wrote: »

Test drive on autoexpress youtube channel with engineers and the engine is described as a miller engine with a complicated valve timing system.

IIRC the last viable use of a Miller cycle engine was in the 2.5V6 Mazda Xedos 9. A lively engine by all accounts

Special Circumstances

ba_barabus wrote: »

IIRC the last viable use of a Miller cycle engine was in the 2.5V6 Mazda Xedos 9. A lively engine by all accounts

2.3 I think was the miller engine.

Edit -apparently they brought Miller-ish cycle back (without supercharger) for the Mazda 2 (certain engines, maybe JDM only?)
"Mazda's first dual sequential valve timing system (dual S-VT with electronically-operated intake) in combination with the high compression ratio achieves an unconventional Miller cycle (extremely delayed closure of intake valves) that improves efficiency"
http://www2.mazda.com/en/publicity/release/2011/201105/110518a.html

R.O.R

Unless the government decide to allow VAT reclaim on Petrol for business use, it still won't sell well in Ireland even with lower emissions / better fuel economy than the diesel.

A large proportion of A4's (and other cars in that segment) are sold for company use, so the VAT reclaim currently makes it around 40c a litre cheaper for Diesel vs Petrol (based on €1.249 for Diesel / €1.409 for Petrol).


Combined fuel consumption based on the OP's Co2 emisisons are:

4.9 For the Petrol
4.4 For the Diesel

For a car doing 30,000km a year (rough average for business usage) there's a difference of €730. Unlikely to bankrupt anyone, but over a few cars it would soon ad up.

frozenfrozen

how does miller cycle work with a turbo instead of a supercharger? I thought the compression is supplemented by the supercharger I know the turbo would do the same thing, but would there not be lots of lag as the turbo starts to spool?

does delaying the intake valve closing just push air back out during the more stressful part of the stroke and let the momentum more or less finish off the compression? & so its the same as having a longer stroke during combustion than compression?

marathonic

Whatever happens, give it a year for the new technology to settle.

I've been researching the MK7 Golf R and Golf GTI recently and the GTI is on it's fifth version of the turbo whilst the R is on it's third.

There have been very few turbo failures in relation to the number of each car registered but you want the dust to settle on new technologies (at least, new for the Audi A4) before you fork out thousands on a new car.

This applies moreso when buying used and out of warranty - the latest version of the turbo on the Golf R is on cars built after October 2014. As such, I wouldn't personally buy an earlier version on the used market at any time in the future.

bazz26

As R.0.R says unless there is some sort of tax advantage to business users then the petrol model will never sell in the same numbers. A large proportion of these cars are fleet or company sales who buy diesel for tax purposes.

Mazda developed and introduced a SkyActive petrol engine with the current 6 back in 2013 but it hasn't outsold the diesel version of the 6 across Europe. I wouldn't hold by breath on the A4 doing much difference.

pa990

With all the reports of diesels causing more toxins than petrols, i'd expect that this (eco petrols ) is how car manufactures will respond when diesels start to attract higher tax rates.

personally i expect to see a major comeback with petrol in the next 10 years

Comhrá

edited.