General Motors to invest $69M in Ohio diesel engine plant for updated engine
General Motors announced this morning plans to invest $69 million in their Moraine Ohio joint venture diesel engine plant to produce an updated version of the Duramax 6.6L diesel V-8. The plant is a 60/40 joint venture with Isuzu Motors and began producing the popular diesel for GM trucks in 2001. The engine comes in variants ranging from a 300hp/520lb-ft to the top 365hp/660lb-ft unit used in the heavy duty versions of the Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra. The 6.6L has 4 valves per cylinder and a common rail injection system. In 2007, GM added a diesel particulate filter to clean up the soot emissions. The 2010 update will add a selective catalyst reduction system that will allow it to meet Tier 2 Bin 5 NOx emissions standards for all fifty states.
[Source: General Motors]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
GoodCheer 10:27AM (2/05/2008)
So if you took the 6.6l V-8 and cut it into 4 chunks would you then have 1.65l V-2 engines with 91hp & 165 lb-ft of torque?
That would be more than enough power for a small car, and with 25% the fuel consumption of the 6.6 I bet you'd really have a winner.
I'm kidding of course, but I would love to see more interest in small diesels in America.
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rar 10:42AM (2/05/2008)
Does this mean GM is going to stay with Isuzu on the Duramax engines, or are they going to Navistar? A few weeks ago, I was reading GM was going to Navistar for their diesels. I hope they stay with Isuzu, the first year Navistar made the new Ford Super Duty is was a pos.
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Tim 11:57AM (2/05/2008)
Wow, cut this in half and throw it in a 2 mode PHEV so ultracapacitors and electric motors can handle the acceleration torque instead of fossil fuels and you have something.
No plug? NO SALE!
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rgseidl 5:20PM (2/05/2008)
@ GoodCheer -
at 6.6L, the Duramax V8 is really a powerplant for commercial vehicles such as a full-sized pick-up truck.
Anything smaller than an inline four and you have to deal with free inertial forces and/or moments of the first order, which means adding a compensation element. In addition, there are few combustion events per crankshaft revolution, so torque is delivered with a significant ripple.
Note that VW has indicated there will be low-cost variants of its New Small Family (cp. Up! concepts) with two-cylinder engines for the emerging markets. Fiat is expected to introduce its SGE-900 parallel twin featuring variable valve lift and a turbo by 2010, for the sake of reducing its fleet average CO2 emissions in the EU. Sales will likely focus on Eastern Europe. BMW has also developed a parallel twin engine in collaboration with BRP-Rotax, but it is currently only used in the F800 motorcycle series. None of these is a diesel, though.
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