Non-hybrid fixes for MPG

Eco boost turbos are water cooled, with oil pressure safety valves to keep them lubricated when oil pressure drops after a shut down. They have a high life expectancy. IF the turbo is designed as part of the over all engine, and not an after thought add on, then the usable life of it is at least as good as the engine itself. Give it some thought too, just about all diesel engines use a turbo, and 95% of those replaced were done so due to a maintenance issues such as installing a bad air filter, or not changing the oil as needed.

As for the BMW MPG, if Ford ran the tests.........

 

There are turbotimers available for some time for ICE-only cars, you can leave the car, it shuts off after idling some minutes to protect the turbo.
Not very ecological...

 

Those are best suited to Diesel engines. Really not needed for the newer TBC engines that are designed with the turbo in mind. On the diesels they get really hot so you want to cool them down, plus they tend to sit on top of most engines. If you notice most gas turbos are now under the engine, or down low on the block, and less likely to drain down.

 

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Manufacturers don't have to use production models for the EPA tests either.

 

not just turbo's... dpf's, clutches, injectors, high pressure fuel pumps, all fail "commonly" on modern turbo diesel vehicles in Europe. There are plenty of BOSCH authorized service centers dealing with fixing/selling refurbs everywhere around Europe.

You will also not get average consumption of that kind, Euro MPG tests can be played just like EPA... 320d gets around 35 mpg in real life, more if you drive mostly on the highway. It is also only EuroV engine right now, they will need de-nox treatment for EuroVI which will mess up real life consumption a bit... but otherwise, it does get around 5% better real life mpg than competition. It will be curious to compare real life mpg with hybrids like IS300h.

 

Ford is about to release their turbocharged 1.0-liter 3-cylinder "EcoBoost" engine for the Fiesta in America. I'm curious how that will work out in terms of mileage and reliability.

 

Übersicht: Ford - Alle Modelle - Spritmonitor.de

 

Its not likely to help much in the US real world driving. The problem with turbo efficiency is it drops quickly when the engine is pushed, and US drivers are going to push the small machine.

The 2L ecoboost is very reliable, but the 1.6L hit some initial problems. I wouldn't touch a 1L if you drive like a typical american. If you are hypermiling the thing then it might do alright, but I would wait until that engine is out at least 6 months to see if there are problems. IIRC the 1.6 had mainly programming problems that did not show up on the development drives.

 

Actually, a Euro 6 version of the 320d has been certified in Europe -
Select a search : Directgov - Car fuel data, CO2 and vehicle tax tools
. The CO2 emission metric is the same as the Euro 5 version (118 g/km).

NOx emissions for the Euro 6 version in the NEDC are 32 mg/km, which would equate to 51 mg/mile (0.051 g/mi), which would meet the T2B5 NOx limit of 0.07 g/mile as is. The caveat is that the test duty cycle is different in the U.S. (FTP), and there are Supplemental FTP limits for NMOG+NOx.

 

I don't think their is any doubt that a 328d will be more efficient than a 328i, and that bmw is making one that satisfies the us emissions requirements. I am not sure what the difference between the 320d and 328d are, the 328d is 4 cylinder, 2L, 180hp turbo diesel. The problem for the 328d, is it is going to be more expensive than the higher powered (240hp) 328i which gets 23/33/26 mpg epa. I would not expect the bmw to greatly exceed the passat tdi at 30/40/33. It may indeed get more than 40 mpg on the highway, but unless something special is going on, I don't see higher than low 30s on an epa test in the city.

The bmw 328d, if bought for efficiency, will be competing with the camry hybrid, fusion hybrid, and volt. None of the 3 is as luxurious, but all have a lower price to offer. The camry hybrid is just as quick and is the lowest price of these. The fusion hybrid looks better. The volt allows you to drive electrically. The bmw looks like it will be most efficient on the highway, but these other cars beat it in the city and combined. YMMV, and we will await official epa numbers.

I do wish bmw the best of luck on this new diesel. It will save lots of oil if people buy one instead of a 335i. I do wish bmw would also downsize their activehybrid 3 to the 2L from the 3L engine. It will still have much more speed than this diesel, and that would drop the price and greatly improve fuel economy.

 

I guess it's wise to always be cautious about a new design. Hang back and let somebody else test the minefield! But I think this 1.0-liter EcoBoost engine has been sold in Europe for a year or two, so maybe the Europeans have exposed the bugs for us?

 

Bob, apparently you are on different planet, here on planet Europe we consume 70 % diesel and 30 % petrol, to get that yield we must buy diesel from other planet (USA) and sell back petrol. And still our government insist on taxing diesel a lot less than petrol. At current price petrol is 22% more expensive than diesel, considering energy content.

Maybe new EURO 6 emission standard will make a diesel car and its emission control system more complex, more expensive and harder to maintain, but hey when every shop out there is offering DPF delete for 400 € this wont be a problem.

 

Statistic in Europe is very much like in US, but still there is a little less difference. Maybe the difference is automatic transmission and smaller diesel engines that are not available in US.

Gen 3 (350 users) 5.09 l/100 km or 46 MPG at fuel price of 1.505 €/l that gives us 7.66 €/100 km
VW Golf (746 users) 5.53 l/100 km or 42 MPG at fuel price of 1.381 €/l that gives us 7.64 €/100 km

At those figures Golf is consuming 22 % more energy, but try to explain that to average Joe in Europe, where he will pay the same price per km with a cheaper car. True Prius is a bigger car, but look at Auris Hybrid that thing has even worse consumption (5.24 l/100 km) than Prius.

Also average US Prius driver is getting lower consumption (2.6 %) than here in Europe, why is that? Logic would say that considering fuel prices it should be reversed. Maybe more short city routes in Europe.

I am working really hard to get 6 % under average Joe's consumption in Prius, sometimes I drive my wife's small 1.4 petrol car that statistically gets 7 l/100 km, guess what I'm getting on that car? 5.5 l/100 km, that is 21 % bellow average, I guess Prius is teaching me how to drive, or there is something terribly wrong with my Prius.

 

I have one easy fix for quicker warm-up of the engine:
A motor driven (or thermostat) four way mixing valve between engine and radiator, this doesn't improve aerodynamics as active shutters do but I think it could be a simple solution, how you could keep the engine temp on constant operating temperature.

You just need one temp sensor in the coolant entry to engine, the el. pump should also be here, and you are mixing hot coolant directly from the engine and cold coolant from the radiator to a nice temperature of say 195°F. If the temp is rising you add more and more flow from the radiator, if all flow is needed from the radiator then you have same situation as today.

Every plumber should be capable of doing this

 

Yes, yes you are Bob!

The one advantage of this site is all the work others have done with the Prius to get such good numbers out of them, and others who have non Prius Hybrids are learning from you guys. Prius led the way to better more efficient cars. Now if only they can do it with trucks!

 

The best bang for your buck to squeeze an extra few miles out of a tank of gas is a Scan-gauge. Kinda like a slide rule compared to the Prius computer and gauge clusters but it can teach a person how to drive "right".

 

When you can set it up properly it is great, but can also be deceiving if not setup correctly.