2015 Volkswagen TDIs will get a more efficient turbodiesel engine

While VW’s existing 2.0-liter TDI Clean Diesel engine has a well-established reputation for being environmentally friendly and fuel efficient, the automaker has confirmed that all diesel-powered 2015 Volkswagen Beetle, Golf, Jetta and Passat models will be fitted with a new and improved generation TDI motivator to be introduced when the cars go on sale here in the second half of 2014. Ultimately, this new engine also will replace the 2.0-liter TDI used in Audi models sold here, as well. Save for market-specific tuning of its various emissions components, the new 4-cylinder oil-burner is destined to see duty in VW and Audi vehicles around the globe.

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Sharing only the same displacement and bore-center dimensions with the existing 4-cylinder turbodiesel, this new EA288 engine makes 150 horsepower – 10 more than the current TDI – while retaining the same 236 lb-ft of peak torque. The EA288 also benefits from numerous internal design tweaks and friction-reduction advances that Oliver Schmidt, General Manager, Energy and Environmental Office, Volkswagen Group of America, promises will make it cleaner and more fuel efficient while delivering even better performance.

Schmidt’s announcement, which came in a speech at this week’s annual Management Briefing Seminars in Traverse City, Michigan, also noted that the Volkswagen Group of America continues to dominate the U.S. diesel scene. So far in 2013, VW and Audi have sold over 47,000 TDI vehicles here, including more than 10,000 last month, accounting for nearly 78 percent of total diesel passenger car sales in the process.

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