Low NVH for New Duramax 4500 - GM's new light-duty diesel to be quiet, clean
Sunday, 07.22.2007, 08:23am (GMT)
DETROIT -- The 4.5-liter turbocharged
diesel engine that General Motors plans to introduce in 2010 in
light-duty pickups will have breakthrough technology in emissions and
noise reduction, says the engine's assistant chief engineer, Jim
Minneker.
The new diesel is being designed to meet the most
stringent federal and California emissions standards and will be
available in all 50 states, Minneker said. It will use a urea injection
system to control oxides of nitrogen, or NOx.
But GM won't be
part of the German Bluetec alliance of Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, BMW
and Audi. Those automakers plan to sell their clean diesels under the
Bluetec banner.
Although he wouldn't get into specifics,
Minneker said the new engine will have advanced technology that reduces
the production of NOx in the cylinder. NOx is suspected of causing
cancer.
Another goal, he said, is to make the new diesel engine
the smoothest and quietest in the industry - something GM may have to
do to silence critics who remember the automaker's troublesome diesels
of the late 1970s and early 1980s.
GM has been granted a patent
for the engine's crankcase and has applied for more patents for the
fuel and emissions systems, said Minneker, a 37-year GM powertrain
veteran.
In other diesel developments, GM confirmed last week
that it plans to install diesel engines in Cadillac and Saturn cars and
crossover vehicles in 2010.
GM will use a 2.9-liter V-6, made in Italy by VM Motori, in the Cadillac CTS and Saturn Aura.
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