Toyota has developed a new 1.2 litre direct-injection, turbo petrol engine which has been named 8NR-FTS. The engine is very fuel-efficient, has good acceleration figures and a wider torque range.

2013 Toyota Auris
The Toyota Auris gets to taste the new engine first

These are times when automotive manufacturers are looking towards downsizing their engines. It is an economical concept that is adopted by car makers ranging from Maruti Suzuki, all the way up to Ferrari. What downsizing does is it significantly improves the fuel efficiency of the vehicle, providing the power of a bigger capacity engine and also reducing carbon emissions to a great extent. The latest manufacturer to go down the downsizing route is Toyota.

The Japanese giant has developed a new 1.2-litre direct-injection, turbo petrol engine which has been named as 8NR-FTS. To start with, the new engine would be available as an option for the partially redesigned Auris model, which is currently available only in Japan. Toyota claims that the 8NR-FTS delivers a fuel-efficiency of 19.4 km/l along with thermal efficiency as well. The engine pairs a single-scroll turbocharger with a cylinder head that uses an integrated water-cooled exhaust manifold to optimise exhaust temperature. This basically allows adaptive intake cooling to take place and is not affected by the engine’s thermal load. As a result of this, the vehicle can achieve better acceleration figures with maximum torque available across a wide RPM range.

The 1196cc turbo petrol engine produces 116 PS of maximum power between 5200 and 5600 RPM. A maximum torque figure of 185 Nm is also generated between 1500 to 4000 RPM (which is a long range). The engine features a bore and stroke ratio of 71.5 x 74.5 mm and a compression ratio of 10. Toyota also claims to have improved the combustion speed by creating a strong tumble flow (a vertically-rotating swirl) inside the cylinder. This with the help of the advanced D-4T technology creates an ideal air-fuel mixture.

In addition, continuous variable valve timing on the intake (VVT-iW) allows the engine to use the Atkinson cycle by adjusting valve timing according to load. The respective improvements that the company has made produces a maximum thermal efficiency of 36 percent, which is a leading level among all mass-produced gasoline engines. Toyota is a manufacturer known for its successful hybrid vehicles. By moving more towards conventional fuel engines that are found in majority of cars, Toyota is constantly aiming to create more environmental friendly vehicles.

2013 Toyota Auris Hatchback
The 1.2-litre engine may make its way to India in the future