Ultra Boost for Economy

In the last decade the drive for improved fuel economy has forced Internal Combustion Engine designers to develop new and more fuel efficient technologies. An increasingly common method of improving fuel economy is by reducing (downsizing) engine capacity coupled with high levels of air charge boosting to deliver good performance. Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) is the lead partner in a collaborative project called 'ULTRABOOST' which is supported with funding from the UK Technology Strategy Board (TSB). The project consortium is made up of eight technical partners including Jaguar Land Rover, Lotus Engineering, Shell Fuels, GE Precision Engineering, CD-adapco, University of Bath, University of Leeds and Imperial College London. The aim of the Ultraboost project is to develop an innovative 2.0 Litre gasoline engine concept capable of a 35% CO2 tailpipe reduction over the New European Drive Cycle (NEDC) relative to a current production 5.0 Litre V8 engine in a Range Rover, whilst maintaining key vehicle attributes such as performance and transient response. Performance targets of this magnitude result in challenging combustion conditions with high probabilities of detrimental abnormal combustion effects such as pre-ignition and knock taking place. Starting in September 2010 and running for three years the project will utilise the partners expertise and collective skills in engineering, design, combustion modelling, pressure charging and fuels to develop a highly boosted downsized engine concept.