AFSCME 3357-HOF'S BLOG

2006 The Year of Direct Injection Engines?

You could say that 2004 was the year of the hybrid. 2005 was the year of the variable displacement engine. It looks like 2006 will be the year of the direct injection engine. Diesel engines have long benefited from direct injection. Direct injection gasoline engines have been around awhile, but for various technical reasons have not been commonplace. One reason was the quality of the fuel didn't allow for reliable burning. In Japan, direct injection gasoline engines have been becoming more common over the last decade or so. It looks like there will be an explosion of new models with direct injection for model year 2006.

Mazdaspeed 6 - a special edition of the Mazda6
Toyota IS-330
Volkswagen Passat
Audi A4
Mercedes C320
Lexus GS300 and IS300

General Motors has a direct injection version of its ecotech engine available in Opel models in Europe, and GM's Japanese affillite, Izuzu has a direct injection v-6 that was briefly available in the Axiom model in 2004. We'll see more of these engines in the future.

Here's a link to an article that describes various technical innovations that are making their way into automobiles now and in future years.

auto-innovations : innovations, engine