Infiniti VC-Turbo Engine - Variable Compression Turbo Engine
147Two decades in development, and on-sale in 2018
Technology enhances future prospects for the gasoline engine
Fixed compression ratio engines have been in existence throughout the 130-year history of the motor car. Throughout this time, other manufacturers have taken on the challenge of developing a variable compression ratio engine. INFINITI will be the first to bring the technology to market, with an engine that continuously transforms according to driver behavior.
A truly historic challenge, INFINITI has worked on this technology for more than 20 years. The first major breakthrough was the invention by INFINITI of a new multi-link technology in 1998, which held the key to a true variable compression ratio.
INFINITI has tested and developed more than 100 engine prototypes in perfecting the technology, covering over three million kilometers of equivalent road testing and spending over 30,000 hours on the test bed (equal to five million kilometers of on-road testing). The engine is now in its final stages of development on real roads.
The advanced new VC-Turbo engine is the latest driver-focused technology from INFINITI. The company has introduced a series of world-first technologies since 1989, such as 'steer-by-wire' Direct Adaptive Steering and predictive forward collision warning.
Understanding compression ratios – fixed vs. variable
Higher compression ratios offer greater efficiency; lower ratios enable greater performance
Variable compression provides both power and efficiency within one engine for greater flexibility
VC-Turbo can shift to any compression ratio between 8:1 and 14:1
The compression ratio is the ratio of the combustion chamber's volume from its greatest capacity (when the piston is at bottom-dead-center within the cylinder) – to its smallest capacity (when the piston is at top-dead-center).
A higher compression ratio is able to achieve greater efficiency and improved fuel consumption; lower compression ratios offer greater power and torque, particularly in turbocharged engines, but are known for reduced fuel efficiency.
Until now, in every production engine ever built, this ratio has been fixed as a result of the dimensions, components and engine layout.
INFINITI's VC-Turbo engine uses an advanced multi-link system to change the compression ratio seamlessly, actively raising or lowering the height of the pistons' stroke. Offering any compression ratio between 8:1 and 14:1, the VC-Turbo engine offers both power and efficiency within the same engine.
As well as offering the benefits of true flexibility, VC-Turbo technology negates the downsides posed by fixed compression. INFINITI's engine neatly sidesteps the problem of 'knocking', a process of inefficiency which can occur in higher compression ratio engines when the air-fuel mixture combusts prematurely in the cylinder, potentially resulting in damage to the engine. INFINITI's VC-Turbo engine avoids this with direct injection fuel delivery, and by constantly optimizing the compression ratio. This latter characteristic ensures greater efficiency than many high performance engines with a fixed, low compression ratio.
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