Audi TDI Diesel Engines: Honoring 25 Years Of Fuel Efficiency, Lower Emissions - Green Car Reports
customers haven't had quite the range of diesel vehicles their European counterparts enjoy, but it's still hard to believe that one of the biggest badges in diesel technology--TDI--is now a quarter-century old. Audi launched its first TDI diesel model at the 1989 Frankfurt Auto Show. That car was the Audi 100 TDI, a 2. 5-liter, five-cylinder turbodiesel producing a modest 120 horsepower and 195 lb-ft of torque. While neither direct injection nor turbocharging, nor even a combination of the two were unique to Audi in 1989, the German automaker and its parent company Volkswagen certainly popularized the concept. By combining direct injection of atomized fuel into the cylinder and turbocharging to boost the engine's power output, TDI engines could develop more power and torque yet use less fuel than their predecessors. Developments in the technology were such that European buyers bought TDI-badged models in their droves--throughout the 1990s, economy from turbodiesel Audis and Volkswagens was significantly better than their gasoline counterparts. At the same time, improvements in software systems, fueling, engine design and emissions technology saw performance increase, refinement improve and emissions fall significantly. Source: www.greencarreports.com
