German manufacturer Mercedes-Benz has revealed its latest generation 13-litre engine in Europe with claims that it will deliver a fuel economy challenge of up to three per cent.
Brashly and confidently Benz announced the new engine as an “engineering masterpiece”. The new version of the OM 471 engine is based on the same engine block as other 13-litre Daimler engines around the world, including the Detroit DD 13.
The company has reportedly invested close to 60 million Euros in refining the 13 litre having sold more than 100,000 units of the earlier versions of the engine.
According to Mercedes-Benz some of the changes include improvements to the X-Pulse fuel injection system, the introduction of a new EGR valve along with an asymmetric turbo system which apparently will extend oil change intervals out to close to 150,000 km.
Maximum power is available from 1450 to 1800 rpm with maximum torque of 2600 Nm in the top engine on hand between 900 to 1450 rpm. Even at idle speed of 600 rpm the engine still produces 1600 Nm.
The torque curve has also been improved particularly in the lower powered versions of the new engine with up to an extra 200 Nm available when the truck is in top gear, reducing down changing and fuel use,allowing the driver to hang on to top gear longer.
Bolstering Benz’s fuel saving strategy, It is offering the new engine in a truck with a 2.533 rear axle ratio. This means that with the truck running at 65 km/h the engine will be sitting below 900 rpm 2200 Nm of torque on tap to maintain performance.
It is unclear when Australia will see the latest version of the OM 471 despite the fact that the current version has been around in the Actros for the past four years.
