Engines don’t need to be big and powerful to be worth talking about, and there’s no better example to support that than Renault’s recently announced two-cylinder two-stroke diesel engine.
Its focus is squarely on efficiency and compactness, and with a displacement of 730 cc it can still put out anywhere between 47 to 68 hp.
The unit uses the same bore/stroke as the familiar 1.5-liter DCi, so it won’t require the development of all new parts, and given its size, torque from 112 to 145 Nm available from 1,500 rpm doesn’t sound that bad.
Renault doesn’t detail it, but it said the engine uses both a mechanical supercharger and a turbocharger to achieve the figures. It is keen to mention, though, that it sounds the same as a four-cylinder four-stroke engine – that’s both good and bad, depending on whom you ask…
This particular engine won’t make it to production, as it’s currently too weak to power any model in the manufacturer’s range – it’s currently just “an exploratory study.”
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