New Infiniti VC-T engine gets variable compression: The petrol engine fights back

[nggallery id=2323 template=customlinks]

Infiniti will reveal a new Variable Compression-Turbocharged (VC-T) petrol engine at the Paris Motor Show promising diesel-bashing credentials.

The internal combustion engine has been with us for 150 years, and in that time it’s been petrol engines (certainly in cars) that have ruled the roads. But that has changed.

It’s changed because legislators became fixated with CO2 emissions and car makers found it easier to make diesel engines emit lower levels so, certainly in Europe, the diesel engine has become the engine of choice for mainstream passenger cars. But that could start to change.

In truth, it is already changing as buyers finally start to understand that Co2 emissions are an irrelevance and its NOX and particulates that matter, and diesel engines still do a much poorer job of keeping those real nasties in check.

But now Nissan’s Infiniti is about to give petrol engines the big stick they need to beat diesel engines in to submission, with a variable compression engine promising economy, CO2 emissions and performance better than a comparable diesel.

The idea of a variable compression engine isn’t new, but this seems to be the first production application of an engine which can change its compression ratio (and its displacement too) anywhere from 8:1 (great for performance) to 14:1 (great for economy.

Clearly the new engine will also breeze through emissions testing at a maximum 14:1 ration and then deliver a real world compression ration much more favourable for performance. Which sounds just fine.

It looks like the new 2.0 litre VC-T engine is just about production ready, and looks set to arrive by the end of 2017 under the bonnet of a new Infiniti QX50, a car previewed by the QX Sport Concept.