Perkins launches new off-highway engine: 1.0 L/cyl 1100 series diesel designed to address emissions legislation 15 months ahead of schedule; a base fo

The worldwide launch of Perkins' new 1100 series diesel engine represents a significant milestone for the Peterborough, England-based division of Caterpillar. The 1.0 L/cyl engine is aimed at replacing the workhorse 1000 series, and is important for a number of reasons.

It comes on stream well ahead of the U.S. EPA Tier 2 and EU Stage 2 emissions standards due to take effect in 2003 and beyond and has been specifically engineered to meet those standards. It is the result of one of the most far-reaching marketing exercises Perkins has yet launched and is also the company's largest single investment in a single engine program.

"The 1100 series is a world class engine family," said Michael J. Baunton, president of Perkins Engine. "We obviously are looking for the 1100 series to coincide with Stage 2 regulations, but no customer is going to buy an engine because of emissions. We have to meet emission standards, that's the regulation.

"The 1100 series, designed just to meet emission standards, would have been a very simple project. Compared to the 1000 and the 900 series, the 1100 series engine is quieter, has much higher reliability, longer service intervals, it has much more flexibility, it is a more efficient engine. The 1100 series has a base that we think can form the basis for the next generation of engines beyond, so we are making significant investments in some of the core components so that it can take us through the next emissions window as well Primarily, the 1100 series is designed for the off-highway market, but versions for additional applications will be developed. "In round terms, the market breakdown for the 1100 series is about a third agriculture, a third construction, 15 percent material handing and 10 percent power generation," said Richard Case, managing director, Industrial Power at Perkins. "The rest is miscellaneous specialty equipment like aircraft tow trucks and other applications that don't specifically fit into a category."

The engine was conceived as far back as 1997, and what was obvious at the time was the changing nature of the market. "Traditionally, customers have chosen a particular engine because of product attributes like size and power," said Roy Chowings, Perkins' product director for the 1100 series. "Now, however, they are just as interested in how the engine will perform in its totality--and particularly the standard of parts and service diagnostic support that a manufacturer can offer. Perkins has developed a major new system called the Integrated Parts and Service system (TIPSS) that is transforming the provision of parts information and diagnostics and service expertise out in the field."

"Thanks to emissions, engine manufacturers now have to re-win customers every four years," added Case. "Every four years they have the opportunity to look at new products. The engines in the 1100 series are exceedingly good engines and we know that some people will buy them who aren't, by legislation, forced to buy them. They will buy them for the improvements and the features we've built into the engine."

The 1100 series will feature a total of nine engine models offering a power choice from 55 to 175 blip. These include a new 3.3 L, three-cylinder engine with a choice of naturally-aspirated or turbocharged versions featuring mechanical governing; a new 4.4 L, four-cylinder engine at the heart of the range with naturally aspirated or turbocharged air-to-air charge-air cooled variants all offering the choice of mechanical or full-authority electronic control; and, finally, a top-of-the-range 6.6 L, six-cylinder turbocharged power unit with air-to-air charge-air cooling and full authority electronic control as standard.

The three- and four-cylinder models have a slightly increased bore and stroke of 105 x 127 mm compared with the 1000 series, while the six-cylinder bore and stroke remains at 100 x 127 mm diameter.

Chowings pointed out that the importance of the new engine series lies in the fact that it covers some 80 percent of the company's coverage of the off-highway market and, with 30 prime ratings and some overlap between versions, gives the customer a wide choice depending on the particular application.

"We have always listened to what customers tell us," said Michael Wright, marketing manager-new products. "But this has now become the core of our product development strategy. Using a new research technique called Quality Function Deployment (QFD), we identified the critical needs of machine operators from across the world, and these have been incorporated into the design and build process. Four important areas of performance emerged from our researches: productivity, refinement, low cost of ownership and product support."