Mitsubishi Motors Corporation has recently developed two small direct injection diesel (DID) engines that realize significant improvements both in fuel economy and in emissions performance. The company plans to launch the new DID engines in a SUV due to be introduced first in Japan next year, and then in European and Asian markets.

Mitsubishi Motors leads the industry in Japan in addressing environmental issues. The company has positioned its revolutionary GDI engine-In which gasoline is injected directly into the cylinders-as a Global Standard Eco-engine, and plans to market it world-wide.
The diesel engine, meanwhile, enjoys high popularity in Europe and in Asian countries. With these markets primarily in mind, the company has been developing exciting new diesel technology at the same time as its GDI engine technology. With the completion of the DID engine, the company now takes another major step forward in its efforts to realize a more harmonious relationship between the automobile and the environment.

The new DID engines, 2.5-liter and 3.0-liter capacities, share the same development concept as the GDI engine family: Preservation of the global environment by reducing carbon dioxide emissions, and of the local environment by reducing emissions of toxic gases. Realizing, at the same time, significant improvements in power output characteristics, the new diesel engines meet a wide spectrum of market needs.

Features of the new engines include a four valve layout, a unique combustion chamber design, and optimization of the high-pressure injection system. Contributing to improved combustion characteristics, these features realize an increase in power output of between 20 and 30 percent while reducing fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions by some 30 percent (over the equivalent current Mitsubishi diesel engine). In doing so, the new DID engines meet the Japanese 1998 emission regulations, as well as the European emission regulations for 2000.