Mercedes-Benz C 220 BLUETEC
February 28, 2007 by Alborz Fallah
Mercedes-Benz is showing its highly environmentally-friendly BLUETEC emission-control technology in combination with a consumption-optimised four-cylinder engine for the first time at the 2007 Geneva Motor Show.
All these new technologies are coming out of Europe due to the new EURO 6 emission standard applicable to all new vehicles Europe-wide from 2015 and Mercedes believes that the Vision C 220 BLUETEC shows the way ahead.
Boasting an output of 125 kW and a peak torque of 400 Nm, the Vision C 220 BLUETEC now requires only 5.5 litres of diesel per hundred kilometres, thanks largely to modified diesel engine technology and an intelligent system of energy management.
“The sophisticated four-cylinder diesel engine with BLUETEC emission control is a prime example of leading-edge, future-compatible technology,” explains Dr Dieter Zetsche, Chairman of the Board of Management of DaimlerChrysler AG and Head of the Mercedes Car Group.
“Our diesel strategy is an effective answer to the question of how to save fuel and, therefore, CO2, how to further reduce all exhaust emissions including NOx and yet still ensure effortlessly superior driving enjoyment. In this respect, we believe our state-of-the-art diesel concept is currently the best and most efficient solution available.”
If you haven’t heard of BLUETEC before, its a DaimlerChrysler-developed technology designed to reduce diesel vehicle emissions, especially nitrogen oxides – the only exhaust-gas constituents that are still higher in today’s diesel engines than they are in their petrol counterparts due to the principle differences between petrol and diesel combustion engines.
Mercedes-Benz is working intensively to optimise its engines and combustion processes in order to minimise the nitrogen oxides before they are actually produced. In terms of “hardware“, the sophisticated four-cylinder powerplant in the Vision C 220 BLUETEC, like the standard-production engines, includes four valves per cylinder, third-generation common-rail direct injection, a turbocharger with a variable nozzle turbine and exhaust gas recirculation.
| CO** | NOx** | HC + NOx** | Particulate** | |
| EURO 4 All new vehicles from 1.1.2006 |
0.50 | 0.25 | 0.30 | 0.025 |
| EURO 5 All new vehicles from 1.1.2011 |
0.50 | 0.18 | 0.23 | 0.005 |
| EURO 6 All new vehicles from 1.9.2015 |
0.50 | 0.08 | 0.17 | 0.005 |
All car manufacturers are going to undergo a massive change in their engine development programs to comply with both the Euro 5 and 6 standards in due time. For example, particulate emissions must be reduced by a factor of five by the time the EURO 5 standard comes into force on January 1, 2011.
However, come EURO 6 in 2015, nitrogen oxide limits will be enforced at only around 30 percent of the current limits. All Mercedes-Benz diesel vehicles with a particulate filter fitted as standard already undercut the particulate limits that will apply from 2011 onwards.
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I applaud Mercedes for leading clean diesel technology and promoting its benefits with its four cyclinder diesel Mercedes engine parts over competing technologies such as gasoline hybrids. Especially when many manufacturers claimed that the new emissions standards couldn’t be reached with a diesel or wasn’t economical to do so.
It seems the days of the smokey diesel are gone with all the new requirements set upon manufacturers. I can’t understand why diesel had such a bad reputation in the first place. Sure there is a lot more particle emission but in reality diesel is cleaner than petrol will ever be because petrol contains more poisonous chemicals, especially now with no lead in the fuel. That is something you don’t hear much about.
When I look at hybrid cars I think to myself why they use a small petrol engine and not a diesel wich would use even less fuel and produce more power an torque. And also when the time comes that an alternative fuel based on vegetable oils is comercially produced then a hybrid car would become viable and not just a gimmick. (I read somewhere about an MAN truck tested on canola oil which ran for 1 million KM’s in Germany perfectly)
Fixing the car problem is easy. As I said there is a solution to the clean fuel problem but it comes down to the profit margin of the big oil companies and also the arse kissing government departments who only look after themselves instead of doing the right thing