Hyundai unveils new R-Engine diesel range
November 6, 2008 by George Skentzos
Hyundai has well and truly left behind any lingering Korean car stereotypes as it reveals the first details of its brand new R-Engine Diesel powerplant.
The 2.0-litre version of the R-Engine outperforms any competitive offering, and will enter production next year to make its first appearance in the 2010 Tucson and Sonata models.
With power output of 135kW and 392Nm, the 2.0-litre unit eclipses similar offerings from Audi, BMW and Mercedes.
“R proves Hyundai’s Diesel development capabilities really are world-class. With Diesels becoming cleaner and more fuel efficient all the time, there’s a growing demand for Diesel powerplants worldwide and Hyundai is well positioned to supply the market with the very best Diesel technology,” said Dr. Hyun-Soon Lee, president of the Corporate Research and Development Division.
A 2.2-litre version provides even more performance with 147kW and 436Nm, and could find its way into a series of diesel performance cars in the Hyundai range.
The R-Engine benefits from the third generation common rail system developed by Bosch whose piezo-electric injectors deliver fuel at 1800 bar for an unprecedented degree of accuracy and control.
The all-aluminium R-Engine is fitted with a 16 valve dual overhead camshaft which is driven by an internal steel silent timing chain.
For reduced vibration and lower booming noise, the R gets a lower balancer shaft which has been encased in stiffened ladder frame housing for increased rigidity.
The R-Engine line-up is fitted with a lose-coupled Diesel particulate filter plus highly efficient exhaust gas recirculation with by-pass valve to meet strict Euro 5 emissions regulations.
The R-Engine is the result of an investment of over AUD$285million and an engineering team of 150 personnel.
Over 500 prototype engines were built during the 42 month development period where they were subjected to exhaustive testing under all imaginable environmental conditions.
The R-Engine brings Hyundai’s Diesel engine family fully up-to-date as it joins the U-Engine (1.1 litre, 1.4 litre and 1.6 litre), the A-Engine (2.5 litre) and S-Engine (3.0 litre V6).
Print it: 
CA moderating comments now? Interesting…
Gheeezzz, that’s some pretty impressive power and torque specs for a 2.0 litre diesel. Time will tell however with regards to durability and reliability.
Will be interesting to see if Hyundai or VW will knock Toyota off it’s pedestal over the next decade.
That power output is good for a petrol engine, let alone a diesel!
Very impressive!!
no word on forced induction, single or twin?
It has a single electronic variable geometry turbocharger.
The mazda3 and Mazda6 2 litre diesel is not bad for performace specs but this engine seems to blow it into the weeds!
I wonder what its fuel economy will be once its hooked up to (6 speed?) transmission and chassis?
How does this engine compare to the 2 litre subaru boxer diesel? Are they using the same injector technology?
Is that a first? – an all aluminum diesel engine in this class.
Realcars….will take some 7-10yrs for Hyundai/Kia conglomerate to be number 1. Just cast back your memory to Toyota last 25yrs and see the slow leap they have done to where they are now – then do a giant leap from where Hyundai came from in a very short period of time. They are smart, update models with a better design sense now then its quirky past and have picked up its quality significantly. They are on the march and not to be taken lightly as they are obsessed to be number 1.
Realcars, if VW ever take over number one i will eat every hat this world has to offer…
As for this engine… give me an I20 with this and a six speed manual and ill wet my pants =D and im a 20yo male. Shows how far hyundai have come huh..
Hey Crouchy, come back when you’re 30 and tell us how many hats you’ve eaten?
Watch out world, these guys mean business.
Those of you who would never buy a Korean car, how many of you are perfectly happy with your LG and Samsung TVs and other appliances?
Move one more step, then think about what your next car might be.
All-aluminium is impressive, and the only one so far that I know of. Not overly sure about Subaru’s boxer diesel, but fairly certain its aluminium heads, but still a steel block, like most modern diesel engines.
Most diesels (even Subaru’s boxer diesel) these days all use common-rail injection technology. Speaking of boxer diesel, its outputs of 110kw and 350Nm are about lineball to what other makers’ 2.0L turbodiesel engines produce.
BMW M47TU2D20 2.0L: 120kw/340Nm
VAG 2.0L TDI CR: 125kw/350Nm
Toyota 1AD-FTV D-4D 2.0L: 97kw/300Nm
Toyota 2AD-FHV D-4D 2.2L: 132kw/400Nm
Power outputs of Hyundai’s R-engine are very impressive for a single-turbo 2.0L engine. The real test of this engine would definitely be drivability though. Big outputs through a socking great big turbo would mean lots of lag, but that rush after the turbo has spooled would be exciting =)
Honda’s diesel has always been alloy, but it doesn’t come here, and is way behind this new Hyundai in terms of output. What are those Koreans putting in their noodles?
That 2.2 has massive power!!
We need something like that in the current commodores/falcons.
Mega Power…..Mega all aluminium technology = Mega smart car company on move solidly to being number 1.
All hail Hyundai, what a turn around for the brand. This and Subaru’s new diesel’s are top class!
Naughtyius Maximus
Well,this engine will be very popular, but nobody knows oil consumption and durability yet.
Hyundai never made proper sports car and large luxury car…
Anyway, I hope they change their company logo when they become Number one car company.
Not imitation of “Honda”, nust be something totally new.
Realcars,
I have great respect for Hyundai’s progress and this engine sounds like a wonderful development although I have no use, personally, for 392 Nm. However, to beat VW, Hyundai will have to match the whole power train including VW’s DSG transmissions. I see no sign of that happening anytime soon. Next year promises an interesting battle of the “green cars” when the new Polo diesel DSG will meet the hyundai LPG hybrid. It’ll be about function though, not bling.
*it is a 2.2 litre, so it just pips Hyundai’s 2.2. Best part is, its gonna be available with a six speed manual! Woo!
Yeah yeah yea….
All this talk of the electronic variable geometry turbocharger and diesel this and blah blah blah that…
No-one has mentioned that you have to run it on MSG!!!!!
This proves again how Hyundai are leading the pack with advance technology. They have certainly invested in diesel technology which is the way to go & will definitely be number 1 one day. Other car makers watch out !
Cheers !
Absolutely brilliant.
BMW does a twin turbo 4 cylinder 2.0L which makes 150kw and 400nm from the BMW 123d
The most powerful of the new Mercedes Benz diesels is a 2.1-litre turbo-charged four-cylinder that manages an astonishing 150kW/500Nm! That’s enough to propel the C-Class sedan (250 CDI) from 0-100km/h in 7.7 seconds, while sipping diesel at the rate of 5.4 L/100km.
Thats a great effort by Hyundai, really taking off my hat to them.
Just hope that more power/torque does not equal more fuel used, beats the purpose of having a diesel.
Oh and Bosch did NOT invent common-rail, FIAT did
Cheers
F-0
Can’t wait to find a rolled or wrecked diesel Tucson, I’ll snap it up and shove the 2.0 diesel in a Getz….woooohoooo!!!
Power figures are simply a matter of tuning. Formula One engines produce 550+Kw from 2.4 litres. ANY manufacturer could obtain the figures Hyundai has produced if they wanted to. The trick is to make an engine high in output while simultaneously FUEL EFFICIENT and DURABLE. Do people honestly think that Hyundai has suddenly out-engineered BMW from far left field?
Usually a balance between torque and power is to do mainly with the engine being understroked or overstroked i.e length of stroke relative to the bore.
Formula 1 like high performance bike engines are built to produce high horse power with relatively little torque at high RPM because it easier to produce high power as the more rpm the more power produced and these machines are relatively light so they don’t need large amounts of torque.
To produce both high horsepower and torque figures as this Hyundai diesel claims is definitely a product of design rather than just tuning.
The thing to remember here is the power output is directly controlled by the ECU, Injector system, and turbo size.
Hence it is no real feat of engineering to produce these power outputs, considering it uses the Bosch injectors, and more than likely the Bosch ECU.
The VAG 2.0T 125kw engine is conservatively fuelled (as would be the MB and others) for longevity.
A simple reflash of the VAG diesel (see superchips.co.uk) results in 146kw and 427nm, which easily surpasses the Hyundai output.
The other issue affecting real world driveability of any turbo, and particularly the diesel turbos, is how early the torque is available and how broad the torque band is. It’s childs play to up the turbo size and create massive numbers, but if there’s huge lag as a result the engine is a monster to drive in the suburbs.
So, accolades to the Koreans for building this engine (using Euro injection technology), but let’s not get carried away so we think they’ve beaten the Euros – they haven’t. I have driven the 2.5 Diesel Sorento from the same family, and it’s a ripper of an engine except for the severe noisiness of it before it’s up to operating temperature, and the turbo lag which was a pain even in the auto car.
The other variable you guys are omitting is emmissions. thats the thing they need to balance to come to a compromise. This is not just a matter of bolting on a bigger turbo. Dont forget Hyundai have been making some of the most powerful diesel engines on the planet for some time – in the region of 100,000 HP in conjunction with Wartsila, in there ship building industry. Different kettle of fish but they aren’t mucking around!
Seems Hyundai have caught up with others. Reckless is quite correct about the tuned outputs and turbo charging. VW’s golf 8 yrs ago had diesel outputs (sorry for bhp outputs) of 115 and 130 and 150. Whilst the 150 was obviously quicker the 115 was the nicest to drive. Again BMW supplied 2.0litre units to Rover producing 116bhp whilst the same engine in a diesel I think had 125bhp but the rovers was a more refined installation.
It not all about max torque and power, its how its produced. Nuff Said
Yes we all know that bmw and VW have already been in similar territory.. but the big deal here is that it is HYUNDAI!!!!!!! dont you remember the first gen excel??????
Sounds like the Koreans have gone shopping in the european parts bin.
Case in point, they obviously bought their ESP from them.
How’s an i20 round a corner?
I once had to keep up with a diesel i20 in my Golf GTI TDI but the tyres on it looked like they were from a pushbike.
It’s one thing to be equal but another to innovate
At $550 a pop for the Continentals on the Golf Benough its in a slightly different league than an i20 (are they out yet? I think you mean i30) You dont buy an i30 if you want a sports car. With the extra $20k you save from a GTI thats a lot of fat tyres for your Hyundai! If Hyundai do bring out a sport hatch with these engines then you might have to upgrade the golf because it might have a little bit of trouble keeping up..