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MARINEDIESEL’S “V” Engine Advantages
When it comes to
diesel engines one doesn’t have to look very far to realize that there are many
different makes and models of diesel engine. Looking around the automotive world
you see more and more engine manufacturers moving the direction of V-configured
diesel engines for their mid-sized vehicles; AM
General’s Optimizer 6.5L V8, General Motors’s Duramax 6.6L V8, Ford’s Powerstroke
6.0L V8, Cummins’ 4.2L V6 & 5.6L V8 engines currently in development. The
reasons for the transition from inline to V engines in these vehicles is not by
chance. One of the biggest considerations to factor into any decision regarding
powering a boat is whether a “V” configured engine better meets the requirements
for marine applications versus that of an inline configured
engine. In the typical mid-range marine application when replacing
250 - 400 Hp small or large V8 gas engines, the majority of inline diesel
offerings will be approximately 30% smaller in displacement and therefore have
to be highly boosted to make up for this shortfall.
Benefits of
MarineDiesel’s “V” Engine
The following points
relate to the marine market and mid range (5,000 -
30,000 Lb) boats. The larger, heavier commercial type vessels have completely
different torque, power and rpm requirements. There are countless boats from
years past that were powered by small and big block V8 gas engines; the
MarineDiesel product offers numerous fundamental product advantages of which
many are of the same reasons the automotive industry is moving towards the
higher revving “V” configured diesel engines.
Packaging: Overall a
V8 diesel product will package it’s displacement better than an inline engine of
the same displacement. Inline 4 & 6 cylinder engines cannot offer these same
packaging benefits as they are inherantly longer. MarineDiesel built on this
concept by teaming with AM General and their Optimizer 6500 block in developing
the only direct replacement marine diesel engine. The 6500 block
matches the engine mounting position, bell housing, flywheel, height, width and
weight of GM big block V8 engines. MarineDiesel continued this direction when
developing the center-rise exhaust that matches up with nearly all GM based
small and big block V8 gas engine systems. The bottom line is that the
MarineDiesel product will drop directly into the same place a big block gas V8
is being removed without any major boat hull modifications. No inline based
engine product can offer this. This packaging benefit also allows MarineDiesel
to offer the marine industry’s only Tow
Sport
specific diesel engine.
Displacement: With the packaging problem
at hand, inline engines cannot offer as much overall engine displacement without
becoming excessively long and heavy. MarineDiesel offers as much as 30% more
displacement for the same power level when looking at our competitors. Small
displacement, excessively boosted engines do not yield the best durability as
the only way they can try to offset the smaller engine displacement is by
increasing fuel and turbo boost, and consequently cylinder pressures. Inline
engines that do match the displacement of a “V” engine will be much heavier due
to the stroke, size and length of the required crankshaft.
RPM: Due to the shorter
crankshaft and shorter stroke the “V” engines are better suited to tolerating
higher rotational speeds and higher torsional stresses. Since most of the
mentioned boat designs are based around gas engines that operate at similar rpm
levels this is an important fact. It is common for customers to want to compare
horsepower to horsepower when converting from gas to diesel. This is not
acceptable since it’s the torque that’s actually moving the boat (see engine model selection). With lower rpm inline engines such as competitive 5.9L products, they
produce more torque at a lower rpm and therefore require larger shaft diameters,
props, and overall are much larger is size and heavier in weight. This higher
torque at a lower rpm also causes idling problems that in many cases require
trolling valves in an attempt to prevent excessively high idle
speeds.
Especially when looking at Sterndrive products the torque and rpm
are of upmost importance in that the standard gear ratios offered will not match
the lower rpm engines. In combination with the RPM benefits of the V configured
engines are the vibrational charateristics (NVH). The “V” engine yield
vibrational characteristics much more suited to sterndrive longevity than that
of the “inline engine. Therefore the lower rpm, higher torque, less suitable NVH
inline engines cannot be used in conjunction with sterndrives.
SOUND: Due to the V8 configuration of the MarineDiesel product in
conjunction with the inter-cooled supercharging system, the sound of the
MarineDiesel product is almost identical to that of a standard big block V8
engine. The noise level of the engines at idle and low rpm operating conditions
is perceived to be much quieter than similar gas engines. Inline engines do not
offer the sound quality anywhere near the level of a “V” configured engine let
alone the similar performance tone with the MarineDiesel product.
SPARE PARTS & SERVICE: It’s no secret that
the vast majority of marine engines are V8 gas. Therefore after-market gage
packages, exhaust products, silent choice products, filters, etc are all based
around these engines. MarineDiesel’s V8 configuration in combination with the
industry’s only diesel center-rise exhaust system allows us to offer the only
marine diesel product line that can utilize these same after market performance
upgrade offerings. Not only is this important from a performance standpoint, but
also from a spare parts pricing viewpoint. Inline based diesel engines cannot
compete with this.
Rather than developing around a complicated electronic
controlled fuel system, MarineDiesel chose to utilize a proven mechanical system
that’s easily and economically serviceable. Since most electronics are not
completely immune to the effects of the marine environment, the benefits of the
electronics do not completely offset the liabilities and costs of these
electronic systems. The low rpm benefits of MarineDiesel’s supercharging system
not only yield the afore mentioned performance benefits but also the specific
emmissions considerations to make this possible.
PERFORMANCE: With all of the above
mentioned aspects; displacement, size, weight, supercharging vs sluggish turbo
charging, exhaust, etc, MarineDiesel was able to develop a product that not only
directly replaces existing gas engines, but also performs better than these gas
engines while offering significant fuel savings. Historically the diesel engine
was heavy and very sluggish, especially at low rpm; no more!
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