Powertrain (2000-2005)
POWERTRAIN Limited was a very busy company between 2000 and 2005 - Keith Adams explains how it was working on an exciting range of developments which would have modernised MG Rover's engine line-up and powered that company’s cars confidently into the future...
A new range of petrol and diesel engines featured some very exciting technology and could well have transformed Powertrain into the engine supplier of choice for the British specialist car industry, while pushing MG Rover towards the forefront of its class.
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G-Series diesel
G-Series in situ. (Picture: Steve Childs)
MUCH has been written about the upcoming replacement for the L-Series diesel engine and there was much truth behind the rumours. In development for at least three years, the G-Series engine (or Galileo as it was also known) had been undergoing dyno tests in Germany and the UK and, from being the roughest DERV engine to sit on German testing rigs in 2003, it was developed into a commendably smooth and punchy unit. Essentially it was an 8V common rail version of the existing L-Series power unit, but with a number of detail improvements. G-Series came about following the decision to replace BMW's effective M47 unit as used in the Rover 75 and latterly the MG ZT.
One of the former Powertrain engineers reckons that the G-Series was about six months away from volume production, following a very rapid and efficient engineering programme, which saw many engineers putting in all-nighters. At the time of MGR's closure, it was still undergoing calibration tests, as there been a series of obstacles to get over. He said: "Basically there wasn't going to be enough time to fully validate the tune, as an engine calibration takes about four years to complete satisfactorily, and we had about nine months to do the job, once the prototype parts started arriving at Powertrain. Tooling for all major components was completed or well under way and the only remaining tooling was for various pieces of pipework."
Technically, the common rail power unit was at least a generation ahead of the outgoing L-Series unit and featured a Siemens engine management system. It featured the latest injector technology and tricks in fuelling meant it was quiet. Nic Fasci explained the differences between G- and L-Series engines: "The G-Series engine which was under development looked pretty much the same as the L-Series, but there were many differences. The vast majority of the components were new: valves, head, pistons and fuelling system – the only items carried over were the block and sump and a few other odds and ends. We did, however, have a new acoustic cover for the engine, which looked much better than the old one.
However, if one looked under the bonnet of a G-Series powered car, it might be difficult to tell, though The first time I opened a bonnet up, I went, 'oh, is that it then?', and felt rather disappointed. Apart from some changes which the observant onlooker would notice, it was pretty familiar to most," Nic remembered.
"The throttle system was no longer in the engine bay; it was down at the top of the throttle pedal. The real changes were when you turned the key and got going. Oh, you'd know if you got a G-series car, as it hated cold starting, as our calibration was still being worked on. You had to let it warm-up for a few minutes before moving off. A gentle warming before unleashing..."
In terms of power output, the engine came in four states of tune - 84PS, 105PS, 115PS and 130PS, although development on a 16V version had just commenced, which would have topped out at an impressive 160PS.
Already undergoing road evaluations in prototype cars, the G-Series powered diesels were turning in some impressive performance figures. Another engineer told us: "As far as how the engine felt to drive, it was very quick and responsive and, in terms of refinement, the G-Series was a major step forward over the L-Series. It wasn't ever going to win awards for smoothness but it was fairly quiet. We were told that during evaluation by European dealers and they were very impressed – we received very, very, good feedback."
Nic Fasci recalled: "It was quieter than BMW's M47, amazingly punchy and rather frugal too. One of the MG ZRs I drove with it in was a flying machine. There was so much grunt available that we had restricted it in third gear, instead of first and second, like the L-Series. The turbo was a full electronic Garrett unit that was variable in boost and one of the guys, who took one of the Rover 75s out to Sweden to do the sign-off work on the new brake control system and stability program, ran the 135bhp unit at full-chat all the way there – and he said it was fantastic. It flew and never missed a beat.
"DSC sign off work was very hard on the cars and, apart from splitting one if the intercooler hoses as a lot of air was getting shoved around, it performed really well. In terms of refinement, the G-Series met its markers, too. Nic added: "You could park an M47 and G-Series car next to each other, set them idling and ask people to choose which was which, and everyone got it wrong. G-Series was much quieter at idle (even compared with the JTD). The Powertrain lads did an amazing job on the engine, in a very short period of time. If MGR had still been in business, I'd have been running around in a ZR G-Series car from August/September as an appraisal/development car. However..."
Interestingly, the development of the G-Series very nearly stopped, just when it was need most. Nic explained: "The best bit about the G-Series engine was the 'Royal' decree by Kevin Howe for us to stop working on it. This was given at one stage, so we would have been left without a diesel engine towards the end of 2005. Luckily, the clever bods within Powertrain and Calibration continued to work on the project 'under the radar', so that we didn't fall behind in the development of the engine. When the 'get on with it' command arrived, the guys popped their heads up from the mound of earth they'd all been hiding behind and carried on as normal, with no real loss of time. Another Kevin Howe balls-up in my eyes.
"But then, according to some within management, 'diesel is not the way forward...'. This was stated in a meeting I was in as part of my target setting role – at which point I think I exploded and told them to effectively remove their heads from any puckered orifice they may have it up and look around them."
Powertrain engineers were very proud of what they achieved with the G-Series engine and Nic sums up the situation best: "It was the G-Series that stands out, because of what was achieved in such a short space of time. It was something I pushed very hard with Sales and Marketing when I spoke to different people. The chaps from Powertrain asked me to drum up enthusiasm about the engine, because Sales and Marketing did not understand how much of an achievement the engine really was."
The G-Series was scheduled to appear in the RDX30 (Rover 25/MG ZR) in December 2005, with the RDX10 following in January, 2006
Prototype G-Series engines were recently run in Rover 25s, and the results were very positive...
Thanks to various unnamed engineers, and Nic Fasci for their invaluable help in compiling this feature.
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