Maruti Suzuki India Limited, the country’s leading car manufacturer, today announced the production of a record 5 lakh K-series engines in less than 23 months.
The first K-series engine was manufactured in October 2008.
The company has an installed capacity of 500,000 K-series engines annually. To meet the growing market demand, Maruti Suzuki recently announced an expansion plan of additional 200,000 K-series engines by 2012.
The K-series engines are available on seven Maruti Suzuki models including, Alto-K10, Wagon R, Swift, Ritz, Estilo, Swift Dzire and A star.
In this short period since its launch, the celebrated K-series all-aluminum light weight engine has built a reputation of best-in-class fuel efficiency combined with top performance.
On the occasion Managing Director and CEO, Shinzo Nakanishi said, “Introduction of K-series engine in India is an example of Maruti Suzuki’s commitment to take the engine technology in India to the next level. In a short span, the company has scaled up the production of K-series engine manifold. K-series engines are environment friendly and fuel efficient while delivering performance.”
Maruti Suzuki produces two types of K-series engines: 998cc and 1.2 litre. The 998cc three-cylinder K-series K10 engine is mounted on Alto-K10, A star, Estilo and new WagonR. These engines offer a power of 68ps @ 6200 rpm and torque of 90nm @ 3500 rpm in Alto-K10 and new WagonR while 67ps@6200rpm and torque of 90nm@3500 rpm in A Star and Estilo. The flat torque curve comes in handy to negotiate the stop-go city traffic conditions with ease. The K10 engine delivers high fuel efficiency of upto 20.2 kms/litre. The A star was the first car from Maruti Suzuki to be fitted with the new generation K-series engine. Lately, Maruti Suzuki introduced the K-series engine in the country’s highest selling brand, Alto.
The second K-series engine is the 1.2-litre, four-cylinder K12 petrol engine. This engine is fitted in cars such as Ritz, Swift and Swift Dzire. Like its K10 sibling, K12 engine also extensively utilizes plastic parts making it light weight. The combination of superior technology and light-weight, K12 engines leads to a fuel efficiency of 17.7 kms/litre for the Ritz and 17.9 kms/ltr for the Swift and Swift Dzire.
The state-of the-art, fully integrated K-series engine manufacturing facility is located in the Gurgaon plant. Maruti Suzuki engineers worked as part of the Suzuki Engine Design team for designing, calibration and testing of the K-series engine in India and Japan.
K-series engines : Technical aspects
The new K-series engine is a result of enormous R&D efforts and hours of design, validation and testing. The engine realizes the true spirit of the global design trend of optimizing engine performance through innovative design techniques.
Some of the salient features of the all-new K engine are:
- All Aluminum Low weight engine for Best in class fuel efficiency
- Innovative rocker-less DOHC Cam shaft, Plastic Intake Manifold & Offset crank shaft with low tension rings to reduce losses & improve fuel efficiency
- Smart Distributor Less Ignition (SDLI) system with dedicated plug top coils, High pressure semi-return fuel system and advanced injectors for superior atomization provide uniform and optimized combustion for better performance
- Optimised Cylinder block, Light Piston and Nut-less Con Rod for light weight configuration
- Improved engine stiffness and use of advanced technology like silent timing chain to improve NVH (Noise, Vibration & Harshness) characteristics
- There is 10 % less friction in K-series engines vis-à-vis engines with older technology
