Proton MSX

The Engine - 300 hp, 3-litre V6 APX is a front engined and four wheel drive "Crossover" vehicle for occasional off road use. The V6 engine has been designed and developed by Lotus Engineering's powertrain division. The directive for the project was to produce a high performance prototype engine without the need to resort to exotic materials or manufacturing technology, allowing manufacture around the world.The supercharged V6 is part of a family of normally aspirated and supercharged high performance engines which includes 2.2 litre and 3.0 litre normally aspirated derivatives. All of these engines are at the prototype stage and are production feasible, but are not currently planned for production.The engine is production feasible and it is expected that the commercialisation of this engine will be of interest to the automotive clients of Lotus Engineering. APX's engine is a supercharged 3 litre (2996 cc, Bore: 88 mm, stroke: 82.1 mm) V6 DOHC engine, mounted longitudinally in the front of the vehicle. It uses a Rootes-type supercharger with a compact air - to - water Laminova - type charge cooler with separate parallel coolant system using its own water pump and heat exchangers allowing a charge temperature reduction of approximately 50 degrees Celcius. Performance of the engine is maximum power of 224 kW (300 hp, 304 PS) at 6250 rpm and a torque of 360 Nm at 4500 rpm. 80% of peak torque is between 1500 rpm and maximum revs of 6500 rpm. Like all products from Lotus, it follows the adage of "performance through light weight", in that the engine weighs just 171 kg (fully dressed, dry weight). This gives a phenomenal specific output of around 1.31 kW/kg (1.7 hp/kg). Specific performance is 74.6 kW / litre (100 hp / litre, 101.3 PS / litre).This light weight comes from using cast lightweight aluminium alloy cylinder block (with thin wall iron liners), aluminium cylinder head, and an aluminium structural oilpan, able to support the front drive shafts. The oilpan also includes coolant and lubrication channels to the oil cooler and filter, and an electronic oil level and temperature sensor. Even the pistons are lightweight - with each on weighing just 454 grams! The construction of the V6 engine is arranged around the two banks of cylinders at an angle of 75 degrees with a compact cylinder offset of just 32.5 mm. This allows the engine to be compact, with good vibration characteristics, eliminating any requirement for balance shafts and the related extra cost, weight, height and complexity. The Engine Management System uses a state of the art 32 bit ECU processor capable of over 200 million calculations per second. The ECU is Euro IV / E-OBD and LEV/OBDII compliant. And of course the engine satisfies the European End of Life Requirements (ELV) with respect to recyclability and recovery. The V6 engine is an example of extensive research into "engine downsizing by Lotus Engineering's Powertrain Team. Engine downsizing is the concept of using advanced technologies to enable a small engine to produce the power and torque of a much larger engine, with the obvious reduction in fuel consumption and emissions. One of the key demands of the automotive industry is to produce engines with not only low emissions and high fuel economy but also extremely good performance. These two demands for performance and economy are not normally compatible unless there is a significant change in the engine development strategy. Like the vehicle, the engine is not just a Lotus Engineering concept, but a feasible prototype close to production, however it is not a concept indicating a strategic powertrain direction of Lotus Cars. The engine is production feasible and it is expected that the commercialization of this engine will be of interest to the automotive clients of Lotus Engineering.