Ricardo Diesel Expertise Helps JCB DIESELMAX to FIA International Land Speed Record
VAN BUREN TWP., Mich., Aug. 22 // -- The JCB DIESELMAX today secured the FIA international land speed record for diesel-powered vehicles with speed of 328.767 mph at the Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah. Powered by two state-of-the-art JCB444-LSR engines developed by Ricardo, the JCB DIESELMAX beat the existing record by almost 100 mph.
The record attempt began at daybreak when course conditions on the Salt Flats were most favorable. The official record is the average achieved over two successive test runs, which under FIA rules must be undertaken within the space of one hour.
"Securing the international FIA land speed record for diesel powered vehicles is a major achievement for JCB and for the Ricardo team, which has played a key role in this project with the development of the JCB444-LSR engines," said Ian Penny, Ricardo director of diesel engineering. "This has been a very bold initiative which has served to demonstrate the ultimate performance than can be achieved from a diesel engine and at the same time the very robust architecture of the production JCB444 engine from which the JCB444-LSR has been developed by Ricardo and with which it shares many original components. We congratulate JCB on this stunning achievement."
The two JCB444-LSR engines, which power the JCB DIESELMAX, are much more than the world's fastest and highest specific power diesels. At its heart, the engine uses the advanced Ricardo High Speed Diesel Race (HSDR) combustion system, which the company originally developed for competition applications. It also shares many technologies, which Ricardo is developing in order to make the vehicles of tomorrow more energy efficient and less polluting. In addition to diesel particulate filters for example, the JCB DIESELMAX includes technologies such as two-stage inter-cooled turbo-charging, high pressure fuel injection and a low compression ratio, low temperature combustion system. All of these technologies are being developed by Ricardo for application on the high performance, ultra-low emissions diesel vehicles of the future.
Today's success of Ricardo's leading role in the JCB DIESELMAX diesel world land speed record engines follows news that the company is working with a leading global automaker to demonstrate technologies capable of achieving the world's cleanest diesel exhaust emissions standard (U.S. Tier II / Bin 2), as well as the roll-out in June of the Efficient-C hybrid diesel demonstrator vehicle, which boasts one of the world's most energy-efficient powertrains.
"Ricardo is committed to delivering the ultimate in performance, emissions and energy efficiency for our customers and the products which we help them to develop," said Penny. "While this is true for all aspects of our business and for vehicles of all types and fuels, our position with respect to diesel engines is particularly strong. With the JCB DIESELMAX today claiming the international FIA world speed record for a diesel vehicle, Ricardo can now claim to have developed the world's highest specific power and fastest ever diesel engine. This follows our role in developing one of the world's most energy efficient diesel powertrains in the Efficient-C hybrid announced in June this year, as well as our on-going research which we expect to deliver an ultra-low emissions diesel capable of achieving the world's toughest emissions standards later in the year. As such, our diesel expertise is now demonstrably able to deliver the world's fastest and most powerful, as well as the most fuel efficient and clean diesel vehicles for the future."
Having already taken the FIA international land speed record for a diesel vehicle, the JCB DIESELMAX team will continue to run at Bonneville over the coming days with a view to further increasing the record.
With its North American headquarters in Van Buren Twp., Mich., Ricardo - a world-leading vehicle system and powertrain technology provider for automotive manufacturers, heavy-duty manufacturers and tier one suppliers - has been providing value through innovation and technology for 100 years.
Ricardo is the premium global deep-content engineering and management consulting partner for automotive, commercial vehicle and related industry sectors. The company provides complete engineering services from strategy through product concept, design release and validation, and all phases of the product lifecycle. Ricardo technical expertise lies in powertrain and driveline, vehicle engineering, hybrid and fuel cell technologies, controls and electronics, niche volume manufacturing and advanced simulation software.
Ricardo is committed to excellence and industry leadership in people, technology and knowledge. A public company based in the U.K., Ricardo plc posted sales of $272 million in fiscal year 2005 and is a part of the FTSE techMark 100 index - a group of innovative technology companies listed on the London Stock Exchange. For more information, visit www.ricardo.com.
Source: Ricardo
CONTACT:
Jessica Killenberg,
Ricardo
Tel:+1-248-269-1122
jkillenberg@bianchipr.com;
Leslie Dagg,
Ricardo
Tel:+1-248-269-1122
ldagg@bianchipr.com
Web site: www.ricardo.com/
