Monday 27 February 2017

International launches A26 for Class 8 trucks

International Truck yesterday used the AMC annual meeting and exhibition in Nashville, Tennessee, to launch its 'new' CGI-based A26 engine for the US Class 8 heavy-duty truck market at the 2017.
The “new” International A26 is said to be engineered with proven components that deliver optimal uptime and fuel efficiency in a lightweight design.
This 12.4-litre “big bore engine” has been relentlessly tested, according to International, with hundreds of thousands of hours of dyno testing and millions of real-world test miles, according to International's engineers.
The A26 (below) bows with an element of smoke and mirrors before the two new Volkswagen AG board directors join Navistar International Corporation. They will, hopefully,  be able to differentiate between 'new' and 'new'. The 'new' engine which, when it first came into life was known as the MaxxForce 13, produces up to 475 bhp and 1750 lbft. of torque, yet International claims the engine is 600 to 700 lb lighter than traditional big-bore engines.




It features, according to the company, "North America’s first Class 7-8 compacted graphite iron (CGI) crankcase design" for greater strength, plus an all new cylinder head and other refinements for up to a 5 per cent fuel economy improvement over the engine it replaces. The engine also has an assembled camshaft, again in a bid too cut weight.
Engine braking power is increased by up to 67 per cent for confident braking performance, particularly at low- to mid-RPMs and at higher altitudes.
In a previous life, this engine was known as International's N13 engine, also of 12.4 litres and the same power rating of 365 bhp to 475 bhp and with a CGI block. That engine weighed in at 2,422 lb. No weight is given as yet on the spec sheets for the A26 which is running at 2,500 bar injection pressure compared with 2,200 bar for the previous N13. The N13 also featured assembled camshafts.
How International can call the A26 'new' is of course interesting. But that is the way of life!
COMMENT The question from all of this is: By changing the designation of this 12.4-litre engine from N13 to A26, is the new creation really the German-designed MAN engine in disguise? Does A26 stand for American 26 compared with Deutsch (D) 26? If this is the case, the ground is being prepared for the skids to be put under Navistar's deal with Cummins Inc. Because, according to MAN’s spec sheets, the D2676 engine in work boat applications has at least three ratings: 588kW or 800bhp; 478kW or 650bhp and 383kW or 520bhp. These figures demonstrate the full capability of the engine. In truck applications, the D2676 gives between 309kW (420bhp) and 2,100 Nm torque and 368 kW (500 bhp) with 2,500 Nm torque.


Incidently, an MAN D26 engine in truck racing form (see above) can develop 1,160bhp and generate 5,600 Nm torque.
The D26 engines with their CGI components weigh in at 1,215kg or 2,676lb. A figure somewhat different to that given by International for its A26. But, as we have seen in the past, what constitutes one maker's dry weight does not always the interpretation of another engine maker's dry weight; it all depends on configuration.
A further implication of the terminology suggests that if the A26 engine really is the D26 engine, then Volkswagen's top brass must have given the go-ahead long ago and if so, then already VW began to set the wheels in motion for major changes in Navistar's engine line-up. From this it has to be assumed that Cummins has already seen the writing on the wall.

This should be good news for component suppliers to MAN, foundry vendors and companies like Mahle which makes pistons and assembled camshafts. It would make sense if eventually all of Navistar's engines went down the VW route; after all this must have been the rationale all the way along from those first exploratory talks when some while ago the Americans and Germans first began to rub noses.

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