On display at the Philippine International Motorshow (PIMS) that’s running at the World Trade Center (WTC) in Pasay City until Sunday, October 28, is the Super Ace light truck, the same variant with the air-conditioned passenger rear body that we reviewed back in 2015 and found exceptionally suited to our road conditions, but this new Super Ace Mint comes with a 1.4 liter turbodiesel that’s been upgraded to Euro 4 emission standards for 2018.
The old Euro 2 engine, the Tata 475 IDI TCIC, was a rugged and proven powerplant, having put in decades of service on the Super Ace truck as well as Tata’s older, classic and pioneering Indigo sub-compact sedan that we also reviewed back in 2016 and again drove in an auto-rally last year. And we liked that old engine, I liked it. Drive it right in the truck or the sedan, let up on the clutch and get real pressure-plate contact before giving her a little gas (or diesel … you know what I mean), gently hit that rpm sweetspot for accelerating upshifts, and save that turbo boost for second to third gear overtakes, you’ve got yourself a quiet gem that could sound like a sprinting bus and that’d make drivers in SUVs want to catch up with you and check out what had showed them up.
So, we were apprehensive, I was apprehensive, about the Euro 4 replacement turbodiesel for 2018 that Tata Motors warned us would be from an entirely different engine series (and not a mere refinement on what I’ve gotten attached to, the old 475 IDI). Common wisdom in anticipation of this year’s mandatory switchover to Euro 4 standards warned of cleaner burning engines made eco-friendly by holding these back in some way. Frankly, first-world sensibilities being imposed on Tata diesels didn’t sit well with me, not when we’re talking about feisty tropics- and desert-tough diesels from rough-roads India.
But–and here’s the big “but” you’ve been wading through my ramblings for–Tata’s done well with the Euro foured replacement, apparently and on paper.
| Tata 475 IDI TCIC | >>> | Tata 1.4 CRAIL 12 | |
| Emission standard | Euro 2 | >>> | Euro 4 |
| Type | 4 cylinder inter-cooled turbodiesel | >>> | 4 cylinder inter-cooled turbodiesel wih ECU control and direct-injection common-rail (DiCOR) fuel feed |
| Displacement | 1405cc | >>> | 1396cc |
| Bore x stroke | 75mm x 79.5mm | >>> | 75mm x 79mm |
| Compression ratio | 21 : 1 | >>> | 16.8 : 1 |
| Power | 69hp (70ps) @ 4500rpm | >>> | 70hp (71ps) @ 4000rpm |
| Torque | 135Nm (99lbft) @ 2500rpm | >>> | 140Nm (103lbft) @ 1800~3000rpm |
The new 1.4 CRAIL 12 is so named because that critical jump from level 2 to 4 comes as the result of high-pressure Common RAIL direct fuel injection that’s tightly controlled by the new engine’s ECU grid. With diesel fuel introduced at high pressure directly into the combustion chamber, the new 1.4 liter diesel appears to have given up 0.5mm of stroke height and 9cc’s in total displacement. But with its compression ratio reduced to 16.8 : 1, it actually gets a 24% gain in net combustion chamber volume from the old 475 IDI’s 67cc over 1405cc, to the new 1.4 CRAIL’s 83cc over 1396cc.
Too many numbers going in surprising directions? Definitely! But the bottom-line of these finessed re-sizings is peak power that’s 1hp more and at 500rpm’s less revolutions, and peak torque that pushes with 5Nm more over a lower/higher rpm range from 1800 to 3000rpm (versus the old 475’s peak just at 2500rpm). Convert that Nm to lb-ft and you’d figure out that the new engine now pushes like a full-fledged 100hp ++ gasoline engine. And all these with a diesel engine which balances turbocharger boost against high pressure fuel injection in a larger combustion chamber that ensures more thorough and cleaner fuel burn.
Other words: modern, cleaner burning, and hey, still zippy … maybe zippier!