With its all-new VEA petrol and diesel engines, Volvo is aiming to turn V8 engines into dinosaurs.
While that's not necessarily good news for those of use with an appreciation of mechanical music, one can't sniff at the technological prowess and efficiency levels offered by some of these 'downsized' engines hailing from top carmakers.
A further stride has just been made by Volvo with its world-first i-ART technology for diesel engines.
OPTIMAL INJECTION
The engines feature individual pressure feedback on each fuel injector, which makes it possible to continuously monitor and adapt the injection process in each of the four cylinders. This basically means that the ideal amount of fuel is injected during each combustion cycle.
The engines will feature numerous levels of turbocharging in order to cover the wide spectrum between economical entry-level versions right through to the high-performance stuff.
A brand new eight-speed automatic gearbox will also be introduced when the new engines are launched internationally in September this year.
SOUTH AFRICAN RANGE
The new family of engines will reach South Africa in early 2014 in the new S60, V60 and XC60. The initial range will comprise of 169kW and 206kW petrol units and a 133kW diesel.
Volvo's Powertrain Engineering VP Derek Crabb says Volvo will create smaller, more intelligent engines "with so much power that they will turn V8s into dinosaurs."
"Our four-cylinder engines will offer higher performance than today's six-cylinder units and lower fuel consumption than the current four-cylinder generation.
V8 TERRITORY
"On top of that, electrification will bring us up into power figures in today's V8-territory," Crabb concluded.
All-in-all, the new engine family is said to reduce fuel consumption by between 15 and 35 percent.