Hey guys,
This past week I did a lot of research and thinking about the diesel engine that I was going to be using for the TIGON.
I have concluded with a decision to change courses with a different engine for the vehicle.
The main reasons for the change are due to the engine source, spare parts availability, engine reliability, and the size factor.
The engine I was originally going to use was a V-twin .79L Chinese engine manufactured by Haige. While the engine was US Tier 4 certified and had a favorable price tag of $1,100 base price. The cost of shipping pushed it up to $1,450 USD. Still not a bad price for a new diesel engine considering you will spend $3,500 or more for a Kubota from most all dealers here in the states.
I decided before I spend the money to talk with some people here in the diesel engine and generator business to get some 3rd party perspectives on these engines and ones similar. They all quickly discounted them as basically junk and warned I would be throwing away my money.
I continued to contact people to find out if any had any personal experience with these engines or similar ones. I finally ran across a guy who has been in the business for over 25 years and has tested just about every small diesel engine genset on the planet. He had bought these engines during the Hurricane Katrina in the boat loads. He began to tell me that they all failed his tests and he ended up sending them all back and later the company went out of business. His advice was they will not hold up to heavy loads or that of a vehicle no matter what the design is. He also went on to say importing them is difficult even with the tier 4 certification as time and import fees eat into costs on single or small shipments. He warned of the spare parts issue as well like everyone else.
The only Chinese company that he recommended was Yanmar. They have a solid reputation and are sold here in the states by many dealers. Parts are easy to come by and will not break the bank compared to other similar sized diesels. They also have a pretty solid range of engines to choose from.
Based with this new found knowledge I decided to look into the Yanmar engines. After a few days I ran across a small 2 cylinder. After doing a little math I realized it would be more than adequate for my cruising speed requirements. I was able to locate brand new ones here in the states to my astonishment cheaper than if I were to have purchased the Haige 2 cylinder. The Yanmar is smaller in displacement at only .57L and puts out 13.4 HP compared to 19 HP with the Haige V-twin.
The original Urba Centurion had a 3 cylinder 17 HP Kubota and at 1,200 lb curb weight had a power to weight of 1,200/17 = 70.5.
TIGON coming in at a diesel only weight of 900lbs with 13.4 HP 2 cylinder would have better specs at 900/13.4 = 67. Add the better aero profile of TIGON and less displacement and you have the makings of a superior fuel sipping vehicle. Even without all the electric hybrid technology added TIGON would still be very freeway capable with the tiny diesel 2 cylinder. If you add into the equation the parallel hybrid components you would have the 13.4 HP diesel with a 56hp /41kw peak electric motor output for a combined 69.4 hp/1,100lbs = 15.8 HP/weight ratio
(The vehicle curb weight number is only an approximation based on similar vehicles with different components substituted for weight reduction)
To put this into perspective the TIGON Hybrid output is very similar to the Tri-Magnum at 80hp and a 1,200 lb curb weight. The Tri-Magnum was reported as producing power equal to what you may see on a vehicle with a curb weight of 3,500 lbs and 233 HP engines. The difference however with TIGON is that utilizing the electric motor your acceleration would be far superior with all the available torque at your disposal from 0 rpm not to mention all the other benefits associated with hybrid design.
I have provided some pics of the Yanmar diesel engine I intend to use with TIGON. I am still waiting on the performance curve for this engine once I obtain it I will be able to provide some rough fuel consumption figures. If I were to speculate based on similar sized engines such as the Kubota Z602-E4B .59L 2 cylinder. The output for the Kubota = 7 HP X .45% (1,620rpm) X 250 g/kwh = .794L = 0.21 gal/hr of fuel consumption est. As you can see engines of this size and displacement are very frugal fuel consumers!
VW used this very same strategy for there 1L cars. The XL1 utilizes a .8L turbo diesel with an output of 47 HP and an electric motor with 27 HP for a combined 74 HP. Now at 1,750 lb curb weight this ratio works out to 1750/74 = 23.6 HP/LBS which gives the XL1 a fuel economy of 261 imperial mpg/217 US mpg data source =
This 261-MPG Volkswagen XL1 is a Supercar | Autopia | Wired.com
What I have done with the TIGON design is decrease weight, decrease diesel installed power, increased electric installed power, and improved aerodynamics. With these changes hopefully I can achieve a diesel hybrid supercar that will rival the Europe only XL1 performance characteristics
Today
Other popular topics in this forum...
However it may take a good while and hills may be a challenge but this will be determined on the initial prototype. 
