Navistar International Corporation, one of the world's leading manufacturers of diesel engines and commercial vehicles, has today launched its new MaxxForce® 7 diesel engine at the National Truck Equipment Association (NTEA) Work Truck Show in St. Louis. The Compacted Graphite Iron (CGI) cylinder block of the state-of-the-art 6.4 litre V8 diesel engine began production at the Cifunsa foundry in Saltillo Mexico during January 2010, using the Swedish SinterCast process control technology. The Navistar MaxxForce® 7 cylinder block is the first CGI series production component at Cifunsa and provides an important CGI production reference as Cifunsa supports ongoing product development of other CGI components in the passenger vehicle and commercial vehicle sectors.
The use of a Compacted Graphite Iron cylinder block resulted in a 15% weight reduction relative to Navistar's previous generation 6.4 litre V8 cylinder block produced in grey cast iron. Despite the reduced weight, the stronger and stiffer CGI block allowed for a class-leading performance increase to 300 horsepower (224 kW), 898 Nm of torque (660 lb-ft), and just 68.9 dBA at low idle, making it the quietest V8 diesel engine in North America. Building on the robustness of the CGI cylinder block, the B50 life of the MaxxForce® 7 diesel is a durable 375,000 miles (600,000 km). The engine satisfies 2010 US federal emissions regulations - the most stringent NOx emissions requirements in the world - without the use of SCR exhaust treatment.
"Navistar's decision to specify CGI for the MaxxForce® 7 cylinder block reinforces the trend toward Compacted Graphite Iron for the next generation of high performance and environmentally efficient engines" said Mr Alberto Piñones, Chief Executive Officer of Cifunsa SA de CV. "We have seen a continuous increase in the demand for new CGI engine programmes and we regard CGI as one of Cifunsa's main growth areas in the near future. Together with our recent upgrade to SinterCast's new System 3000 technology, and the successful start of production of the MaxxForce® 7 CGI block, Cifunsa is well positioned to increase its CGI market share."
"In 2008, Navistar established itself as the first North American OEM to offer a diesel engine with a CGI cylinder block, with the launch of its MaxxForce® Big Bore 11 and 13 litre commercial vehicle engines. Building on this positive experience with the Big Bore engines, we are pleased that Navistar has extended its leadership position by introducing the MaxxForce® 7 as its third CGI engine" said Dr. Steve Dawson, President & CEO of SinterCast. "All three of the Navistar CGI engines use the SinterCast technology and we look forward to continuing to work with Navistar to develop and launch new environmentally friendly CGI engines."
