General Motors India launched its new locally developed, SMARTECH engine, which will feature in the Chevrolet Beat next month. The 1.2-litre SMARTECH engine was created by the GM Technical Centre India in Bangalore in cooperation with GM’s new engine plant in Talegaon. It will be produced at the Talegaon facility for a range of new models offered by GM in India. The SMARTECH engine features aluminum cylinder heads, deep skirt cylinder block and lightweight pistons with low tension rings, which decreases weight and maximizes fuel economy. The engine also features a DOHC valve-train with direct acting valve actuation to further improve the efficiency, a long runner plastic intake manifold for good low-end torque and lightweight counterbalanced crank shaft for great NVH.
The engine has a maintenance-free inverted tooth timing chain drive system. The chain links engage at a lower impact speed, which decreases the noise generated for quiet operation. The 1.2 litre SMARTECH engine delivers uncompromised power and durability in a small package size. Durability is ensured through the application of an epoxy coating on the cylinder block and anti corrosion coating on cam cover baffles, and the use of stainless steel core plugs and bay to bay ventilation. Extensive testing and validation were carried out in India to guarantee top-of-the-line performance in all vehicle models that will adopt the engine.
