GETTING FULL MILEAGE OUT OF '07 ENGINES — MCI posts impressive field-testing results

MCI has been putting its coaches with 2007 engines to the test. And so far, they're coming up winners — especially when it comes to fuel efficiency.

MCI's D4500 coach equipped with a 2007 EPA compliant engine has completed its testing at the Altoona test track (meant to simulate over 500,000 miles in a revenue transit application), and the company has accumulated additional test experience from four prototypes and four pre-production pilots. In recent field tests, all new MCI® J4500 coaches posted fuel efficiency results that were the same or better than a 2006 benchmark coach. Fuel efficiency was a significant 10 percent better in a 2007 MCI J4500 with the Cummins ISM engine; the testing took place on trips totaling more than 3,200 miles and included J4500s with EPA-compliant CAT C-13, Detroit Diesel S60 and Cummins engines, all with ZF ASTronic 12-speed transmissions. The benchmark J4500 had a 2006 CAT C-13 engine and 10-speed ZF ASTronic transmission.

The Cummins engine will first be available on the D4505; it will also be available on E4500 and J4500 coaches in time for late-summer delivery.

The field test revealed other good news, too. A D4500 with a Detroit Diesel S60 engine and Allison B500 transmission in Winnipeg-area commuter service withstood nightly winter temperatures of -35° Celsius or colder over the course of four weeks; no issues were reported. A J4500 with the S60 engine and a ZF ASTronic transmission also performed well under the same brutal conditions. The D4500 with the Cummins ISM/B500 powertrain combination also ran issue-free in a cross country trip from Winnipeg to Florida to Seattle and back to Winnipeg.

"We're extremely pleased with the performance of the MCI coaches with 2007 EPA engines and new transmissions to date," says Bryan Couch, vice president of product planning and project management. "The fact that the new engines are able to both reduce emissions and, if these preliminary results are confirmed in actual use, maintain or improve fuel economy, is very exciting for our industry."

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