Will this new W12 engine power the Bentley Bentayga?

VOLKSWAGEN AG REVEALS ENGINES LARGE AND SMALL IN VIENNA

Amidst family drama back at Wolfsburg, Volkswagen unveiled one tiny engine and one huge engine at the Vienna Motor Symposium, as part of its gas and diesel engine lineup at the annual event held by the Austrian Society of Automotive Engineers.

The very tiny engine in question was the 1.0-liter three-cylinder TSI engine equipped with a monoscroll turbocharger and an e-booster, capable of producing 268 hp and 199 lb-ft of torque. Based on the EA211 engine developed from the Volkswagen Polo WRC car, this engine reflects Volkswagen's ongoing efforts at developing small-displacement engines supported by new turbocharging technology. Volkswagen did not indicate at the time just how close this engine was to production, or which vehicles might see it if it were to be put into production.

"A nice example of just how much potential combustion engines still have in them," commented Dr. Heinz-Jakob Neusser, Volkswagen Group head of powertrain development.

At the opposite end of the displacement spectrum, Volkswagen also introduced the new 6.0-liter W12 TSI engine, good for an even 600 hp and 664 lb-ft of torque. Unlike the 1.0-liter engine, the W12 is production ready. Billed as the most economical 12-cylinder engine in the luxury category -- not a crowded group admittedly -- the new W12 engine also boasts the highest technology density, combining two combustion methods. The W12 engine uses Audi's FSI direct-injection technology and Bentley's TMPI multi-point injection method, in addition to twin-scroll turbo charging, individual cylinder bank deactivation and a start/stop system.

We're likely to see this new W12 engine in the Volkswagen Phaeton, the Bentley Continental range, and the Audi A8 among others.PHOTO BY VW

The new W12 unit also features an oil circuit suitable for off-road use with a switchable oil pump, cylinder bores with APS coating, dual fuel injection with high pressure direct and low pressure manifold injection and a cooling system with integrated temperature management. This unit will also feature adaptive engine suspension with hydraulic basic damping. This system uses electromagnetic actuators to counter the vibrations produced by the engine with with phase-shifted counter-vibrations.

Volkswagen says that depending on which vehicle this engine will be paired with, the W12 engine will be able to give it a 0 to 62 mph sprint time of under four seconds and a top speed of over 186 mph.

Which vehicles will we see this juggernaut powering in the near future? The next-generation Volkswagen Phaeton, theBentley Continental range and the Audi A8 are good bets -- they've used the W12 engines before. We're also expecting the W12 to make an appearance in the Bentley Bentayga, which is due to be revealed by the end of this year. The Bentayga may well be the first new VW AG vehicle to feature this new powerplant, and that's the reason why Volkswagen went through the trouble of developing an oil circuit that is suitable for off-road use. As for other vehicles, it remains to be seen whether Volkswagen's promise of the bringing the Phaeton back to the U.S. will hold, as that was Ferdinand Piech's baby.