direct injection

[flyinlow]

What are the drawbacks to D.I. ?   Any big $ items that will die and take back the fuel savings?

[JB400]

Are you looking at buying a vehicle with D I., or are you getting ready to do some machine work to make your own?

[Cooter]

VERY high pressures accociated with D.I.
VERY expensive parts to set up and repair as you need special tools to work on. Not worth the Bullsh*t yet. Wait till everybody and their brother are doing this, then try it out after factory spends the money on a little more R&D....

[flyinlow]

Thinking about a new car. The milage and horsepower is attractive, but for a daily driver dependable and long term costs are important.  Going to replace an '04 Bonneville 3.8L, 4speed auto with 200k + miles which as been a very dependable car that gets 30mpg on the road.  Is a 300 HP direct injection v6 or and eight speed transmission going to cause more headaches then they are worth?

[JB400]

You must be looking at a Charger or 300.  I can neither praise nor bash the motor or trans.  The cars are too new to really find out if there's going to be any problems with them or not.  I think I'd try to lease one for a month and try it out for yourself.  If you have trouble with it, you'd have an idea of what to expect if you owned one.   You might want to look on the LX forums as well to see if anyone has had trouble.

[Cooter]

Is a 300 HP direct injection v6 or and eight speed transmission going to cause more headaches then they are worth?

I offer the newer Ford Diesels for example. Sure, diesels look good on paper till they BREAK, and ALL of 'em break sooner or later. The Ford 6.0's EGR and a few other systems on that engine, seems to have been designed by a crackhead. Do YOU wanna be the guinea pig to try out the latest and greatest thing is the question. Personally, I don't buy ANYTHING that is in the first stages of popularity. Let someone else find out D.I. isn't all it's cracked up to be. Then, if it is a reliable system, get one at that point. Good MPG doesn't actually save you anything if the cost of maintaining the vehicle outweighs the savings.

[odcics2]

The 3.6L and 8 speed trans are a very good combination. I know a guy at work that gets 35mpg going to his cottage with 4 folks and luggage in his Charger. 
He's had his for 20K miles with no issues... 

[flyinlow]

. Good MPG doesn't actually save you anything if the cost of maintaining the vehicle outweighs the savings.

Yea, I guess thats the question I asking.

[Dave Kanofsky]

The Pentastar engine is not Direct Injected.  Chrysler said it wasn't worth the extra money and stuck with Port injection.

[Cooter]

Personally, I wouldn't buy one damn thing from Moapr right now unless it was a Challenger SRT8 and THAT ain't happening.

I will stick with Japan for now. Those Mercedes/Fiat cars with 39 speed transmissions will be giving headaches soon enough and paying off my new shop.

[odcics2]

Ooopz...  Direct injection is on the table, not in production...
Here is an older article about the 3.6L.  There are way over a million out there already.


In past years, premium naturally aspirated V-6s new to the market engaged in a veritable slugfest for recognition on the Ward's 10 Best Engines list. The high-water mark came in 2008, when four such engines from Honda, Lexus, Cadillac and Infiniti made the cut.

This year, only four premium V-6s were in the competition, suggesting auto makers are dedicating their resources to smaller engines and alternative powertrains.

Thankfully, Chrysler management years ago saw a need for a world-class, all-purpose V-6 that would be affordable, fuel-efficient, powerful, smooth and flexible enough to replace seven outdated engines across a broad swath of the auto maker's portfolio.

That engine is the DOHC Pentastar, which returns to the Ward's 10 Best Engines list for the second year in a row after impressing editors in two disparate applications: Chrysler's flagship 300S fullsize sedan and the 4-door Jeep Wrangler SUV.

Last year, we evaluated the all-new Pentastar in the Dodge Avenger and Jeep Grand Cherokee. The Avenger produced 283 hp and was rated at 19/29 mpg (12.3-8.1 L/100 km) city/highway.

In the new 300S, Chrysler powertrain engineers crank up output to 292 hp, while actually improving fuel economy to 19/31 mpg (12.3-7.6 L/100 km).

Credit much of the improvement to Chrysler's excellent new 8-speed automatic transmission, which allows the shift schedule to be optimized for fuel economy.

Beyond that, the Pentastar's key attributes carry forward, from its variable valve-timing system and 10.2:1 compression ratio to its tried-and-true multi-port fuel injection system.

Chrysler thought about using direct injection, which appears in most new engine programs, and it would have resulted in more power. But the auto maker proves the Pentastar can be stellar without the technology, while being less expensive to manufacture and more competitively priced in the showroom.

During testing, WardsAuto judges found the Pentastar comparing favorably with Hyundai's capable 3.8L direct-injection Lambda V-6 in the Genesis. Both engines, mated to 8-speed transmissions, delivered pleasurable driving in near-luxury vehicles.

But even though the Hyundai V-6 is more powerful on paper with 333 hp, it doesn't feel any faster in real-world driving. In this instance, direct injection seems to make no difference at all.

The clinching factor is fuel-economy: The Pentastar averaged better than 24 mpg (9.8 L/100 km) while WardsAuto editors logged 500 miles (805 km) in the 300S. Meanwhile, the V-6 Genesis struggled to reach 22 mpg (10.6 L/100 km).

Not to be overlooked is how the Pentastar transforms the drive experience in the Jeep Wrangler. Its customer base can be described as rabid loyalists, and they should quickly recognize the huge step forward by replacing an outdated 3.8L V-6 with the grunty, trail-ready Pentastar.

Retrofitting the new V-6 into the pre-existing Wrangler architecture was tough. The accessory drive had to be repositioned due to packaging constraints, and the intake manifold had to be completely re-engineered, which required significant recalibration.

The next Chrysler engine bay to receive the Pentastar is the Ram 1500 pickup. The upgrade comes later in 2012, but engineers say only minor adaptations are necessary to fit the V-6 under its hood.

From pickups and Jeeps to minivans and flagship sedans, the Pentastar will drive Chrysler well into the future.