Back in 1996, Volkswagen debuted a direct-injection, turbocharged engine in the company’s  TDI Clean Diesel Passat offering. Ten years later, they migrated the turbocharged, direct injection technology into their gasoline engine in the 2006 Jetta GLI and GTI.

The company is again leading the small engine market with the introduction of their all-new EA211 four-cylinder, turbocharged, direct-injection 1.4-liter engine as part of their intelligent downsizing initiative. This engine will replace the naturally-aspirated 2.0-liter engine and 1.8T TSI engine in the Jetta family.

The 1.4-liter engine uses an aluminum block and cylinder head coupled with an integrated exhaust manifold for superior turbo spooling, along with a belt-drive arrangement for the overhead-camshaft valvetrain arrangement. Variable timing is in operation on both intake and exhaust camshafts.

74.5mm cylinder bores and 80mm crankshaft stroke combine to provide improved torque over the outgoing EA111 engine platform. The new 1.4-liter TSI EA211 engine uses a 10.0:1 compression ratio combined with the aforementioned direct injection and turbocharging to produce 150 horsepower at 5,000 rpm.

More importantly, the intake manifold’s design allows the use of a small single-scroll turbocharger, while the intercooler is is integrated directly into the induction pipe. These design features allow the engine to produce a maximum of 184 ft./lbs. of torque at a user-friendly 1,400 rpm. Backing the engine will be a five-speed manual or six-speed automatic transmission, with an estimated 39 mpg/hwy available from the slushbox version. This is an improvement over the previous 2.0-liter and 1.8-liter turbocharged engines of 13 and 7 percent respectively.

Joerg Sommer, Vice President, Product Marketing and Strategy, Volkswagen of America said, “We are delighted that so many Volkswagen customers are now able to benefit from the performance and fuel-efficiency of our turbocharged and direct-injection engines, whether they choose TDI or TSI technology. Volkswagen leads the industry with implementation of these engines in North America and we are excited that we are furthering our leadership with the introduction of the latest-generation EA211 engine in the Jetta.”