Cummins debuts 12-litre ISG

The Australian public got its first glimpse of the new Cummins 12-litre ISG engine at the Brisbane Truck Show, with the high output, low weight and Euro 5 compliant powerplant drawing plenty of attention at the Cummins stand.

Cummins says the new platform utilises a variety of composite components and an innovative block design to achieve a total weight of just 860kg, while its ISXe5-derived XPI (Extreme Pressure Injection) technology delivers improved fuel economy, low-rpm response, and reduced noise.

Australia will serve as the acid test for the new platform's development in heavy applications, where Cummins says the ISG's output of 500hp and 1700ftlb will "set a new benchmark in power-to-weight ratio, unmatched in the heavy-duty truck market".

By way of comparison, Cummins' existing 11-litre ISM platform, which weighs around 940kg, is available in ratings up to 440hp and 1535ftlb.

The product of Cummins' engineering expertise sourced from both its Columbus, Indiana headquarters and its Chinese operations, the engine is currently produced in the Beijing Foton Cummins Engine Co. (BFCEC) facility and was initially released in the domestic Chinese market to meet China's NS4 emissions standards (the rough equivalent of Euro 4).

Now, however, it's being developed as a global platform with Euro 5 compliance, with an architecture that can be adapted to meet Euro 6 in due course.

According to Sean McLean (pictured), General Manager Marketing at Cummins, Australia has a large role to play in the ISG's development.

"Obviously for our market Euro 5 works and we're part of the ISG's global field test program," he said.

"As we're now globalising this product, from our point of view we're very keen to understand how it works in our applications. Our role in that global field test is to test some of the heavier applications and a harder duty cycle, and to get some good kilometres on them, which we're good at in this part of the world."

Mr McLean said local evaluation of the Euro 5 ISG was now well underway.

"There are some trucks out there [in Australia] already and we've also got a couple more going out fairly soon," he said.

"The first trucks have been out there for about six to eight weeks."

Once released, the ISG will replace the existing 11-litre Cummins ISMe5, says McLean.

"Currently we've got an ISMe5, so a Euro 5 version of our 11-litre engine, but it's also the end point of a long development of that platform," he said.

"As we look to the future – to Euro 6, for example – the ISM won't meet that requirement, so this is our platform for the future generation. So the Euro 5 is the starting point for us in this country, but as we then move into later emissions requirements this is the platform we will need."

The Euro 5 ISG adopts a selective catalytic reduction (SCR) system to achieve emissions compliance, relying on a very similar aftertreatment system to the existing Cummins ISX and ISL products.

Because of its high output, comparisons can be drawn between the 12-litre ISG and 13-litre or even 15-litre offerings, and Cummins says initial local testing has been met very favourably.

"We're getting some good feedback in terms of fuel economy and improvement," says McLean.

"Partly it's because of the technologies in the engine and some of the fuel efficiency of the engine, and partly it's the weight saving. The weight is a key element.

"The power-to-weight ratio is significantly improved and that's a real benefit with this platform. Obviously our ISX is a much bigger engine but it's in the 1200kg range, while we feel pretty confident in where the ISG sits in relation to our competition in the 12-litre and 13-litre space.

"We think there's some opportunity there in steer axle weight reduction and the additional payload capability that goes along with that."

Mr McLean says the global release of the Euro 5 ISG will be made in late 2016.

"From our point of view we're not driven by an emissions change necessarily with this product, but we're excited about the opportunities it represents," he said.

"We just wanted to use this [the Brisbane Truck Show] as a great opportunity to start talking about it with a lot of people."