Power boost for Suzuki's turbocharged1.4 BoosterJet motor

Suzuki is in the final stages of developing a new version of its popular 1.4-litre BoosterJet engine.Familiar to South African Swift Sport and Vitara owners, this 1.4-litre turbocharged petrol engine is the most sophisticated powertrain on offer from the Japanese brand.

At the 2020 Geneva Auto Show, scheduled for the second week of March, Suzuki has confirmed that it will reveal a production version of its new 1.4-litre BoosterJet mild hybrid.Like many other car companies, Suzuki is under pressure to reduce fleet CO2 levels for all the vehicles it sells. One of the ways of achieving these increasingly challenging targets is to add mild-hybridisation to existing internal combustion engines.

For the 1.4-litre BoosterJet application, Suzuki will add a 48V electrical architecture, which allows for superior hybridization, energy harvesting and distribution.Suzuki already has a 12V hybrid system on some of its petrol engines in vehicles such as Baleno, Ciaz,Ertiga, XL6, and the S-Cross.

Although final power specifications will only be confirmed next year, the engineering team has committed to a goal of reducing emissions by 20% on both the 1.4-litre turbocharged petrol engine.Fuel consumption is expected to improve by 15% and there should be added accelerative potency too, thanks to an integrated starter generator motor, which can release stored energy into the drivetrain.

Suzuki has alluded to a total system torque peak of 235 Nm, at 2000rpm, which is better than the current 1.4-litre BoosterJet engine’s 230 Nm, at 2500rpm.Thanks to compact packaging and the use of advanced materials, the 48V mild-hybrid system should add no more than15kg to any of the Suzuki vehicles it is applied to.

Further Reading

Suzuki Swift Sport (2019) Review

Suzuki Swift goes Extreme

Suzuki Swift Sport (2019) Launch Review