D — now not just diesel
Mysterious letter combinations in engine names began to appear in the mid-nineties, when direct fuel injection technology came onto the scene. This scheme allowed delivering gasoline directly into the combustion chambers, bypassing the intake manifold. Such a solution significantly improved fuel efficiency and reduced harmful emissions, but required exceptionally high-quality fuel.
Mitsubishi was the pioneer among manufacturers that launched such units into production. Its engines received the index GDI (Gasoline Direct Injection), which translates as "direct gasoline injection."
At first, many mistakenly took the mysterious abbreviation for an indication of diesel — because of the letter D. But Toyota finally confused the situation by naming its own direct injection system simply D4. Because of this, Japanese brands had to add another letter D for diesel versions — thus the indices D4-D and DI-D appeared.
Soon the Europeans joined the Japanese. Renault was the first to get its bearings, developing the IDE technology (Injection Direct Essence). But the French did not provide cars with such engines for the Ukrainian market.
By the early 2000s, almost every major automaker had mastered the new scheme, but not all risked bringing such units to Ukraine. Therefore, we will focus on those versions that were officially presented here.
In Italy, direct injection appeared on engines of the Fiat concern. The first to try on the new abbreviation JTS (Jet Thrust Stoichiometric) were Alfa Romeo models.
Volkswagen presented its own version — FSI (Fuel Stratified Injection), which means "layered injection." As a result, all VAG group brands acquired models with new letters on the rear.
Later, VW engineers thought that naturally aspirated engines with direct injection were not peppy enough, and in 2004 FSI was equipped with a turbine. Such a unit was named TFSI (Turbo Fuel Stratified Injection).
Then the management decided to leave the four-letter index TFSI only for the Audi brand, while other companies of the concern switched to the short designation TSI.
The other European companies did not want to lag behind the Volkswagen Group and released their own turbocharged units with direct injection. The French PSA alliance (Peugeot/Citroen) together with BMW created a supercharged version based on HPi engines (High Precision Injection), calling it THP. Mercedes-Benz responded with the CGI engine (Charged Gasoline Injection).
Almost last, Ford pleased its European fans by launching the EcoBoost line of turbo engines. Judging by the name, the company did not bother to invent another abbreviation — perhaps all short combinations were already taken by competitors.
Rearranging the letters does not change the meaning
In parallel with gasoline units, more advanced direct injection reached diesels. The technology was named Common Rail — "common rail."
The first to equip their diesel passenger cars with such a system were Fiat and Mercedes-Benz. The Italians marked their models with the index JTD (Jet Turbo Diesel), and the Germans — CDI (Common Direct Injection).
Over time, all manufacturers switched to the new scheme in diesels. Of course, many wanted to give their Common Rail a special name to stand out a little. As a result, a whole set of abbreviations appeared, differing only in the order of the letters C, R, T, and D.
For example: CRDi (Hyundai/KIA), TDCi (Ford) or CDTi (Opel). Only the French from PSA decided to be original, calling their diesel HDi (High-Pressure Direct Injection).
It would seem that the old designations D and TD are due for retirement, but not all companies agreed with this. BMW calmly calls its diesel modifications with the modest letter d (525d, 730d, etc.). Volkswagen also did not refuse the familiar TDI (Turbocharged Direct Injection).
Interestingly, companies that produce truly advanced diesels are in no hurry to hang fashionable long badges on their trunks to attract the attention of an uninformed audience.
New developments — new letters
In addition to the type of injection, on cars of many brands there are also proprietary designations for variable valve timing systems (VTEC, VVTi, etc.). Environmental friendliness is increasingly emphasized with beautiful words starting with Blue (BlueMotion, BlueEFFICIENCY, etc.). The number of hybrids is growing, which are marked with the letter H.
Year after year, engineers introduce more and more new solutions, and marketers invent sonorous names for them. A well-selling car no longer has to be just reliable and high-quality — the market craves novelties and "high technologies." Therefore, the appearance of more and more new badges is only a matter of time.
