Mercedes Benz

OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE

Stuttgart, Germany, May 07, 2010

A short history of injection engines: Mercedes-Benz is a pioneer in direct petrol injection

- The legendary 300 SL was the trailblazer
- First petrol engine with piezo-electric direct injection and spray-guided combustion

In 1954 Mercedes-Benz equipped the legendary 300 SL with a four-cylinder engine featuring direct petrol injection as a world first for series production cars. Since then, the company has pioneered direct petrol injection technology for cars with ongoing further development and improvements.


In 1994, the researchers and engineers at Mercedes-Benz entered new technological territory when they began the development of a spray-guided combustion process. In the view of specialists, this offers the greatest potential for mastering two of the major automotive engineering challenges of the future, namely further reductions in fuel consumption and exhaust emissions.
At the end of 2002 Mercedes-Benz presented a new development stage in direct petrol injection with the new 1.8-litre CGI four-cylinder engine. CGI stands for "Stratified Charge Gasoline Injection".

The second-generation CGI process reached a new level in the CLS 350 CGI introduced in 2006: the four-door coupé featured the world's first petrol engine with piezo-electric direct injection and spray-guided combustion. This six-cylinder unit achieved a fuel saving of around ten percent versus the V6 petrol engine with port injection.

The present state of the art is now reflected by the new V6 and V8 engines with third-generation direct injection and multi-spark ignition. They combine a high output with excellent economy and environmental compatibility, and offer refinement at the highest level. They set previously unachieved benchmarks in the premium segment for Mercedes-Benz.