2022 saw the launch of CORE75, the first engine in the CORE family. Immediately, it won the prestigious “Engine of the year” award. What’s more, its five-liter little brother, the CORE50, launched a year later, could well repeat the feat. In addition, the concept of a functional hydrogen-powered mild hybrid attracted great attention at Agritechnica. Clearly, AGCO Power has created an engine platform that represents the absolute top of the market – but where does its superiority lie?
”The feedback received from both CORE engines has been overwhelmingly positive, and they offer the lowest combined fuel/AdBlue consumption in the market”, says Heikki Hihnala, Account Manager at AGCO Power. “And the power output of the smaller CORE50 engine challenges many six-cylinder models by other manufacturers!”
Slow is better
One effective way to improve fuel economy is to make the engine run more slowly. “The fewer moving parts and less movement, the less friction loss,” Heikki Hihnala reminds us. “When the pistons move less, less energy is consumed and the combustion event is better controlled.”
This is why in addition to the standard version, both the CORE75 and CORE50 engines are available as Low Speed variants. They combine excellent fuel economy with good torque over a wide rev range thanks to an optimized combustion process. What’s more, the low speed means better durability.
Flexible engine control
The heart of the modern internal combustion engine is the engine control unit, or ECU. Here too, the holistic thinking of CORE engines can be seen, as the CORE engine ECU is able to seamlessly control exhaust aftertreatment together with the engine. In addition, the ECU offers the capability to collect data wirelessly and update engine characteristics remotely over-the-air.
“In the future, the machine operator will be able to receive a recommendation for action if something abnormal happens to the engine,” says Hihnala. “It will provide the flexibility to meet the challenges presented by different machine applications – having a safe, reliable engine is important to us.”
Less is more
Part of the AGCO Power philosophy has always been rationalization of the engine components to keep the number of parts limited and subsequently improve the engine dependability, economy and serviceability.
”Both CORE engines share the same pistons and many other components,” says Heikki Hihnala. “This enables more competitive pricing and there is more field experience about the durability and functionality of parts.”
Part of the reliability of CORE engines is also their simplicity of design and ease of maintenance. Designed from the ground up to be market-leading in economy and emissions, the engine does not need variable-geometry turbochargers, EGR or massive exhaust aftertreatment systems to meet today’s regulations.
“A simple engine is dependable in the field,” says Heikki Hihnala. “Also, meeting future emissions regulations will not require massive changes, which makes us a reliable partner for our customers.”