Here in the United States, belt-in-oil applications are a bit more limited, in the form of the 1.0L Ford EcoBoost gasoline engine and (if you like to think outside the box), Honda offers the GC and GCV series of small engines featuring an internal oil-bath timing belt.Īs emissions and fuel economy standards become more and more difficult for manufacturers to meet, unique technologies like these will drive the future of the industry. Volkswagen soon followed with its EA211 and EA288 engine families of three- and four-cylinder gas and diesel variants. The first automotive BIO system was introduced in 2008, hidden inside the European-market 1.8L Ford diesel. This reduces emissions and can increase fuel economy by a little more than 1%.ĭue to the improved materials used in the BIO drives, these belts are more temperature-resistant, less prone to stretching than conventional dry belts and have a life expectancy of up to 150,000 miles. Belt-in-oil manufacturers claim that “wet belts” offer up to a 30% reduction in friction loss as compared to chains or dry belts. By designing a light, quiet and compact belt drive, manufacturers hope to increase fuel efficiency while reducing emissions and NVH, and package it all into ever-smaller engine designs. “Fuel efficiency,” “reduced emissions,” “noise, vibration, harshness” (NVH) and “compact design” are all popular catch phrases in the auto industry, and these also are the driving forces behind belt-in-oil technology. Since a timing belt is lighter than a chain, and it can absorb and isolate crankshaft harmonics from the valvetrain, a belt is quieter and doesn’t rob additional power from the engine. As a performance upgrade, belt drives have a couple of advantages.
#FORD CAR TIMING BELT SUPPLIERS UPGRADE#
Now, performance enthusiasts may have some experience with “wet belt” timing systems as an upgrade for the small-block Chevy, but these “new” BIO systems are OEM designs, used for oil pump drives as well as for camshaft timing drives. I was even more surprised to discover that this odd arrangement is already available here in the United States. I was therefore a little bit surprised when I heard about the “belt-in-oil” (BIO) timing drives that are being used by well-known manufacturers in the European market, and available from a few equally well-known aftermarket suppliers.
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