page_title: TDI (engine)
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: TDI (engine) / History
caption_attribution_description: English: OM617 in Mercedes 300SD
context_page_description: TDI, an abbreviation for "Turbocharged Direct Injection", is a marketing term used by Volkswagen Group for its turbocharged diesel engines that have direct fuel injection.
  TDI engines are used in motor vehicles sold by the Audi, Volkswagen, SEAT and Skoda marques, as well as boat engines sold by in Volkswagen Marine and industrial engines sold by Volkswagen Industrial Motor.
  The first TDI engine, a straight-five engine, was produced for the 1989 Audi 100 TDI sedan. In 1999, common rail fuel injection was introduced, in the V8 engine used by the Audi A8 3.3 TDI Quattro. From 2006 until 2014, Audi successfully competed in the LMP1 category of motor racing using TDI engine-powered racing cars.
  TDI engines installed in 2009 to 2015 model year Volkswagen Group cars sold through 18 September 2015 had an emissions defeat device, which activated emissions controls only during emissions testing. The emissions controls were suppressed otherwise, allowing the TDI engines to exceed legal limits on emissions. VW has admitted to using the illegal device in its TDI diesel cars.
context_section_description: Prior to Volkswagen Group's first TDI engine, the first turbocharged diesel engine used in a passenger car was an indirect injection five-cylinder engine fitted to the 1978 Mercedes-Benz 300SD (W116) 300 SD sedan. The first turbodiesel engine with direct injection was the 1986 Fiat Croma 2.0 TD i.d. liftback sedan.
  Three years after the Fiat Croma, Volkswagen Group's first TDI engine was introduced in the 1989 Audi 100 TDI sedan. The Audi 100 was powered by the Volkswagen 2.5 R5 TDI straight-five engine which used an electronic distributor injection pump (called "VerteilerPumpe" by Volkswagen) and two-stage direct injection. The initial version of this engine generated 88 kW (118 hp) at 3,250 rpm and 275 N⋅m (203 lb⋅ft) at 2,500 rpm.
  TDI engines using common rail fuel injection (using piezoelectric fuel injectors) were introduced with the Volkswagen Group 32v TDI V8 engine used in the 1999 Audi A8 3.3 TDI Quattro, two years after the 1997 Alfa Romeo 156 2.4-L JTD because the first passenger car to use common rail injection.
  In 1999, the Volkswagen 1.2-litre TDI won the International Engine of the Year categories for "1.0 to 1.4 litres" and "Best Fuel Economy".
  In 2000, a fuel system using unit injectors (called "Pumpe Düse" by Volkswagen) began to replace the distributor injection pump systems (except for the V8 engine, which used common rail design). In 2003, upgraded fuel injectors using a piezoelectric design began to replace the previous solenoid-operated unit injectors.
  Since 2009, most of the Volkswagen Group TDI engines have switched from unit injectors to common rail injection.
caption: 1978-1980 Mercedes-Benz OM617 indirect injection turbodiesel
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