Cooper Corp. & Riccardo UK to make new engine series
A technical collaboration has kicked off between Cooper Corporation, a leading Indian engine and components manufacturer, and UK-based Riccardo, a global engineering, strategic and environmental consultancy, to manufacturer a new engine series in the country. An association that has lasted over 60 years, this new collaboration between the two will lead to engines with multiple applications in various industries including automotive, rail, marine, construction, gensets, defense and agriculture.
Cooper Corporation has been in the business of making engines since 1922 and their 75 acre facility in Satara, Maharashtra has been supplying components and engines to more than a few OEMs in India and internationally. Since 1954, they have tied-up with Riccardo UK to design and develop more efficient engines and associated components. About 50 per cent of the parts manufactured at the Satara plant are exported to markets ranging from Central America, Africa, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Ukraine, UAE, Vietnam and Afghanistan. Martin Fausset, Managing Director at Riccardo Technical Consulting, confirmed that the engines and their respective components, developed as part of the partnership, will soon be available in the US as well.
Cooper and Riccardo have been working together, particularly over the last six years, to develop over 52 engine variants which can use natural gas (CNG/LPG) and diesel as fuel, are turbocharged and naturally aspirated, and are Euro IV compliant. The range of engines include 1.2-litre twin cylinder engines NA and turbo ones that produce between 15bhp and 54bhp depending on the fuel, 3.4-litre 3-pot turbo-diesel motors that develop between 90bhp and 116bhp, 4.5-litre inline-fours running on CNG and diesel with outputs between 142bhp and 162bhp, and a 6.8-litre six-cylinder turbocharged mill that develops 227bhp and 276bhp, depending on the CNG or diesel variant.
The new range of engines starts small, with a single cylinder aluminium motor developing between 5 and 8bhp, and a V-twin aluminium engine producing in the range of 10bhp to 16bhp. These small engines will find use mostly in the agricultural industry or as gensets. The largest of the engines under-development, there will be both four- and six-cylinder turbocharged multi-fuel motors, will have outputs above 500bhp. At the press conference, Cooper Corporation Chairman and MD, Farrokh N. Cooper, said that the larger engines would have marine and rail applications as well.
Riccardo is well known for participating in the development of McLaren’s M838T 3.8 litre twin-turbo V8 engine, used in the 650S and the P1, and will be responsible for the overall design of the engines, while Cooper will develop the components, assemble them into an engine, and conduct the mandated tests. Cooper Corporation has undergone extensive growth in the past couple of years across sectors. In the next five years, they plan to secure their supply chain by expanding the capacity of their cast iron and aluminium foundries, and expand their engine lines, thereby doubling their current annual revenue of Rs 700 crore.
