Detroit Diesel announced that it has submitted applications to the Environmental Protection Agency for emissions certification of its Series 60 diesel engines.

These initial emission certification applications will cover 20 of the currently available Series 60 engine ratings. All will be fully compliant to the October 2002 emission requirements. Additional ratings will be submitted for certification in the following months.
By October 1, DDC will have accumulated approximately 8 million test miles on its fleet of test vehicles equipped with October 2002 prototype engines. Also by October 1, 27 different fleets will have engines in operation, in addition to the factory owned test units.
"Of course, we are well aware of the questions some truckers have about the Series 50 and 60 engines equipped with exhaust gas recirculation (EGR)," says John Morelli, Vice President of the Series 60 2002 Engine Program. "For those who may not be aware of it, EGR has been used on the Series 50 since 2000. We have over 2,500 units in operation and I want to reassure the trucking industry that these Series 60 and 50 engines are excellent products.
Morelli notes that despite concerns among truckers about reliability and maintenance issues with October ’02 engines, the warranty on the Series 60 engine remains the same, as do recommended oil change intervals and other required maintenance.
"As far as durability is concerned, we couldn't be more pleased at this time,” he says. “The life of the piston ring is actually the key to long engine life and we have now confirmed that ring face wear is 78% lower on the EGR engines when compared to our current engines.”
Morelli also says that despite concerns in the industry about increased weight, DDC actually has been able to reduce the weight of the Series 60 by an additional 25 pounds, so it now weighs several hundred pounds less than the other big-bore engines.
On the subject of fuel economy Morelli said, "We are currently within a couple percentage points of our target. And, we will continue to fine tune the engine and improve the combustion process."
Morelli reports that DDC recently downloaded information from a truckload carrier customer's truck after running one of the EGR engines all winter. The truck was in regular revenue service, geared at 72 mph, with an overall average vehicle speed of 55.6 mph. That truck averaged 6.91 mpg. "I think most truckers would have to agree that 6.91 mpg, in the winter, fully loaded, and running at up to 72 mph is pretty good fuel economy," Morelli said.