LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Cat officials trumpeted acceptance of their ACERT engines at the Mid-America Trucking Show.

Since Caterpillar started producing its full line of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) certified and compliant engines late in 2003, demand for engines equipped with ACERT has continued to grow, said Steve Brown, director of marketing for Caterpillar’s On-Highway Engines. He added more than 50,000 ACERT engines have been shipped since production began in 2003.

All five models-C7, C9, C11, C13 and C15-have been in full production since 2003.

“Based on customer reports, engines with ACERT are delivering the same reliability and durability that Cat engines provided prior to October 2002,” said Brown. “We’ve been telling fleets to buy a few engines with ACERT Technology, put them to the test, compare them to engines already in their fleets and evaluate the results. We knew going in that fleets would find our new engines to be a better value; and, sure enough, that’s what they’re telling us. Test fleets put more than 23 million miles on these engines in our field evaluation tests prior to production in October of last year. The reliability is there.”

Cat’s “buy and try” philosophy is working, Brown said, adding fleets are making repeat purchases in significant numbers.

“In fact, 15 of the 25 largest fleets have put engines equipped with ACERT technology on the road,” Brown said.

“This is the best new engine product introduction we’ve ever had – we’re shipping more than four times as many engines weekly as our nearest competitor to meet the demand.”

Brown cited industry sales figures that put Caterpillar at nearly 35 per cent of the heavy-duty industry.

He attributed the success to Cat’s track record for reliability. Fuel economy of the new Cat engines also is strong, according to Brown.

“Many customers are telling us that not only has fuel economy proven to be three to five per cent better than competitive products, engines with ACERT technology also are achieving fuel economy comparable to pre-October ’02 Cat engines,” he said.

New engine ratings for on-highway market

Cat also introduced several new engine ratings at the Mid-America Trucking Show.

Among them was the “King of the Hill” 625 horsepower C15, to be available as of fall 2004.

Caterpillar will also offer the C15 in a 600 horsepower rating. These C15 ratings will complement the entire Cat engine line of the C7, C9, C11 and C13-all equipped with ACERT technology. Several new ratings will be introduced for the C11 and C13 at the same time.

“Caterpillar already provides the most complete line of engines certified and compliant to EPA 2004 standards on the market today-the King of the Hill C15 and new ratings for the C11 and C13 further expand the range of high performance options for our customers, while still providing outstanding fuel economy,” said Brown.

The C15 will have 2,050 lb-ft of torque at 1,200 rpm and constant torque to 1,700 rpm, of interest particularly for owner/operators and heavy haulers working in extreme heavy-duty applications. Maximum horsepower of 625 is developed at 1,800 rpm, with 595 horsepower at 2,100 rpm. This rating has 38 per cent torque rise.

The King of the Hill C15 is built on a Cat engine platform with the same bore and stroke as the 550 hp C15. But the C15 has higher flow series turbochargers, a unique camshaft and the next generation Caterpillar electronic control module (ECM). This controller is four times faster than the former C15 ECM, with twice the memory.

Two engine retarders are available options for the King of the Hill C15, the Caterpillar compression brake and the Caterpillar BrakeSaver hydraulic retarder. The Cat compression brake provides 600 retarding horsepower, while BrakeSaver delivers 260 horsepower engine braking. For maximum retarding capability, these two retarders can be combined to provide up to 725 retarding horsepower, the maximum allowed by most driveline manufacturers.

Caterpillar also introduced a 600 hp C15 with 1,850 lb-ft of torque, as an option for the heavy hauler and owner/operator who want high horsepower with a lower cost driveline.

This rating is also suited for recreational vehicles, emergency vehicles and fire trucks.

Five new horsepower ratings will be available for the C13: 470 horsepower with 1,550 lb-ft of torque; 470 horsepower with 1,650 lb-ft of torque; an economy rating of 470 horsepower Multi-torque with 1,550/1,750 lb-ft of torque; 470 horsepower Multi-torque with 1,550/1,750 lb-ft of torque, which yields maximum fuel economy when spec’d with Cat’s “Gear-Fast-Run-Super-Slow” gearing recommendations and the Eaton RTLOC16909A T-2 transmission; and 500 horsepower with 1,650 lb-ft of torque available as a field up-rate. These engine ratings, teamed with the lightweight C13, are suited to the truckload, tanker and vocational market and should be available this fall.

Two new horsepower ratings will also be offered for the C11 engine: 350 horsepower with 1450 lb-ft of torque and 370 horsepower with 1,450 lb-ft of torque.

These ratings, combined with the rear power takeoff capability and low weight of the C11, make this engine an option for the mixer and dump truck market.