MHI Enhances Multipurpose Gasoline Engine Lineup,
Launching 4 New High-Power Models Conforming to All Emission Controls
-- Largest Model in TLE Series and 3 Large Models for GB Series --

MHI launched the TLE48, with 47.1 cc (cubic centimeter) displacement, as the company's largest engine for hand-held machinery use that conforms to increasingly stringent emission controls in Europe and other regions in the world. With the introduction of the TLE48, MHI has completed its lineup of 6 models in the TLE Series, with displacements ranging from 20 to 48 cc, and become the first manufacturer to supply engines of this type all complying with global emission control standards.

The TLE48 offers fuel efficiency (fuel consumption against power output) improved by about 40% compared with the TB50 (49.4 cc), an existing domestic model with similar displacement. Providing near 40% greater maximum power output than the TLE43 (42.7 cc), the largest TLE model until now, the TLE48 has achieved a top-level output of 1.8 kilowatts (kW) among engines in the 40–50 cc displacement range.

Engines in the TLE Series adopt a stratified scavenging system that significantly reduces discharging of unburned air-fuel mixture gas in the air, which occurs in the nature of 2-stroke engine mechanism. With this system, TLE engines conform not only to U.S. emission controls – the Tier III emission regulation (in force since 2005) of CARB (California Air Resources Board), which are considered to be the most stringent in the world, and the Phase II standards (launched in 2002) of the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) – but also to the EU's Stage II exhaust emission regulations (introduced in 2008) and the Tier II voluntary emission regulations (to take effect from 2011) of the Japan Land Engine Manufacturers Association (LEMA).

The company will supply the TLE Series as engines for hand-held machinery, such as rotary grass cutters, on an OEM basis to both Japanese and foreign manufacturers. MHI targets annual sales of 50,000 units of the new TLE48.

MHI launched its GB Series in 2005 as the successor of its GM Series. The GB Series initially consisted of three models featuring outputs below 4.6 kW. Now the company has added three models ranging from 290 to 400 cc by fully remodeling remaining three larger size GM Series engines, in order to meet customer strong needs for high-power models. With the addition of the three new large engines, MHI aims to increase sales to customers in Japan and abroad, mainly for use in agricultural machinery applications such as cultivators, conveyors and rice planting machines.

The newly added models carry on the GB Series' basic development concept focused on low vibration and low noise. To realize low noise, the GB Series adopts cooling fan blades with low wind noise to minimize air noise, as well as the addition of vibration suppression plates to sheet metal parts, such as the casing covers of the fan and cylinder. By various measures including optimization of the balance ratio through redesign of the crankshaft and counterweight of the balancer shaft, vibratory force has been reduced by 15% compared to the GM Series engines.

With the addition of the three new large models, the GB Series' six-model lineup is now complete. MHI expects the annual sales of 100,000 units for three new models, mainly by OEM supplies.

Major Specifications of New Mitsubishi Meiki Engine Models

TLE48

* When equipped with "Miracle Start," MHI's proprietary easy-starting mechanism

Three New Models in GB Series