car&bike Awards 2025: Nissan 1.5 Variable Compression Turbo Engine Wins Engine Of The Year

The new Nissan X-Trail’s 1.5-litre turbo-petrol petrol is the car&bike Engine of the Year 2025. The unit is the first in the country to feature a variable compression ratio technology featuring actuators, multiple connecting arms and a control shaft to adjust the vertical stroke of the pistons in the cylinders. The engine debuted in India under the bonnet of the new Nissan X-Trail.

The unit in the X-Trail is capable of adjusting ratios from 8:1 up to 14:1 depending on the load on the engine. The 14:1 ratio maximises efficiency while the 8:1 ratio maximises performance from the unit.

Unlike a standard internal combustion engine, the Variable Compression Turbo (VCT) unit features an actuator connected to a control shaft that is then connected to the crankshaft and pistons via a multi-link. The actuator adjusts the angle of the connector arms linking the control shaft to the multilink connector on the crankshaft which in turn adjusts the vertical stroke of the piston thereby adjusting the compression ratio.

In the case of the X-Trail, the 1.5-litre turbo-petrol engine has been tuned to push out 161 bhp and 300 Nm of peak torque. Nissan also claims a mileage figure of 13.7 kmpl for the 1600 kg+ SUV.