It all started with the idea of building a motorbike with a turbocharged diesel engine. Thought, done. The bike and its two-cylinder engine caused a furore. The engineers from Kiel received a lot of praise, the Technology Prize from the Minister for Science, Economics and Transport and a substantial financial injection. The crux of the matter is that nobody wants to or can buy the unique motorbike for 95,000 euros.
It goes without saying that today's production-ready turbodiesel outboard engine, which for a long time only existed in the minds of the Hitzbleck-Lester entrepreneurial duo, is not available for a penny. Or is it?
For this reason (and others), leisure captains are hard to find in the Neander customer database. Their favourites have four cylinders and electronic petrol injection, are around 50 kg lighter and are usually available for less than a third of the price.
The turbo diesel advertises itself with arguments such as operational reliability, service life, fuel available everywhere, enormous torque, low consumption and the associated long ranges. The question remains: Will the professionals that Neander wants to attract from cruise ship operators, offshore technicians, fishermen and state organisations such as the police, German Armed Forces, THW and others be impressed?
Lutz W. Lester and his team are firmly convinced of this. Claus Brüstle, "inventor" of Mercury's Verado and now Chief Technology Officer at Neander AG: "I want the turbodiesel outboard engine project to become a success story." "Co-authors" are Bosch, Davis Engineering, FEV, Selva, Steyr Motors and Yanmar. The latter has been building its own diesel outboards for a long time and is now responsible for worldwide sales.
An 804 cm3 two-cylinder engine with two overhead camshafts and four-valve technology, which ensures perfect gas exchange in the combustion chamber and thus - together with the common rail injection technology - efficient and clean combustion, is to be sold. This saves fuel and protects the environment. The water-cooled turbocharger and intercooling are decisive for the high torque (111 Nm), which is already available at 2000 rpm and mobilises astonishing thrust.
