•The effects that a high EGR rate can have on PCCI type combustion strategies have been analyzed.•The dependence of engine emissions and combustion noise on EGR has been addressed.•The time histories of the main in-cylinder variables have been plotted for different EGR rates. The influence of exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) has been analyzed considering experimental results obtained from a Euro 5 diesel engine calibrated with an optimized pilot-main double injection strategy. The engine features a late premixed charge compression ignition (PCCI) type combustion mode. Different steady-state key-points that are representative of the engine application in a passenger car over the New European Driving Cycle (NEDC) have been studied. The engine was fully instrumented to obtain a complete overview of the most important variables. The pressure time history in the combustion chamber has been measured to perform calculations with single and three-zone combustion diagnostic models. These models allow the in-cylinder emissions and the temperature of the burned and unburned zones to be evaluated as functions of the crankshaft angle. The EGR mass fraction was experimentally varied within the 0–50% range. The results of the investigation have shown the influence that high EGR rates can have on intake and exhaust temperatures, in-cylinder pressure and heat release rate time histories, engine-out emissions (CO, HC, NOx, soot), brake specific fuel consumption and combustion noise for a PCCI type combustion strategy. The outputs of the diagnostic models have been used to conduct a detailed analysis of the cause-and-effect relationships between the EGR rate variations and the engine performance. Finally, the effect of the EGR on the cycle-to-cycle variability of the engine torque has been experimentally investigated.