[TheAntiDoomer]

http://nextbigfuture.com/2010/03/transo ... ction.html

Transonic Combustion, based in Camarillo, CA, has developed a gasoline fuel injection system that can improve the efficiency of gasoline engines by 50 to 75 percent, beating the fuel economy of hybrid vehicles. A test vehicle the size and weight of a Toyota Prius (but without hybrid propulsion) showed 64 miles per gallon for highway driving. The company says the system can work with existing engines, and costs about as much as existing high-end fuel injection.

[Tanada]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'C')ompany engineers have doubled the fuel efficiency numbers in dynamometer tests of gas engines fitted with the company’s prototype SC fuel-injection systems, Rocke said. A modified gasoline engine installed in a 3200-lb (1451-kg) test vehicle, for example, is getting 98 mpg (41.6 km/L) when running at a steady 50 mph (80 km/h) in the lab.

[TheDude]

A Dream Engine Becomes Reality - NYTimes.com Published: November 24, 1996

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', ' ')TOKYO— TWO Japanese auto makers have succeeded in developing a new type of gasoline engine that can deliver substantial improvements in fuel economy without sacrificing power.

Proponents say that the new engine, known as a direct-injection engine, could represent the next fundamental change in engine technology, as significant as the shift in the last two decades from carburetors to fuel-injection systems.

''This engine should be the base concept for all engines in the future,'' said Akira Kijima, general manager of engine design at the Mitsubishi Motors Corporation. He said the new engine combined the fuel efficiency of a diesel power plant with the power and relative cleanliness of a gasoline engine.

In the direct-injection gasoline engine, fuel is sprayed directly into the cylinder -- where combustion occurs -- rather than being first mixed with air. That allows more precise control of the fuel and air mixture, reducing fuel consumption by 25 to 35 percent, engineers say, while offering slightly greater power and acceleration than conventional engines.

[emersonbiggins]

Parents just bought a 2011 Hyundai Sonata, which has one of the first mass-produced GDI engines, a 2.4L I-4. 200 hp, drag coefficient 0.28, PDQ overall. A very large sedan (as big as a Camry), and gets about 35-40 MPG on the highway. Not bad. (for the US, anyways) Stickered at around $26k.

[hardtootell-2]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('emersonbiggins', 'P')arents just bought a 2011 Hyundai Sonata, which has one of the first mass-produced GDI engines, a 2.4L I-4. 200 hp, drag coefficient 0.28, PDQ overall. A very large sedan (as big as a Camry), and gets about 35-40 MPG on the highway. Not bad. (for the US, anyways) Stickered at around $26k.

[brixio]

with a fiat punto 1.3 with an old generation (2007) multijet (the new one is much better) you reach 27km with a liter of diesel (61 miles per gallon), if you go 120km/h (75mph) it does 19km/liter wich is 73 miles with a gallon, if you go 163km/h (100mph) it goes 10km with a liter (38 miles per gallon) That's why chrisler was sold to fiat powertrain...

[Roy]

That's great news.

As a long time auto-enthusiast I can attest to the improvements in technology re: gasoline engine efficiency improvements...

For example, the VQ35 engine from Nissan... a 3.5 liter V-6, or a 213 cubic inch engine, in most applications, produces anywhere from 250 to 300 hp. 20 years ago such horsepower/displacement ratios were strictly in the realm of high-end racing engines. And those engines would have required constant maintenance and were very high wear. Not to mention that such engines were not suitable for street driving due to their peaky torque curves and high fuel consumption, among other things. Any old hot-rodder can attest to this.

The VQ35, in a 3200 lb car, is capable of achieving 30 mpg+ on the highway and it is faster and quicker than most V8 muscle cars sold in this country up to the late 90's that used twice as much fuel... It is also very driveable with a smooth torque curve, excellent reliability, and outstanding efficiency given its performance and displacement.

The GM LS series V8 engines are also very efficient and economical for their displacement, compared to the vast majority of V8 engines produced in this country since the V8's introduction in the mid 1950's as standard equipment in passenger cars.

Most of the improvements in engine efficiency, like variable valve timing (i.e. Honda calls it VTEC), fuel injection, and computerized engine management, have been utilized to increase horsepower rather than to maximize fuel economy up to now.

As fuel prices creep higher, perhaps automakers will move away from HP numbers to MPG numbers as the selling point of their vehicles. At least in America, I think most people are more concerned with HP than MPG though; so the automakers in this market are merely responding to customer demand in order to maximize their profits.

Rather than offering a V6 that makes 1.4hp/c.i. they'll offer a 1.8L engine that makes 130 hp and delivers over 50 mpg like many of the cars in Europe. If I cut my Nissan VQ35 in half, it would offer decent performance and outstanding fuel economy, for example. But it wouldn't beat those pesky 5.0's Mustangs in a stoplight drag race... LOL

When customers demand high fuel economy en masse, that is when we will see the change us peak oilers are hoping for in the future. I think we've still got a ways to go before that happens.

Transonic gets Supercritical with fuel injection, claims 50-75% improvement

http://green.autoblog.com/2010/03/04/tr ... ims-50-75/

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'N')aturally, we take all such amazing-sounding performance claims with an appropriately large grain of salt. According to this article from the Society of Automotive Engineers, though, the technology sounds legit. As much as we'd love to be geniuses that are capable of explaining exactly how Supercritical Fuel Injection works, we're not

[SeaGypsy]

That makes sense to me AD.
I used to build glass furnaces. Precise flame placement to avoid heatloss to the inlet walls is crucial to running efficiently. By preheating the air using waste exhaust heat, and mixing right at the point of combustion efficiency is up to 30% better than using cold air and a mixing chamber preignition.
I put a bit of thought into building a gizmo to suck heat from the exhaust of my GM V6. Effectively just a sleeve running around the exhaust manifold into the air ports should achieve a substantial improvement in efficiency.
Thus far I have been too busy to try this out. If I had a workshop full of tools I would give it a go.
The Dude's comment that 'super critical' sounds difficult, it's not. There is more than enough waste heat coming from the exhast of any combustion engine to take any fuel to super critical temperature, precisely controlling this should not be too difficult at all, using a hot/cold air mixing chamber.
I think these guys are really on to something.
Thanks for the find AD!

[TheAntiDoomer]

Ultra-Efficient Gas Engine Passes Test

http://www.technologyreview.com/energy/24701/?a=f

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')ransonic Combustion, a startup based in Camarillo, CA, has developed a fuel-injection system it says can improve the efficiency of gasoline engines by more than 50 percent. A test vehicle equipped with the technology gets 64 miles per gallon in highway driving, which is far better than more costly gas-electric hybrids, such as the Prius, which gets 48 miles per gallon on the highway.

[TheDude]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('SeaGypsy', 'T')hat makes sense to me AD.
I used to build glass furnaces. Precise flame placement to avoid heatloss to the inlet walls is crucial to running efficiently. By preheating the air using waste exhaust heat, and mixing right at the point of combustion efficiency is up to 30% better than using cold air and a mixing chamber preignition.
I put a bit of thought into building a gizmo to suck heat from the exhaust of my GM V6. Effectively just a sleeve running around the exhaust manifold into the air ports should achieve a substantial improvement in efficiency.
Thus far I have been too busy to try this out. If I had a workshop full of tools I would give it a go.
The Dude's comment that 'super critical' sounds difficult, it's not. There is more than enough waste heat coming from the exhast of any combustion engine to take any fuel to super critical temperature, precisely controlling this should not be too difficult at all, using a hot/cold air mixing chamber.
I think these guys are really on to something.
Thanks for the find AD!

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('TheDude', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('SeaGypsy', 'T')hat makes sense to me AD.
I used to build glass furnaces. Precise flame placement to avoid heatloss to the inlet walls is crucial to running efficiently. By preheating the air using waste exhaust heat, and mixing right at the point of combustion efficiency is up to 30% better than using cold air and a mixing chamber preignition.
I put a bit of thought into building a gizmo to suck heat from the exhaust of my GM V6. Effectively just a sleeve running around the exhaust manifold into the air ports should achieve a substantial improvement in efficiency.
Thus far I have been too busy to try this out. If I had a workshop full of tools I would give it a go.
The Dude's comment that 'super critical' sounds difficult, it's not. There is more than enough waste heat coming from the exhast of any combustion engine to take any fuel to super critical temperature, precisely controlling this should not be too difficult at all, using a hot/cold air mixing chamber.
I think these guys are really on to something.
Thanks for the find AD!

[TheDude]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'F')rom most of the commenters I have read thus far this is based on VERY sound science and it is said that major automakers are already on board. This is a huge development for fuel savings IMO.

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('TheDude', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'F')rom most of the commenters I have read thus far this is based on VERY sound science and it is said that major automakers are already on board. This is a huge development for fuel savings IMO.

[TheAntiDoomer]

here's a intersting report accenture did on the tech (pdf warning)

http://www.tscombustion.com/Transonic_DT_CaseStudy.pdf

[yesplease]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('TheDude', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'F')rom most of the commenters I have read thus far this is based on VERY sound science and it is said that major automakers are already on board. This is a huge development for fuel savings IMO.

[TheAntiDoomer]

Fuel-injection System That Delivers 64 Miles Per Gallon

http://www.physorg.com/news187436599.html

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'P')roprietary software has also been developed by Transonic Combustion that allows the system to adjust the fuel injection precisely depending on engine load.

Transonic Combustion is currently testing their new fuel injection system with three automakers. One key concern is the life of the engine when it’s subject to high pressures and temperatures. The company plans to manufacture the system themselves and not license the technology. Transonic Combustion plans to build its first factory in 2013, and place the technology into production cars by 2014.

[Frank]

...interesting. I'd like to see independent test data. You can't outwit Carnot, no matter how good your engineering is...

This is all good stuff but it doesn't negate the need to change the basic process (internal combustion.)