In Time read of a couple of cool car techs coming out

[StageLeft]

One is by Mazda, not sure if it's in production or not yet, but since cars can save fuel by not running when idling in traffic (assuming don't need AC) they devised a way to shut the engine down with the crank at just the correct point so that to restart the engine a spray of fuel and subsequent spark can get it to start cranking without even using a starter.

Also one by Lotus with a split cylinder head. Picture a normal cylinder going down. Well at the same time as it goes down and pushes on the crank another one directly above it is going in the opposite directly and pulling up on the crank.

For all I know these are old techs but in the article it was indicating they are either new or more viable than they used to be.

 

[Paperlantern]

The split cylindar head would be relatively cool, though it would in fact have to be two smaller cylindars, just happening to be connected to the same crank, but yeah, same principal as having strap in shoes on a bicycle, with those shoes you can pull up on the pedal as well as push down, they use different muscles so it fatigues the rider differently and they can get more for less. i wonder if they'll take off.

 

[punjabiplaya]

Stop-start is coming on a lot of cars now. The new M3 has it, Panamera, etc... Dunno about the split cylinder head.

edit: i suck at typing

 

[PricklyPete]

Stop-start is coming on ever car now. The new M3 has it, Panamera, etc... Dunno about the split cylinder head.

I think the difference is in how Mazda is implementing it which should prove to be simpler/more economical...therefore making it into more vehicles. Right now the start-stop functionality is really only showing up in Europe (where their mpg ratings reflect the technology) and expensive cars sold in the US where the tech can be added with small affect to margin.

 

[kornphlake]

Also one by Lotus with a split cylinder head. Picture a normal cylinder going down. Well at the same time as it goes down and pushes on the crank another one directly above it is going in the opposite directly and pulling up on the crank.

Link? I can't make out what your describing, the closest I can think of is an opposing cylinder design, but that's nothing new. I'm unclear how two pistons move in the same cylinder in opposite directions.

 

[Eli]

Link? I can't make out what your describing, the closest I can think of is an opposing cylinder design, but that's nothing new. I'm unclear how two pistons move in the same cylinder in opposite directions.

Yeah, I'm not able to picture this either.

The Mazda stop/start method is pretty cool. It's weird having driven a car with auto-stop for the last 3 years, it doesn't seem novel to me anymore.

I have a small Wisconsin 2HP engine with an external magneto that can be started at 0RPM. Just slowly bring it through the compression stroke, and when the magneto fires it will pull the crank out of your hands. Kinda neat..

 

[StageLeft]

I cannot find any pics, I can't even find anything on google about it. I must have the term wrong.

Oh you know what this was problem car and driver

Picture a cylinder cut in two and the explosion happens along this cut line, Then you have the bottom half act as a normal cylinder head and the top half instead shoots upward, hooked also to an arm and pulling instead of pulling on the crank. It was supposed to give better efficiency in some way.

 

[kornphlake]

I cannot find any pics, I can't even find anything on google about it. I must have the term wrong.

Oh you know what this was problem car and driver

Picture a cylinder cut in two and the explosion happens along this cut line, Then you have the bottom half act as a normal cylinder head and the top half instead shoots upward, hooked also to an arm and pulling instead of pulling on the crank. It was supposed to give better efficiency in some way.

Were you drunk when you typed this? I'm not sure it's much better than your first attempt.

So in a vertical cylinder the combustion occurs between two pistons, one piston moves down and the other moves up. The lower piston attaches to the crank conventionally with a straight crank arm while the upper piston is attached to a C shaped crank arm that reaches around the cylinder and attaches to the crank on it's own journal approximately 180 degrees from the journal connected to the lower cylinder. Does that sound right?

I'm not sure I see any immediate advantages other than you use fewer spark plugs and valves per piston compared to an opposed cylinder design. It seems like the complexity of two pistons sharing one combustion chamber and placing pistons and valves in that chamber would outweigh the benefits.

 

[LTC8K6]

http://www.caranddriver.com/features/10q2/the_future_of_the_internal-combustion_engine-feature

There is the CD article on the new ICEs and stop/start tech.

 

[StageLeft]

Were you drunk when you typed this? I'm not sure it's much better than your first attempt.

So in a vertical cylinder the combustion occurs between two pistons, one piston moves down and the other moves up. The lower piston attaches to the crank conventionally with a straight crank arm while the upper piston is attached to a C shaped crank arm that reaches around the cylinder and attaches to the crank on it's own journal approximately 180 degrees from the journal connected to the lower cylinder. Does that sound right?

I'm not sure I see any immediate advantages other than you use fewer spark plugs and valves per piston compared to an opposed cylinder design. It seems like the complexity of two pistons sharing one combustion chamber and placing pistons and valves in that chamber would outweigh the benefits.

I drink only from the cup of life. And coffee. But yep, that sounds right.

 

[StageLeft]

http://www.caranddriver.com/features/10q2/the_future_of_the_internal-combustion_engine-feature

There is the CD article on the new ICEs and stop/start tech.

HOray! That was the article

 

[AMCRambler]

Sounds like some cool stuff. All made possible by the higher cost of gasoline I am sure. We should be thanking our Arab friends in OPEC for giving the automotive industry the impetus to tackle this stuff. I wonder how far away this tech is?

 

[kornphlake]

2 stroke looks like it might have some advantages, I was imagining a 4 stroke with cams and valves. Now, how are they going to shoehorn a very wide engine into any modern FWD vehicle's engine bay?

 

[StageLeft]

2 stroke looks like it might have some advantages, I was imagining a 4 stroke with cams and valves. Now, how are they going to shoehorn a very wide engine into any modern FWD vehicle's engine bay?

Good point, it looks unwieldy.

 

[zzuupp]

install sideways?
Adding length to an engine bay is a much easier task.

 

[Howard]

2 stroke looks like it might have some advantages, I was imagining a 4 stroke with cams and valves. Now, how are they going to shoehorn a very wide engine into any modern FWD vehicle's engine bay?

Not to mention the humongous stroke:rod ratio for the inside pistons

 

[ravana]

How does this stop-start tech differ from what BMW's been putting on the MINIs and some of their other cars in Europe? (we don't/didn't get it cuz of some weird US regs...I think)

 

[satyajitmenon]

I cannot find any pics, I can't even find anything on google about it. I must have the term wrong.

Oh you know what this was problem car and driver

Picture a cylinder cut in two and the explosion happens along this cut line, Then you have the bottom half act as a normal cylinder head and the top half instead shoots upward, hooked also to an arm and pulling instead of pulling on the crank. It was supposed to give better efficiency in some way.

http://www.grouplotus.com/engineering/showcases.html

http://www.grouplotus.com/managedcontent/view/192

 

[archetypaul]

The stop-start thing was one of the main reasons the 2010 World Green Car of the Year was a 4-way tie between 4 VW blue motion models.

 

[punjabiplaya]

5 techs from Inside Line

http://www.insideline.com/features/five-car-technologies-that-will-change-how-you-drive.html