technologyreview.com — The new engine would improve efficiency by decreasing the size of the engine, which reduces friction, thus saving fuel at light engine loads, such as during city driving. When more power is needed, a turbocharger kicks in. It uses exhaust flow to compress air, making it possible to combust more air and fuel in a smaller space.
Apr 24, 2006 View in Crawl 4
merrickApr 25, 2006
Toyota has a $200 bounty in place for its hybrid batteries so that they can recyle them.Naturally, for any new technology there has to be first adopters. I'm not one of them either... but imagine if masses of early adopters pay the extra buck and help fund research into hybrid or fuel-conserving technologies (if only indirectly by declaring to automakers that there is a market for it, expensive or not), then the prices could come down, and the technology could be proven and improved over time.Honda is planning for an affordable Hybrid Fit (12K) in the near future. Perhaps they wouldn't be able to make it that low, but I'd like to see them try.
sixcolorsApr 25, 2006
Towlie is the worst character ever. But more on topic, we need cars like this in San Francisco. We're a little more progressive here. Ahead of the curve, so to speak.
sixcolorsApr 25, 2006
Actually, my step-dad is a "commuter". He and his fellow commuters all drive SUVs and pickups. Their reasoning is that small cars in an accident are unsafe - "SPAM in a can". So, if you can't change the consumer you can at least try to change what is in what they use.
chazcrossApr 25, 2006
"In a turbo car the turbo is NOT spooled even when the engine is running or cruising"BahIn my 88 Shelby Z Turbo, even after letting the car idle for 10 minutes after driving it, and turning it off you can hear the turbo spooling down.Yeah true, they are not spinning at anywhere near their operational 80,000 to 150,000 RPM range depending on the turbo or even fast enough bring the air pressure out of a vacuum, but that turbo is still spinning. There is more than enough heat energy to keep that thing spooling at idle or cruising, just not enough to give you boost.
carveApr 26, 2006
Yeah- that would make a lot of sense. Pneumat/Hydraulic hybrids, like Ford has proposed on some of it's trucks, would produce a similar benefit. They would be best suited to flat areas with lots of stop and go driving though. Some people need sustained power to climb hills. I also like BMW's waste-heat scavanging program. It takes heat from the exhaust and from the engine coolant and drives a steam engine with them. The steam engine is geared to the engine just like the rest of the accessories, except that it provides power instead of taking it. I think they said it weighed about 200 pounds and provided a 15% improvement in efficiency.It'd be interesting to see what you could do with a combonition of all of these technologies. I'm picturing a standard 4-door, 8-second 0-60 sedan with a turbo HCCI or dual-fuel motor, riding on a lightweight chassis, an aerodynamic body, with some sort of exhaust heat scavanging running a hybrid system of some sort. I bet you could get double the mileage. It'd probably be at least double the price, too though (especially the lightweight materials for the chassis and body).
valleyeApr 26, 2006
I did read the article. You will see if you look closely that my reply was to geminitojanus and his question about put alcohol injection/turbo on a gas/hybrid.