Comments on: All Those Technological Breakthroughs… http://blog.autospeed.com/2008/01/15/all-those-technological-breakthroughs/ AutoSpeed's Blog. Opinion and Auto News Comment Mon, 23 Apr 2012 21:42:16 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Ben http://blog.autospeed.com/2008/01/15/all-those-technological-breakthroughs/comment-page-1/#comment-20371 Ben Tue, 29 Jan 2008 09:34:13 +0000 http://blog.autospeed.com/2008/01/15/all-those-technological-breakthroughs/#comment-20371 Yeah that's it. Just proper vaporisation of the fuel. All you need is a way to have all of the petrol in gas form when the plug fires. Which is a lot easier said than done. The simpler methods involve heat and modified carburettor/injection sytems, the more comlex ones claim to change the chemical makeup of the fuel into one that is gaseous, cleaner, and faster burning (a process which currently leaves a lot to be desired, for automotive use anyway). I am planning on using either heat or a mechanical device to vaporise fuel. Heat is easier for me to work with for now. cya Ben Yeah that’s it. Just proper vaporisation of the fuel. All you need is a way to have all of the petrol in gas form when the plug fires. Which is a lot easier said than done.

The simpler methods involve heat and modified carburettor/injection sytems, the more comlex ones claim to change the chemical makeup of the fuel into one that is gaseous, cleaner, and faster burning (a process which currently leaves a lot to be desired, for automotive use anyway).

I am planning on using either heat or a mechanical device to vaporise fuel. Heat is easier for me to work with for now.

cya
Ben

]]> By: Gordon Drennan http://blog.autospeed.com/2008/01/15/all-those-technological-breakthroughs/comment-page-1/#comment-18724 Gordon Drennan Wed, 23 Jan 2008 06:14:51 +0000 http://blog.autospeed.com/2008/01/15/all-those-technological-breakthroughs/#comment-18724 I was interested that one of the cars in the AXP (Automotive X Prize) - $10M to whoever can design a mass-producable 100 mpg or equivalent car, google it - is referred to as being able to achieve that by running on "petrol vapor". Is that the sort of thing you are talking about Ben? I was interested that one of the cars in the AXP (Automotive X Prize) – $10M to whoever can design a mass-producable 100 mpg or equivalent car, google it – is referred to as being able to achieve that by running on “petrol vapor”. Is that the sort of thing you are talking about Ben?

]]> By: Ben http://blog.autospeed.com/2008/01/15/all-those-technological-breakthroughs/comment-page-1/#comment-17260 Ben Sat, 19 Jan 2008 22:46:31 +0000 http://blog.autospeed.com/2008/01/15/all-those-technological-breakthroughs/#comment-17260 Fair call. However I think there are better ways to deliver fuel than through a non heated, pressurised nozzle. I'll be doing a pretty crude setup soon, just to run the car at idle. If I can reduce the fuel consumption at idle from 1.4-2.2 l/hr (so the trip computer says, which is pretty accurate under cruise conditions) to a constant 1-1.2 l/hr, I think I'll be on to something, and develop the idea further. I'll keep you posted. cya Ben Fair call. However I think there are better ways to deliver fuel than through a non heated, pressurised nozzle. I’ll be doing a pretty crude setup soon, just to run the car at idle. If I can reduce the fuel consumption at idle from 1.4-2.2 l/hr (so the trip computer says, which is pretty accurate under cruise conditions) to a constant 1-1.2 l/hr, I think I’ll be on to something, and develop the idea further.

I’ll keep you posted.

cya
Ben

]]> By: Julian Edgar http://blog.autospeed.com/2008/01/15/all-those-technological-breakthroughs/comment-page-1/#comment-17008 Julian Edgar Sat, 19 Jan 2008 05:10:57 +0000 http://blog.autospeed.com/2008/01/15/all-those-technological-breakthroughs/#comment-17008 Ben, anyone can talk about this sort of stuff - you know, it's "easy" to improve fuel economy. The short answer is that it is NOT. If it was easy to gain a 50 per cent improvement in fuel economy with a minor trade off in power, don't you think it would be being done? Even DI petrol engines don't have anything like a 50 per cent improvement - perhaps you might like to read our DI article - http://www.autospeed.com.au/cms/A_1761/article.html By all means head off and experiment, but if you can gain in real world use even a 5-10 per cent improvement, you're doing well on a typical car of the last 10 years. Ben, anyone can talk about this sort of stuff – you know, it’s “easy” to improve fuel economy. The short answer is that it is NOT.

If it was easy to gain a 50 per cent improvement in fuel economy with a minor trade off in power, don’t you think it would be being done? Even DI petrol engines don’t have anything like a 50 per cent improvement – perhaps you might like to read our DI article – http://www.autospeed.com.au/cms/A_1761/article.html

By all means head off and experiment, but if you can gain in real world use even a 5-10 per cent improvement, you’re doing well on a typical car of the last 10 years.

]]> By: Ben http://blog.autospeed.com/2008/01/15/all-those-technological-breakthroughs/comment-page-1/#comment-16241 Ben Wed, 16 Jan 2008 10:49:27 +0000 http://blog.autospeed.com/2008/01/15/all-those-technological-breakthroughs/#comment-16241 That's why I said most, not all. The insight is already designed primarily for economy. But if it is a petrol engine without direct injection (I don't know much about DI petrols), it should be able to be measureably improved. Remember the figures I worked on for your EF? I think it worked out to be about 18% efficient on a 100km/h cruise. Changing that shouldn't be that hard if you are prepared to redesign things, not just modify them. That’s why I said most, not all. The insight is already designed primarily for economy. But if it is a petrol engine without direct injection (I don’t know much about DI petrols), it should be able to be measureably improved.

Remember the figures I worked on for your EF? I think it worked out to be about 18% efficient on a 100km/h cruise. Changing that shouldn’t be that hard if you are prepared to redesign things, not just modify them.

]]> By: Julian Edgar http://blog.autospeed.com/2008/01/15/all-those-technological-breakthroughs/comment-page-1/#comment-16177 Julian Edgar Wed, 16 Jan 2008 06:43:05 +0000 http://blog.autospeed.com/2008/01/15/all-those-technological-breakthroughs/#comment-16177 What else would we need? - in short, no idea. It would depend too much on the product, its engineering, cost etc However, at least one thing would probably be installation on an AutoSpeed staffer's car so we could assess it for ourselves. I'd really like to see the Honda Insight's fuel economy double - to be blunt, I think the likelihood is zero. What else would we need? – in short, no idea. It would depend too much on the product, its engineering, cost etc

However, at least one thing would probably be installation on an AutoSpeed staffer’s car so we could assess it for ourselves. I’d really like to see the Honda Insight’s fuel economy double – to be blunt, I think the likelihood is zero.

]]> By: Ben http://blog.autospeed.com/2008/01/15/all-those-technological-breakthroughs/comment-page-1/#comment-16093 Ben Tue, 15 Jan 2008 12:47:24 +0000 http://blog.autospeed.com/2008/01/15/all-those-technological-breakthroughs/#comment-16093 Ok so say someone had a fuel system designed for economy, that could double the economy in most cars, cost 5-10% in outright power, was installed on a common car, and was made available to you, with all questions answered to the best of the inventor's ability. What else would you need to run an article on the fuel system? Ok so say someone had a fuel system designed for economy, that could double the economy in most cars, cost 5-10% in outright power, was installed on a common car, and was made available to you, with all questions answered to the best of the inventor’s ability.

What else would you need to run an article on the fuel system?

]]> By: Julian Edgar http://blog.autospeed.com/2008/01/15/all-those-technological-breakthroughs/comment-page-1/#comment-16089 Julian Edgar Tue, 15 Jan 2008 11:31:45 +0000 http://blog.autospeed.com/2008/01/15/all-those-technological-breakthroughs/#comment-16089 Revetec wasn't covered when I was editor. [shrug] I can write articles on breakthroughs that will never achieve any success. But that means that some articles on how to do real things, right now, won't appear - there's only so many editorial resources available. It's easiest for people to simply do their own web searches on things such as water powered cars, breakthrough engines, etc, etc Revetec wasn’t covered when I was editor.

[shrug] I can write articles on breakthroughs that will never achieve any success. But that means that some articles on how to do real things, right now, won’t appear – there’s only so many editorial resources available. It’s easiest for people to simply do their own web searches on things such as water powered cars, breakthrough engines, etc, etc

]]> By: Russ http://blog.autospeed.com/2008/01/15/all-those-technological-breakthroughs/comment-page-1/#comment-16088 Russ Tue, 15 Jan 2008 10:20:03 +0000 http://blog.autospeed.com/2008/01/15/all-those-technological-breakthroughs/#comment-16088 Come on Julian, share the not so groundbreaking 'breakthroughs' with all of us. I concur most of them will never make it to production but, knowledge empowers all. That knowledge shared may lead to a serious "breakthrough" that can be convincingly demonstrated. Perhaps a separate page briefly listing the "breakthrough" and its URL. Come on Julian, share the not so groundbreaking ‘breakthroughs’ with all of us.
I concur most of them will never make it to production but, knowledge empowers all. That knowledge shared may lead to a serious “breakthrough” that can be convincingly demonstrated. Perhaps a separate page briefly listing the “breakthrough” and its URL.

]]> By: Oosh http://blog.autospeed.com/2008/01/15/all-those-technological-breakthroughs/comment-page-1/#comment-16067 Oosh Mon, 14 Jan 2008 22:16:37 +0000 http://blog.autospeed.com/2008/01/15/all-those-technological-breakthroughs/#comment-16067 You also covered the Revetec engine here: http://www.autospeed.com/cms/A_1500/article.html You also covered the Revetec engine here:
http://www.autospeed.com/cms/A_1500/article.html

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