Mazda cooking up gas motor with better than hybrid mileage

Recently, Mazda announced the company is testing an engine that will get 70 miles per gallon. Ford is working on a similar project with their 45 miles per gallon Focus. Mazda is designing an ultra-efficient internal combustion engine and not a hybrid at all. The principles at work are fairly basic, but the engineering is anything however.

Hybrids aren't as good as the Mazda engine

There has been buzz over a prototype engine Mazda is testing, as outlined by CNN. The point of the engine is to get about 70 miles per gallon. It is fairly close to that goal too. Fuel consumption that low will certainly be attractive, so long as the car is reasonably priced. There could be two technologies used by the motor. Variable valve timing and direct fuel injection are these. Ignition is much better with direct injection. This is because rather than injecting fuel on top of the bloc, it is injected to the piston chamber directly. Variable valve timing is where rather than mechanically set and unvarying valve operation, valves are automated via computer and adjusted into the most efficient rhythm. It is new technology that is getting used. Of course, it is a very basic idea still.

Simple ideas involved

The science behind the Mazda motor and the 45 mpg Focus is quite basic. It involves two principles, mechanical advantage and mechanical efficiency. Mechanical efficiency is easy. It is, in order to perform, the energy expended in a ratio needed. Mechanical advantage is how much force a machine can produce from a unit of energy. The fuel efficiency in an engine can be better the better the mechanical advantage, or the power extracted from a unit of fuel, is.

Having it happen in reality

If an engine can put gas in the right place at the right time, there can be more efficiency. This means more force can be created than traditional fuel injection creates. Turbocharged smaller engines are an answer also. Efficiency is increased there as well. Hybrid cars are an engineering marvel, though the technology is still in its relative infancy. The traditional combustion engine will be used for a long time still. It could be fun to see how technology can advance with it.

Articles cited

CNN

money.cnn.com/2010/11/02/autos/gas_engine_improvements/index.htm

Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mechanical_advantage

Wikipedia

wikipedia.org/wiki/Mechanical_efficiency