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By John Fossen, FCN
There's a lot of life left in the gasoline internal combustion engine, and new technologies will continue to squeeze out more horsepower, better fuel economy and fewer emissions, says one auto analyst.
"There is a whole range of stuff coming, such as computer controls and injection systems," said AutoPacific's Jim Hall. "Every time somebody counts the (internal combustion) engine out, improvements are made."
In recent years, improvements such as three and four valves per cylinder and variable cam timing have all helped the engine breathe better.
"The more air an engine breathes in and the better it is managed within the combustion chamber, the better it is for power, torque, fuel economy, and emissions," said Christopher Borrello, Ford powertrain strategist and competitive analyst.
Advancements in sensors, actuators, and computer software have allowed for more precise fuel delivery into each cylinder, which increases engine performance and limits emissions. Direct injection of fuel takes the process to an even greater level.
"In most engines in North America today, fuel is injected into the intake air stream, and the mixture of fuel and air then rushes into the cylinder. With direct injection, fuel is sprayed directly into the combustion chamber at high pressure, then detonated," explained Borrello. "This typically enables both increased power and fuel economy."
Direct injection is common on diesel engines, but has only recently appeared on a few gasoline engines in the North American market.
"Direct injection is a little more costly, but offers several benefits," said Borrello. "We're seeing this technology on more expensive vehicles, but it's already moving to higher volume products."
Hall singled out direct-injection systems from Toyota and Volkswagen as among the best in the industry. He also sees cylinder deactivation, also known as variable displacement, as potentially becoming more widespread. This technology, typically used on V-8 engines, shuts down cylinders not needed, such as while highway cruising, in order to improve fuel economy.
"It's incredibly complicated, but appears to have no negative impact on power when running on eight cylinders," said Hall.
"Cadillac tried cylinder deactivation in the early 1980s, but it failed because there wasn't enough computing power to make it work," said Borrello. "Now there is, and several automakers are using cylinder deactivation. For the time being, Ford has opted to pursue other technologies to improve fuel economy, but we're continuing to evaluate variable displacement."
Borrello thinks that turbochargers will increase in popularity. Turbochargers force more air into an engine to boost performance. This technology allows smaller engines to produce as much horsepower as larger engines, with better overall fuel economy.
"Turbos are expensive," Borrello said, "but I think we're going to see more of them in the coming years combined with direct injection."
Hall sees electric valve actuation as a potential new engine-enhancing technology, albeit down the road a bit.
"Basically, we're talking about an engine without a camshaft, which would allow for true 100 percent independent control of engine valves," explained Hall. "But that will require a lot more sophisticated computer capability than we have now."
"The extent to which we can control the valves -- the engine intake and exhaust valves -- will go a long way in determining how much more we can boost fuel economy, horsepower and emissions performance in gasoline internal combustion engines," said Borrello. "Hybrids and diesels will make inroads, but the gasoline internal combustion engine isn't going away anytime soon.
There's a lot of life left in the gasoline internal combustion engine, and new technologies will continue to squeeze out more horsepower, better fuel economy and fewer emissions, says one auto analyst.
"There is a whole range of stuff coming, such as computer controls and injection systems," said AutoPacific's Jim Hall. "Every time somebody counts the (internal combustion) engine out, improvements are made."
In recent years, improvements such as three and four valves per cylinder and variable cam timing have all helped the engine breathe better.
"The more air an engine breathes in and the better it is managed within the combustion chamber, the better it is for power, torque, fuel economy, and emissions," said Christopher Borrello, Ford powertrain strategist and competitive analyst.
Advancements in sensors, actuators, and computer software have allowed for more precise fuel delivery into each cylinder, which increases engine performance and limits emissions. Direct injection of fuel takes the process to an even greater level.
"In most engines in North America today, fuel is injected into the intake air stream, and the mixture of fuel and air then rushes into the cylinder. With direct injection, fuel is sprayed directly into the combustion chamber at high pressure, then detonated," explained Borrello. "This typically enables both increased power and fuel economy."
Direct injection is common on diesel engines, but has only recently appeared on a few gasoline engines in the North American market.
"Direct injection is a little more costly, but offers several benefits," said Borrello. "We're seeing this technology on more expensive vehicles, but it's already moving to higher volume products."
Hall singled out direct-injection systems from Toyota and Volkswagen as among the best in the industry. He also sees cylinder deactivation, also known as variable displacement, as potentially becoming more widespread. This technology, typically used on V-8 engines, shuts down cylinders not needed, such as while highway cruising, in order to improve fuel economy.
"It's incredibly complicated, but appears to have no negative impact on power when running on eight cylinders," said Hall.
"Cadillac tried cylinder deactivation in the early 1980s, but it failed because there wasn't enough computing power to make it work," said Borrello. "Now there is, and several automakers are using cylinder deactivation. For the time being, Ford has opted to pursue other technologies to improve fuel economy, but we're continuing to evaluate variable displacement."
Borrello thinks that turbochargers will increase in popularity. Turbochargers force more air into an engine to boost performance. This technology allows smaller engines to produce as much horsepower as larger engines, with better overall fuel economy.
"Turbos are expensive," Borrello said, "but I think we're going to see more of them in the coming years combined with direct injection."
Hall sees electric valve actuation as a potential new engine-enhancing technology, albeit down the road a bit.
"Basically, we're talking about an engine without a camshaft, which would allow for true 100 percent independent control of engine valves," explained Hall. "But that will require a lot more sophisticated computer capability than we have now."
"The extent to which we can control the valves -- the engine intake and exhaust valves -- will go a long way in determining how much more we can boost fuel economy, horsepower and emissions performance in gasoline internal combustion engines," said Borrello. "Hybrids and diesels will make inroads, but the gasoline internal combustion engine isn't going away anytime soon.
