from 4 years ago! Interesting concept, BMW does a similar thing as he explains. Promotional videos from the manufacturer:
(1 vote)
Koenigseggs freevalve system
from 4 years ago! Interesting concept, BMW does a similar thing as he explains. Promotional videos from the manufacturer:
Comments
(Site Administrator)
that's a lot going on for something that occurs many times per second. it will be interesting to see what kind of longevity the system offers when implemented into the commercial market. i wonder if it would be simple to repair of there is an issue.
(Short Spike)
Sounds to me like the slightest malfunction of that system would cause the engine to grenade itself
(Old Spike)
Like with the cam system in any other car?
With this system a failure may be less catastrophic actually:
If the pneumatics fail the car will simply stop.
Fail safes in the logic and pressure system would make the car simply stop
Then literally only a wrong actuation would "kill" the engine...
(Short Spike)
Yes, just like the cam systems in any other car. But in other cars it is driven by a far simpler chain or belt system. This one however is far more complex which makes for far more ways it can stop functioning properly.
And yes, a broken valve timing system will cause it to stop, just like for an ordinary engine. In both cases you are likely to end up with significant damage to your engine when it happens.
My point is that it has the same potential for catastrophic damage to the engine as a traditional valve control system in the event of a failure, except that it is more likely to fail because it is more complex.
(Old Spike)
Controlling the valve timing is huge as he points out - the fuel savings and effeciency gains combinations are unachieavable in fixed cam systems. With the current fixed cam system in all cars today the cam is designed for a single decision and at a specific rpm. For fuel effecient cars, it may be to cruise at 3000 rpm and be fuel effecient and anything higher or lower is worse and the whole design is a trade off for performance. Or vice-versa, all performance at high rpm (the lobby idling sound) but horrible at everything else.
This system can be controlled to be the most fuel effecient at 1,200 rpm or produce the most hp/torque at high rpm. I like the idea of being able to turn off cylinders too to reduce fuel consumption too.
Anyway, too little too late with electric coming. It's like making the 3 1/2 floppy more dense while USB drives with 100x the capacity are coming out...