Posted on Wednesday, September 29, 2010 - 03:59 pm:
Direct injection is coming to the mainstream. Better gas mileage and more power.
What Ford is doing with direct injection and turbos is pretty freaking amazing. Diesel-like torque AND gas engine high RPM power. Check out this article:
365 hp and 420 lb-ft on regular unleaded out of a 3.5L V-6. And this isn't some limited use, "put your foot in it occasionally" engine, it's a damn TRUCK engine.
Hmmm, I wonder how hard it would be to add direct injection to our Ulys?
Posted on Wednesday, September 29, 2010 - 06:11 pm:
Buewulf, You still need to get air into the combustion chamber so the throttle plate stays.
Looks like the torque increase is from higher compression pistons. So to update a ULY motor to direct injection would take a minimum of changing to higher compression pistons, new ECM, and machining for direct injection. 60 mpg, 120 hp 120 ft-lbs torque. And a change of shorts. Nice update.
Posted on Wednesday, September 29, 2010 - 09:45 pm:
Motus and Moto Cycz are cool. Their engineering is USA at its best, just as Buell's. It gives me pause and hope to see the USA making these efforts. The trick is to get them to market. The competition against China is only going to become more tense. Neat bikes are popping up all over the world. Chances are, a lot of these bikes and- or their components will be manufactured offshore, just like the Buells were. It would be uber cool if they could be manufactured here.
Posted on Thursday, September 30, 2010 - 05:49 pm:
There needs to be something to control air flow. If it doesn't have a throttle body then they might use the intake valves like BMW automotive engines. (not all) BMW vary's the opening of the intake valves to control rpm. Very cool.
Posted on Thursday, September 30, 2010 - 07:21 pm:
Ft Bstrd,
Because Gasoline burns at a very narrow range mixture of fuel to air. It needs to be close to 14% plus or minus a couple hundreths. Diesel burns or rather more explodes at almost any mixture, which is why a diesel engine as far as air is concerned is always WOT. in a diesel, you control speed/power with how much is injected. Gasoline, one way or another both need to be regulated to work. So one way or another air needs to be regulated, and a throttle plate would most likely be the simplest, and lightest solution.
Posted on Thursday, September 30, 2010 - 08:49 pm:
Look at the video, you can see 4 throttle bodies in the picture, but you can't see in them far enough to see the butterfly's. You can see the plugs from where the hole for the throttle shafts was bored.
Posted on Thursday, September 30, 2010 - 10:39 pm:
I saw the Motus "renderings" in magazines and didn't take it seriously at all. Great to hear something like that actually run and sound awesome doing it too!
Because Gasoline burns at a very narrow range mixture of fuel to air. It needs to be close to 14% plus or minus a couple hundreths. Diesel burns or rather more explodes at almost any mixture, which is why a diesel engine as far as air is concerned is always WOT. in a diesel, you control speed/power with how much is injected.
I don't think it's the fuel used as much as the method of ignition. Spark ignition of gasoline requires a ~14.7 to 1 mixture. Compression ignition (as used in a diesel) allows ignition to occur with the very lean mixtures.
One of the advantages of direct injected gasoline engines is that they can be operated at VERY lean fuel-to-air ratios. This is achieved by spraying the fuel so that a rich mixture is produced around the spark plug (so that ignition occurs when it's supposed to). The mixture in the remainder of the cylinder can be very lean as it is ignited by the flamefront from the rich mixture. This helps give diesel-like part load efficiency.
I think 14-1 is needed because of the throttle plates! Interesting read Electroglider. I have always said they can build a 2 stroke that does not need to use the bottom of the piston as a pump, this allowing you to oil the bottom end with engine oil.
I can see direct injected 2 strokes being developed by somebody like KTM that has the most to win by making it work.