Archive for Technology

Ever heard of the Caparo T1? Well, now you have. It’s what you might consider calling a two-seater F1 car for the road. It’s powered by a 2.4 liter high revving V8 engine, similiar to an F1 car, and it makes up to 700 horsepower (only after some extra tuning though – some say only around 500hp at stock levels) at an astronomical 10,200rpm. Now that is a huge amount of horsepower for a car expected to weigh just under 470kg.

It can also corner almost like an F1 car – 3Gs of cornering force is achievable compared to an F1 car’s 4.5Gs. 0-100km/h takes only 2.5 seconds, but the most impressive feature is it’s braking ability – 0kmh to 160kmh and back to 0kmh in 8.5 seconds. That’s only 3.5 seconds to brake from 160kmh to a stand still, thanks to it’s 6-piston billet machined race calipers on steel brakes for the front, and 4-piston calipers for the rear.

The Caparo team consists of engineering legends like Gordon Murray, whom some of you might know as he is a columnist of Evo magazine. He was responsible for the McLaren F1. And that is enough to make you an engineering legend. The other team members are mostly ex-McLaren employees

A video after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Caparo T1 – an F1 car for the streets

The results of the 2007 International Engine Of The Year awards are out. The question everyone will be asking is – will the BMW 5.0 liter V10 be able to persevere and continue it’s reign as the award winner for the third time consecutively this year? Or will it be out-triumphed by a rival from another manufacturer, or perhaps another engine from BMW’s own stables? We find out what the results are after the jump!

Click here to read the rest of International Engine Of The Year 2007 Results

Come 9th May 2007, we’ll know the results of the 9th International Engine of the Year Awards. Last year BMW dominated the awards and won the main title for the second consecutive year with it’s 5.0 liter V10 found in the BMW M5 and M6.

This year’s contenders include Volkswagen’s 1.4 liter TSI engine which employs innovative use of both a supercharger and a turbocharger, Porsche’s 3.6 liter twin turbo which is the first petrol turbocharged engine to use a Variable Geometry Turbocharger, and Toyota’s 1.0 liter three-cylinder engine which is supposedly the lightest combustion engine on sale today. Of course, there’s Volkswagen’s 2.0 potent liter Turbo FSI.

For now, let’s recap the results for 2005 and 2006 in the posts linked below.

Related Posts:
2006 International Engine Of The Year Awards Results
BMW Dominates 2005 International Engine Of The Year Awards

ZF, a company whose gearboxes are in many of our cars including that sweet new fast shifting quick locking 6-speed auto in modern BMWs has unveiled a new 8-speed automatic gearbox and presented it at the 28th International Vienna Motor Symposium.

Though some of you may think ZF is yet another automakers who wants to lead in the cog race, which is currently led by Lexus with their 8-speed auto, but ZF says number of gears was not a priority when designing this unit.

“Our main development target was to find a transmission concept which allows for significant additional fuel consumption reduction and thus offers tangible added value to our customers and drivers without making any compromises in terms of performance”, explains Dr. Michael Paul, ZF Executive Vice President, Technology and Group Executive of the Car Driveline Technology division. It just so happened that to achieve those targets, 8 gears was needed.

The new gearbox can also handle larger input torque with the same weight as compared to the previous model, the second generation 6-speed that’s found in the 335i. It was also designed to be modular, which means it can be used in all-wheel drive systems without much modification. The torque converter can be replaced by new clutches or could be omitted completely when an integrated starting clutch is used.

The new ZF 8-speed automatic transmission will be used in the F01/F02 2009 BMW 7-Series in the flagship V12 model, and possibly the Rolls Royce RR4 later.

Volkswagen has revealed yet another new engine at the 2007 Vienna International Motor Symposium. This new unit is a 1.4 liter turbocharged unit making 122 horsepower and 200Nm of torque from as low as 1,500rpm! This unit is not to be confused with Volkswagen’s 1.4 liter TSI engines which are available in both 140hp and 170hp forms, as this new 122hp engine only uses a turbocharger without the addition of a supercharger as with the TSI engines.

Volkswagen also demonstrated it’s new DQ200 7-speed DSG gearbox, which adds one more gear ratio to it’s existing DG250 six-speed DSG units. The 7-speed DQ200 handles torque figures of up to 200Nm, making it suitable for low displacement applications like this new 1.4 liter TFSI. It won’t find it’s way into performance models until can sustain more torque.

Related Posts:
Volkswagen Super Turbo
Volkswagen Golf GT 1.4 TSI and 2.0 TDI
Audi debuts new 2.8 FSI V6, 1.8 TFSI and 2.0 TFSI
Volkswagen DSG – Direct Shift Gearbox
VW phases out automatics; makes way for DSG

Something new to the internal combustion engine world is HCCI — Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition, yet to be seen in any production vehicle by any manufacturer. A few car manufacturers have been experimenting with this, among them Honda who wants to introduce HCCI with it’s IMA Hybrid system.

What exactly is HCCI? Basically. Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition ignites an air fuel mixture without any flame, plus a large area can be ignited simultaneously, much different from a conventional spark flame burn where the mixture burns first from the area around the initial spark and proceeds to the rest of the combustion chamber. This is somewhat similiar to a diesel engine’s self-ignition. Diesel self-ignition is called SCCI, or Stratified Charge Compression Ignition.

Engineers have predicted a potential 20 to 30% boost in engine efficiency over conventional gasoline combustion engines, and an improved thermal efficiency of about 40% to 50%. Honda calls it’s HCCI technology Activated Radical Combustion, and have been experimenting with two-stroke motorcycle engines. A 4-cylinder HCCI engine for cars is also in development, though currently progress has enabled HCCI on the lower RPM ranges of about 0 to 4,000rpm only. However, during normal non-spirited driving the rev rarely goes above 4,000rpm anyway.

A key problem is how to measure ignition timing accurately. This is not a problem in diesel self-ignition, as hot air is compressed and ignition starts when fuel is injected into the combustion chamber filled with the hot air. In a HCCI gasoline engine, the air-fuel mix is already in the combustion chamber before the piston starts compressing it. According to Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, some ways to ovecome this would be to recirculate exhaust gases into the fuel/air mix to quickly raise its temperature, or to add dimethyl ether to the fuel/air mixture to improve combustion.

Another idea would be to compress the air-fuel mixture to the point where it is just about to ignite, then injecting a second dosage of low octane fuel that combusts easily. That fuel would detonate, increasing temperature and detonating the rest of the air fuel mixture. The ignition timing could start from whenever the engine injects that second dosage of fuel.

Related Sites:
HCCI engines could bring breakthrough fuel efficiency

Through a patent filing filed by Honda Motor Co Japan, we now have a preview on how Honda’s next generation AVTEC system will work. Basically, AVTEC enhances the features of VTEC and i-VTEC by providing a fully variable valve timing and lift control system. i-VTEC previously provides continuous valve timing, but not valve lift. The only fully variable valve timing and lift system on the market currently is BMW’s Valvetronic, which also removes the need for a throttle butterfly. Every other system as of today has fully variable valve timing, but valve lift is only switchable between two fixed profiles.

So how does AVTEC work? The full text of the patent including drawings is available after the jump, but I will attempt to summarise it from whatever understanding I have. Honda’s new AVTEC system basically uses a small drum that surrounds the intake camshaft. This drum is connected to a rocker shaft. When this drum turns, it alters the position of the rocket shaft, thus affecting valve timing and valve lift.

Read the full patent together with diagrams after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Honda files Advanced VTEC patent

I’ve tried out BMW’s 2.0 liter inline-4 turbodiesel engine used in the BMW 320d and have had good experiences with it, despite the noticable turbo lag. BMW has upped the ante once again with it’s second twin-turbodiesel engine after the 3.0 liter twin turbodiesel used in the 535d and 335d.

The previous 3.0 liter twinturbo was a record in production car turbodiesel application, making 91 horsepower per liter and ridiculously huge amounts of torque. This new 2.0 liter twinturbo inline-4 surpasses that, making roughly 100hp per liter – it’s power figures are 204 horsepower and 400Nm of torque! For comparison’s sake, it’s single-turbo sibling in the 320d I tested makes 163hp at 4,000rpm and 340Nm of torque between 2,000rpm to 2,750rpm.

The 400Nm figure is as much torque as what the new M3’s 4.0 liter V8 makes. All 400 Newton meters kick in at a low 2,000rpm, but that’s not the best part. Half of that, which is 200 Newton meters, is available from just 1,200rpm! That’s only slightly above idle!

The twin turbocharging system is a sequential one, instead of parallel like the 335i’s N54 Bi-Turbo. In this sequential system, a smaller turbo takes care of the low revs while a bigger one boosts power towards the redline. Despite all that power, fuel consumption is just 4.9 liters of diesel per 100 km.

Opel currently unofficially holds the record of the highest horsepower per displacement for a turbodiesel. It’s OPC division developed 1.9 liter ECOTEC CDTI twin-turbo makes 112hp per liter, for a total of 212hp and 400Nm of torque, which kicks in lower at only 1,400rpm. However, since it’s announcement in early 2004, it has not been used in any production car yet.

One more photo and a torque curve graph after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of New BMW 204hp, 400Nm twin turbodiesel inline-4

BMW’s new and upcoming E92 BMW M3 marks the shift to V8 power after 15 years of six-cylinder power. The E46 M3’s 3.2 liter straight-six was a legend, and is still being used by the current Z4 M Coupe and Roadster. The engine clinched the Engine of the Year award multiple times. It made 343hp in it’s latest edition. But in it’s main application in the M3, it’s time for it to bow and leave the stage and make way for it’s successor, the new BMW M V8 engine.

This new engine displaces 3,999cc and makes 420hp at 8,300rpm, It is a screamer, revving all the way to a redline of 8,400rpm. Torque peaks at 3,900rpm with 400 newton meters, with 340Nm available from as low as 2,000rpm. The new 4.0 liter V8 is also amazingly lighter than the 3.2 liter inline-6 it replaces, weighing in at a mere 202kg, 15kg lighter than the inline-6, despite an additional 2 cylinders and all the extra valvetrain parts for a 90 degree V-design.

The valvetrain uses double-VANOS variable camshaft control now with a new low pressure design, and intake is via eight individual throttle butterflies for the best in engine response time. And of course, in line with BMW’s new Efficient Dynamics plan, it has Brake Energy Regeneration, usually not found in non-hybrid cars.

While it all looks impressive, I was expecting more torque than this, however it’s very commendable that BMW managed to make most of the torque available from a relatively low RPM, despite the very wide rev range that peaks at 8,300rpm. I wonder why BMW decided not to fit the engine with direct injection.

Somehow I feel the M3 is not going to be as exciting as I thought it would be. Sure, it’s an M3, and I would love the chance to drive it if somehow circumstances let me. But just not that much. I reckon a 335i M Sport tuned up to the regions of 370hp and ALOT more torque than the 400Nm this V8 makes as well sounds like the better deal. Just give it a Hartge LSD for it to keep up with the M3 with that wonderful M differential around the corners. But of course that’s all aftermarket and in the end, it still wouldn’t be an M3. It would just be a tricked out 335i. And later, a tricked out M3 will come along and smoke it.

Please head on to the BMW M3 V8 Engine Photo gallery for a collection of high resolution photos as well as an image showing the torque curve of this new engine.

A full technical press release is after the jump.

Related Posts:
BMW M3 Concept at Geneva 2007
BMW M3 testing at the Nurburgring track

Click here to read the rest of The New BMW M3 V8 Engine Specifications

So you’ve got the drum brake, then the disc brake, then the disc brake with multiple calipers. Then you improve that further with slots, cross-drill holes and make the whole disc ventilated. Even brake by wire has been introduced. What next, something totally different?

Introducing the Electronic Wedge Brake (EWB), a technology by Siemens VDO, based on a concept from aerospace engineering. The Electronic Wedge Brake completely bypasses any hydraulic system, instead it is powered by a simple 12-volt power system that already exists in the car. The system also has a faster reaction time, it works about a third quicker than conventional brakes, only requiring 100ms to reach full braking power compared to a hydraulic brake’s 170ms.

Basically, a brake pad connected to a wedge is pressed between the rod and the disc through the use of electric motors. The electric motors turn and push the pad onto the disc. The use of a wedge means braking power is multiplied with minimal energy expenditure (about one tenth of hydraulic brakes), through the principle of self-energization. The faster you are going, the stronger the brake force is going to be. The lack of a physical connection between brake pedal and brakes also makes this a brake by wire system by default. Sensors measuring wheel speed about a hundred times a second can adjust brake forces and wedge position to a high degree of accuracy, somewhat like ABS and stability control rolled into one.

Test results have been amazing so far. An Audi A6 fitted with the Electronic Wedge Brake system was put to the test comparing against another A6 with conventional brakes. The braking distance required from 100 km/h to 0 km/h was reduced by half in the EWB-equipped A6!

However, all brake by wire systems make you wonder what would happen if somehow power supply were to be disrupted. Something simple like the battery going flat because the engine’s alternator malfunctioned. To take care of this, the EWB is specified to be connected to two power supplies, a main one and a backup one with a secondary battery.

This is a good advancement in braking technology. The first car with EWD is expected to debut by 2010, and it will most likely be a German marque. Might be Audi since they were testing with Audis. More photos and a video after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Siemens Electronic Wedge Brake (EWB)