Alternative Fuels

Volkswagen: From Supercar to Superfrugal

11:06 AM, 14/10/2007 .. Posted in Diesel Vehicles .. 0 comments .. Link

Reports coming out this week have been confirming that Volkswagen are planning to release a super-frugal car capable of 1L/100km (235mpg) by as early as 2010.

Its body will be constructed from plastic and magnesium and its power source will be a one-cylinder engine displacing just 0.3L using direct injection and constructed from aluminum to save weight.

Even with such a small engine, which is tipped to displace less than 0.3L, the car should be able to reach speeds of up to 120km/h thanks to its super-slippery drag coefficient of 0.159. Top speed would be around 120km/h and fuel consumption around the 1L/100km mark.

As outrageous as the idea of a 1L/100km car sounds, it should be remembered that this is the company that everyone laughed at when when they proposed a 746kw (1,001-hp), 8.0-liter, 16-cylinder Bugatti-badged supercar capable of 400km/h (252mp/h) but they did it and by all reports have done it well.

The Bugatti Veyron supercar:

Alfa Romeo 147 JTD

8:15 PM, 18/9/2006 .. Posted in Diesel Vehicles .. 0 comments .. Link

Alfa Romeo 147 JTD
Although the Alfa Romeo 147's diesel engine is, at 1.9 litres, slightly smaller than its petrol counterpart, the 2 litre Twin Spark engine, they both produce same power, 110kW. Compared to the Twin Spark engine's 181 Nm of torque, the 1.9 JTD produces an epic 305Nm, or 5Nm more than the 3.2 V6 engine in the 147 GTA. The 147 JTD is quicker to 100km/h by half a second compared to the petrol car and reaches the same 208km/h top speed.

On the open road, the 147 JTD is using just 4.7 litres per 100km (60 miles per gallon), while carbon dioxide emissions are slashed from more than 210g/km to just 157. The fact that the 1.9 litre JTD engine also is unusually light and compact compared to both diesel rivals and petrol engines with similar torque figures not only enhances economy, it also further improves handling and roadholding as it reduces weight over the front wheels and enables even more effective use of that 305Nm of torque.

Engine: 16-valve - 1.9-litre turbo diesel
Torque: 305Nm @ 2000rpm
Power: 112kW @ 4000rpm

Diesel Engines - More energy efficient

7:52 PM, 18/9/2006 .. Posted in Diesel Vehicles .. 0 comments .. Link

The diesel engine has been adapted for almost every use to which other kinds of engine have been put. A noteworthy characteristic of the diesel engine is its ability to produce consistently high torque at low crankshaft speeds. This ability enables it to "hang on" better than a petrol engine can. The most important characteristic of the high-speed diesel engine is its ability to burn a safe and cheap fuel and extract more useful energy for a given mass of fuel than a petrol engine. Moreover, the exhaust gases from a diesel engine are almost completely free of carbon monoxide whereas a certain amount of this toxic gas is invariably present in the exhaust of a petrol engine.

Efficient use of fuel is made possible by the high internal pressures developed in the cylinder of the diesel engine. The thermal efficiency of petrol engines seldom exceeds 25 percent, but diesel engines under ordinary conditions have efficiencies as high as 40 percent.

In the petrol engine, combustion spreads through the entire airfuel mixture at a rate determined by the speed at which the charge can be brought to ignition temperature. As a result, burning of the fuel charge is completed early in the power stroke and, because the piston is still very near t.d.c., the gas pressure rises sharply to a value of approximately four times that of the compression. The heated gases expand during nearly all of the power stroke. In the diesel engine, fuel is injected into the cylinder over a definite period of time. Although the combustion pressure rises to a value of only about twice that of the compression, this pressure is maintained over a greater portion of the stroke. Hence the diesel engine can develop high torque at low speeds-a desirable feature in engines for heavy transport vehicles.

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