Autoblog

Ford is looking for ways to pack their automobiles with innovative technology that achieves the seemingly impossible goal of using smaller, more efficient engines while still delivering the performance wallop customers are demanding. Not only is the Blue Oval seeking more involvement from their suppliers to push new technology and techniques forward, but the automaker's also looking outside the typical realm of automotive OEMs.

One promising new technology is a system developed by a Massachusetts Institute of Technology startup company. Putting a modern-day spin on the concept of water or alcohol injection to either boost octane or cool the cylinder charge (or both), the MIT developed fuel injection system uses direct injection to deliver a shot of ethanol when the engine is under heavy load. The intravenous drip allows turbocharger boost pressure to be cranked way up, adding a significant amount of power gain. Normally, with your wastegate actuators cranked all the way down, you'd discover new and exciting ways to ventilate the crankcase, but this system keeps detonation at bay, which keeps the pistons in the block.

[Source: Automotive News - Sub. Req.]

Diesel technology has improved by leaps and bounds, but the trouble is, it still runs on diesel. In the American market, at least, finding a diesel pump is still a pain compared to filling up with conventional gasoline. Mercedes-Benz says it's found the solution with a new developmental powertrain concept it calls DiesOtto.

We first reported on the project a couple of years ago, but the German automaker now has a functioning prototype. Rather than actually running on diesel, the DiesOtto engine is said to incorporate the benefits of a diesel engine, but runs on regular old unleaded. The prototype is a 1.8-liter four-cylinder engine that uses direct injection, variable compression, turbocharging and something MB calls "controlled auto ignition" to deliver 238 horsepower and 295 lb-ft of torque, with a claimed return of "less than 6 liters per 100 kilometers", which translates to 39.2 mpg. Those numbers, Benz claims, are not based on a small car (like the C-Class or smaller) but on a large sedan (like the S-Class). They may not be entirely revolutionary figures, but any way you look at it, they're damn impressive.

Mercedes hasn't put a timeline on producing and marketing a powertrain based on the DiesOtto prototype, but says it's a "feasible proposition in the midterm". We certainly hope so.

[Source: Edmunds' Inside Line]