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Are we thinking about the hybrid the wrong way?
Best I understand it a hybrid has 2 power sources. Sadly though battery technology is way behind what our needs are.
While driving my max, I noticed the scan guage tells me only 50 hp (or less) is required to keep the vehicle moving. I've also learned that pumping losses are one of the biggest fuel economy disadvantages of the throttle body equipped gas engine.
If a sedan were equipped with a rear axle from a truck with a motorcycle engine attached to the rear axle, and the front wheel drive car remained intact otherwise, wouldn't better economy be acheived by using the underpowered motorcycle engine for cruising? This is also assuming a fuel injected motorcycle engine, which would be slightly more efficient, and a water cooled one would be more ideal. Have the fuel from the car's OEM tank routed to the motorcycle engine as well as the OEM engine. The MC engine would likely have to be run at WOT or nearly so to produce the necessay power, but that is more efficient anyway. The advantage vs a battery powered setup would be less weight, and likely less room required (I had initially thought of a similar arrangement, substituting the MC engine with an electric motor and battery pack)
Is there any merit to this idea, or will it simply be buried into the pages of my many unfounded ideas based on incomplete data?
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 RIP Maxima 1997-2012
Quote:
Originally Posted by jamesqf
I think you missed the point I was trying to make, which is that it's not rational to do either speed or fuel economy mods for economic reasons. You do it as a form of recreation, for the fun and for the challenge.
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