Quote:
Originally Posted by chrisoverson
So, back to the original point, could I put on a motor in place of the power steering? If so would the belt be able to transfer enough energy to the engine to make a positive difference...
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A key to the mild hybrid idea is to replace the starter and alternator with a single motor-generator that can assist the engine. It adds no additional weight and is a simpler design. Strange it still isn't common even today.
What it allows is to tune the engine to have less low-RPM torque.
If you just ADD the weight of the motor, and don't retune the engine to take full advantage of the electric power, I don't think the gains will be much, since even the tuned versions it isn't that big.
For stop-n-go, a Prius can yeild large improvement because the engine isn't running at all, and braking can put back the power used. You get none of that with the mild hybrid and certainly not the add-on approach.
Swap your car with a Prius, it requires no work or mechanical skill at all and you get 50mpg, and not only does it look oem, it IS oem.
You will not be able to do yourself anything better and cheaper, without changing cars and/or engines.