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It may seem slightly off topic but I wonder if the Atkins cycle is similar to what those "30mpg musclecar" type Crower Mile-A-More (or Isky or whoever did them) camshafts which basically took a 1960's hot rod type engine with up to 13:1 stock compression ratio yet would make it run on modern 92 octane pump gas while knocking down good mileage. By all accounts below 2500rpm they were absolute dogs without torque, and they basically worked by bleeding off intake cylinder pressure before closing so there would be less air-fuel charge in the cylinder and less effective compression on what was there since it only closed after the piston was on it's way back up. By all accounts it worked, a shoebox style 1933ish ford vicky tested by Hot Rod Magazine with a 5.7L V8 chevy, no overdrives, no fuel injection, got a solid 25mpg plus on the highway using one.
I guess i'm just wondering if that was an early Atkinson cycle, or the Prius-engine is just the modern take on that idea which seemed to be almost abandoned after it's brief stint in the aftermarket in the early 1980's.
I hope that factoid was of use to someone or that someone who knows better could comment as I posted on this topic once before but didn't see the level of followup I hoped for.
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