Quote:
Originally Posted by Frank Lee
I don't know how much further ICE efficiency will improve, but to improve city ratings the weight will have to go down and to improve highway ratings the frontal area and/or Cd will have to go down.
Pickups, SUVs, and even cars currently have needlessly huge frontal areas, all due to fashion. When the high mpg requirements kick in, someone will have to convince the buying public that long and low is better than high and boxy. It's not impossible- the 50's and 60's were all about long and low. What goes around, comes around.
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If I recall the one article correctly, the Hyundai spark plug less gasoline engine was supposed to be 10-15% more efficient and didn’t specify what the comparison was to. Question is, more efficient than what?? I love stats.
But, I think it is safe to assume it has some increased efficiency. And not just with that particular engine, either. Even if the engine is a few percent more efficient than current new car engines, add that to aero improvements and shave some weight off, and then gas mileage is going to increase. 54.5 mpg is a stretch for a non-hybrid though.
I do agree, there probably won’t be any engine built that has some unbelievable efficiency increase over the next ten years.