Quote:
Originally Posted by Old Tele man
If the vehicle requires only 15 road HP to do 50 mph, increasing the POSSIBLE output is not going to produce a noticeable difference. However, if that increased HP occurs at LOWER, and not HIGHER, engine RPMs, then, yes, it will improve fuel economy; for example, the great leap downward in displacements coupled with concurrent turbo-charging, where TORQUE becomes "flat" from slightly above idle until just before maximum HP occurs.
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Very true mostly, lol. If the potential power under the curve is increased via increased engine efficiency, all else being equal, then engine 'load' is decreased vs the less efficient engine and it doesn't have to burn the added fuel (ie convert one form of energy into another) to accomplish the same results, in your scenario achieving 15HP to maintain speed, with no change in RPM.
Absolutely the new tiny turbo motors are amazing, but so are the variable valve timed NA motors, such as my '12 GT. It makes more power than my 5.0L pushrod Fox Body, weighs more, and gets better fuel economy despite the fact that the engines have the 'same' displacement, 5.0L and 8 cylinders. The new Coyote engine is freakishly efficient with it's DOHC and variable cam timing vs the dinosaur pushrod engine, and as such in the same scenarios it's able to accomplish the same tasks while using less fuel (same 91 octane).
Pretty amazing stuff, physics