Quote:
Originally Posted by ar5boosted
So, I have been looking lately at one new Suzuki, it's a resurrected old model.
- Suzuki Baleno MPG - Actual MPG from 13 Suzuki Baleno owners
I had the old model which got 25-30mpg. The new model has ie 2016/2017 now gets 44mpg.
The engine size went down from 1.6 to 1.0T but I know for a fact that these new cars are not driven softly. What are Suzuki doing ?
This new turbo baleno and vitara are now very close to being as economical as the 2003-2015 models of Prius Toyota Prius MPG - Actual MPG from 5,977 Toyota Prius owners . In fact you could read them as being the same.
My half-baked idea is that although turbo-engines not stressed running at a vacuum, it's not the air-pressure that's causing the vacuum but the fuel. If you stop providing the fuel the engine stops.
So would it be-possible / has-it-been-tried to run a convential ICE with inlet-manifold boost and a very small amount of fuel, say only just enough to keep the cylinders firing? Then simply really slow down the fueling and manage temperatures.
This would equal a high-efficiency high-compression engine right ? Obviously this requires computers that do custom thermal management and not thinking like "oh just richen everything up to cool the cylinders".
If not this, then what are Suzuki doing ? :-) |
Not quite; emissions have to be considered as well, and running lean burn (which is basically what you're considering) has not only detriments to emissions (higher NOX, IIRC) but also diminishing returns.
Once you go past a certain AFR, things like piston design and fuel injection location start to matter more and more and more. Again, it takes a certain amount of fuel at a certain AFR to generate a certain amount of HP which is needed to not only ensure the engine keeps running but also to keep the car going forward; past 60 MPH (as I'm sure you're all aware by now) aero starts to become a major factor in how much power (fuel) is needed.
As for limiting fuel but not airflow, that's actually how diesels run (they are fuel metered, not air metered and most of them don't even have throttle plates or anything to limit airflow at all). Trying to run a gasoline engine like a diesel will result in cylinder temps that skyrocket and/or detonation.
I have actually experimented on my own car with different mixes of fuel, lean burn, VVT/ignition tuning, and even hot air intake and I can assure you there are limitations to what can be done *and* that those gains will plateau. I was able to get to 400 miles to the tank; about 28 MPG highway @ 75 with AC on through mountainous terrain) on a 50/50 mix of 91 and e85 where other owners can't even get 300 miles per tank in the same conditions.