Quote:
Originally Posted by elhigh
You're driving something that's 33% efficient? I'm not willing to believe that.
Last I heard, the best gasoline engine out there was only 20, maybe 25% efficient at its very very best. Diesels, by nature of their combustion cycle, are a little better.
I could be wrong - I'm remembering from ten years ago and I haven't heard anybody give an efficiency rating since then. Then again, my ride is older than that and so are a lot of other folks' cars.
I'd give body parts to hit 33% efficiency.
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Actuqlly, the bare engine has efficiency in the low to mid thirty percents but only in the "sweet spots' on the bsfc chart. After you allow for the mechanical losses and parasitic losses (alternator, ac, ps, etc.) the 25% number is realistic. If you drive off the sweet spots the efficiency is much less than this. Oh, turbocharging improves the efficiency slightly by using waste engine heat to compress the incoming charge air. Experience with turbocharged cars is that as inlet charge boost is increased the efficiency increases.