http://www.technologyreview.com/arti...ti1102.asp?p=4

 

thats pretty damn cool, but the more we head in that direction the more complicated were making our cars to fix.

 

interesting, mitsu is working on GDI engine(gasoline direct engine) that will inject the fuel directly into the cylinders instead of into the intake manifold. mercedes tried producing a similar engine in the 70's but the pressure of the fuel could not be controlled because back then cars didn't really have sophisticated computers controlling their engines. The GDI is expected to consume about 30% less fuel and get more hp and tq.
I am surprised car manufacturers arent just focusing on alternative means of fuel by now, ford was but they pulled out.
By the time everyone else has moved on to electric cars honda and toyota will amost have perfected theirs.

 

i'm not totally sure. since eletronic actuators don't need the lubrication a cam system needs, swappng out acutators and valves would probably be pretty easy. also, think about how much control you'd have, instead of shelling out $500 for a new camshaft, you'd just download a new camshaft profile off the internet, upload it to your car, and bam, you're done.

do you know if there's any reasons why gasoline couldn't be injected into an engine at the time of combustion? i'm asking because then you could run 20psi on 87 octane gas and not worry (too much).

 

elec. actuated valves are a real good idea. Throughout the entire rpm range the valves will be varied to the how far they open and close, unlike vtec where they only open and close 2 different amounts. Like Serious said all you would have do is load a new program on the ecu, instead of getting a cam. also you would gain a lot of power too because the crank will no longer have to turn the cam. you would also be able to control when they open and close.

 

When this technology hits the markets in a big or small way I put my money on American auto manufacturers being the last to catch on. I bet toyota/honda/bmw/mercedes are going to leap first.