Article: "Direct Drive" and Somender Singh - cleaner, quieter, colder burn with 20% less gas?
09-11-2004, 06:16 AM
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not quite OT: "Direct Drive" and Somender Singh - cleaner, quieter, colder burn with 20% less gas?
I read an article in Popular Science recently, and some of the theory and practice fascinated me.
I will try to scan and post the article this week, but in the meantime I will summarize:
Somender Singh is a virtual nobody. A guy from Mysore, India who raced motorcycles when he was younger - and like many of us was trying to get that ultimate burn; he "needed his engines to work as efficiently as possible - he wanted the fuel to burn cleanly and under maximum compression. But like most tuners he had run up against compression's upper limit, above which pockets of unburned fuel explode spontaneously, or 'knock' under the pressure...."
Basically there isn't any readily high octane available fuel available to him - so he had to find another way to accomplish his goals. He actually cut little tiny lines or trenches in the cumbustion chamber's "squish band" from the cylinder edge to the spark plug. He found that if he made them deeper, that he could counteract detonation and get a cleaner burn - getting more power, lower temperature's in the exhaust gasses emitted, and less wasted unburned fuel - all while raising the compression of the motor. Side effects of this modification were that the car could idle much lower and the combustion fo the motor's tone was changed - much quieter... He called it "direct drive" because the motor almost didn't need the gearing of a transmission - he could leave it in 4th gear at 500 rpms and just pull smoothly through the powerband, even around town. All this from small displacement motors - motorcycles, two strokes, four strokes, and 50 some odd cars - including 1.2L fiat palio motors, etc...
He kind of reminds me of an Indian Larry Widimere... and now has US Patent # 6237579
An interesting read, and I'd suggest you take a gander at the September issue of Popular Science for more...
It really makes you wonder what he could do with a vtec head.....
The picture of the heads he has modified look very interesting - "Even as a prototype, it's high-concept but exceptionally low-tech, the sort of thing you might be able to make in your own garage with a steady hand and a Dremel tool. Which is, essentially, what Singh did."
I will try to scan and post the article this week, but in the meantime I will summarize:
Somender Singh is a virtual nobody. A guy from Mysore, India who raced motorcycles when he was younger - and like many of us was trying to get that ultimate burn; he "needed his engines to work as efficiently as possible - he wanted the fuel to burn cleanly and under maximum compression. But like most tuners he had run up against compression's upper limit, above which pockets of unburned fuel explode spontaneously, or 'knock' under the pressure...."
Basically there isn't any readily high octane available fuel available to him - so he had to find another way to accomplish his goals. He actually cut little tiny lines or trenches in the cumbustion chamber's "squish band" from the cylinder edge to the spark plug. He found that if he made them deeper, that he could counteract detonation and get a cleaner burn - getting more power, lower temperature's in the exhaust gasses emitted, and less wasted unburned fuel - all while raising the compression of the motor. Side effects of this modification were that the car could idle much lower and the combustion fo the motor's tone was changed - much quieter... He called it "direct drive" because the motor almost didn't need the gearing of a transmission - he could leave it in 4th gear at 500 rpms and just pull smoothly through the powerband, even around town. All this from small displacement motors - motorcycles, two strokes, four strokes, and 50 some odd cars - including 1.2L fiat palio motors, etc...
He kind of reminds me of an Indian Larry Widimere... and now has US Patent # 6237579
An interesting read, and I'd suggest you take a gander at the September issue of Popular Science for more...
It really makes you wonder what he could do with a vtec head.....
The picture of the heads he has modified look very interesting - "Even as a prototype, it's high-concept but exceptionally low-tech, the sort of thing you might be able to make in your own garage with a steady hand and a Dremel tool. Which is, essentially, what Singh did."
09-11-2004, 06:22 AM
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Re: not quite OT: "Direct Drive" and Somender Singh - cleaner, quieter, colder burn with 20% less ga
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Black R »</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I read an article in Popular Science recently, and some of the theory and practice fascinated me.
I will try to scan and post the article this week, but in the meantime I will summarize:
Somender Singh is a virtual nobody. A guy from Mysore, India who raced motorcycles when he was younger - and like many of us was trying to get that ultimate burn; he "needed his engines to work as efficiently as possible - he wanted the fuel to burn cleanly and under maximum compression. But like most tuners he had run up against compression's upper limit, above which pockets of unburned fuel explode spontaneously, or 'knock' under the pressure...."
Basically there isn't any readily high octane available fuel available to him - so he had to find another way to accomplish his goals. He actually cut little tiny scratches or trenches in the cumbustion chamber's "squish band" from the cylinder edget to the spark plug. He found that if he made them deeper, that he could counteract detonation and get a cleaner burn - getting more power, lower temperature's in the exhaust gasses emitted, and less wasted unburned fuel - all while raising the compression of the motor. Side effects of this modification were that the car could idle much lower and the combustion fo the motor's tone was changed - much quieter... He called it "direct drive" because the motor almost didn't need the gearing of a transmission - he could leave it in 4th gear at 500 rpms and just pull smoothly through the powerband, even around town. All this from small displacement motors - motorcycles, two strokes, four strokes, and 50 some odd cars - including 1.2L fiat palio motors, etc...
He kind of reminds me of an Indian Larry Widimere... and now has US Patent # 6237579
An interesting read, and I'd suggest you take a gander at the September issue of Popular Science for more...
It really makes you wonder what he could do with a vtec head.....</TD></TR></TABLE>
Nice Ken! Tech these days and the evolution but something so simple that he did can boost performance like that? You're right, i wonder what he can do with VTEC heads, haha. Its weird though, when you say the " Edge of the Combustion chamber to the spark plug " you mean the dome on the bottom side of the head? So its almost as if you're hiding little pockets of fuel in there? I'd run some insane compression like a diesel engine, LoL.
Kenny - Who's patiently waiting for the Ken Rocker to Scan the article
I will try to scan and post the article this week, but in the meantime I will summarize:
Somender Singh is a virtual nobody. A guy from Mysore, India who raced motorcycles when he was younger - and like many of us was trying to get that ultimate burn; he "needed his engines to work as efficiently as possible - he wanted the fuel to burn cleanly and under maximum compression. But like most tuners he had run up against compression's upper limit, above which pockets of unburned fuel explode spontaneously, or 'knock' under the pressure...."
Basically there isn't any readily high octane available fuel available to him - so he had to find another way to accomplish his goals. He actually cut little tiny scratches or trenches in the cumbustion chamber's "squish band" from the cylinder edget to the spark plug. He found that if he made them deeper, that he could counteract detonation and get a cleaner burn - getting more power, lower temperature's in the exhaust gasses emitted, and less wasted unburned fuel - all while raising the compression of the motor. Side effects of this modification were that the car could idle much lower and the combustion fo the motor's tone was changed - much quieter... He called it "direct drive" because the motor almost didn't need the gearing of a transmission - he could leave it in 4th gear at 500 rpms and just pull smoothly through the powerband, even around town. All this from small displacement motors - motorcycles, two strokes, four strokes, and 50 some odd cars - including 1.2L fiat palio motors, etc...
He kind of reminds me of an Indian Larry Widimere... and now has US Patent # 6237579
An interesting read, and I'd suggest you take a gander at the September issue of Popular Science for more...
It really makes you wonder what he could do with a vtec head.....
</TD></TR></TABLE>Nice Ken! Tech these days and the evolution but something so simple that he did can boost performance like that? You're right, i wonder what he can do with VTEC heads, haha. Its weird though, when you say the " Edge of the Combustion chamber to the spark plug " you mean the dome on the bottom side of the head? So its almost as if you're hiding little pockets of fuel in there? I'd run some insane compression like a diesel engine, LoL.
Kenny - Who's patiently waiting for the Ken Rocker to Scan the article
09-11-2004, 06:30 AM
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Re: not quite OT: "Direct Drive" and Somender Singh - cleaner, quieter, colder burn with 20% less ga
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Nvious R »</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
Its weird though, when you say the " Edge of the Combustion chamber to the spark plug " you mean the dome on the bottom side of the head? So its almost as if you're hiding little pockets of fuel in there? I'd run some insane compression like a diesel engine, LoL.</TD></TR></TABLE>
Yes and no.
"Singh notches his cylinder heads with nicks and scratches to help create turbulence and quickly spread the flame front to the outer reaches of the narrow squish band, creating a more thorough burn."
Modifying the head doesn't change the compression unless you mill it, iirc, so the static compression should remain the same.
Its weird though, when you say the " Edge of the Combustion chamber to the spark plug " you mean the dome on the bottom side of the head? So its almost as if you're hiding little pockets of fuel in there? I'd run some insane compression like a diesel engine, LoL.</TD></TR></TABLE>
Yes and no.
"Singh notches his cylinder heads with nicks and scratches to help create turbulence and quickly spread the flame front to the outer reaches of the narrow squish band, creating a more thorough burn."
Modifying the head doesn't change the compression unless you mill it, iirc, so the static compression should remain the same.
09-11-2004, 06:32 AM
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Re: not quite OT: "Direct Drive" and Somender Singh - cleaner, quieter, colder burn with 20% less ga
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Black R »</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Yes and no.
"Singh notches his cylinder heads with nicks and scratches to help create turbulence and quickly spread the flame front to the outer reaches of the narrow squish band, creating a more thorough burn."
Modifying the head doesn't change the compression unless you mill it, iirc, so the static compression should remain the same.</TD></TR></TABLE>
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh- You could have spent the time you made that last thread on scanning that article or i could just quit my bitching and buy the damn issue, LoL.
OH yeah, with regards to my comment up top, i meant that i would have some insane compression level if knocking wasn't a problem or atleast a smaller problem.
"Singh notches his cylinder heads with nicks and scratches to help create turbulence and quickly spread the flame front to the outer reaches of the narrow squish band, creating a more thorough burn."
Modifying the head doesn't change the compression unless you mill it, iirc, so the static compression should remain the same.</TD></TR></TABLE>
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh- You could have spent the time you made that last thread on scanning that article or i could just quit my bitching and buy the damn issue, LoL.
OH yeah, with regards to my comment up top, i meant that i would have some insane compression level if knocking wasn't a problem or atleast a smaller problem.
09-11-2004, 07:08 AM
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Re: not quite OT: "Direct Drive" and Somender Singh - cleaner, quieter, colder burn with 20% less ga
The pictures are down, but dimples on the piston domes:
http://www.team-integra.net/fo...ion=7
And of course, Endyn with the dimples in the intake ports:
http://www.theoldone.com
And rollerwave pistons:
http://www.theoldone.com/artic...stons/
http://www.team-integra.net/fo...ion=7
And of course, Endyn with the dimples in the intake ports:
http://www.theoldone.com
And rollerwave pistons:
http://www.theoldone.com/artic...stons/
09-11-2004, 01:02 PM
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Re: not quite OT: "Direct Drive" and Somender Singh - cleaner, quieter, colder burn with 20% less ga
since its so god damn boring here in Washington DC, thanks for supplying reading materials
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09-11-2004, 01:08 PM
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Re: not quite OT: "Direct Drive" and Somender Singh - cleaner, quieter, colder burn with 20% less ga
.....yeah I know of Larry's head porting with those small dimples near the injectors.
BUT these aren't dimples like a golf ball - these are mini-trenches expanding outward from the valve areas like sun rays..... and they aren't in the intake mainfold or on the tops of the pistons, but near the valves in the combustion chamber side of the head.
I wonder how dimples would affect the swirl in that area compared to these "nicks....."
BUT these aren't dimples like a golf ball - these are mini-trenches expanding outward from the valve areas like sun rays..... and they aren't in the intake mainfold or on the tops of the pistons, but near the valves in the combustion chamber side of the head.
I wonder how dimples would affect the swirl in that area compared to these "nicks....."
09-11-2004, 01:35 PM
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Re: not quite OT: "Direct Drive" and Somender Singh - cleaner, quieter, colder burn with 20% less ga
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Nvious R »</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">since its so god damn boring here in Washington DC, thanks for supplying reading materials </TD></TR></TABLE>
dude I'm directly east of you in Edgewater (south of Annapolis).
yeah, it's boring alright
did go jetskiing Friday afternoon though, it's a fun change...
</TD></TR></TABLE>dude I'm directly east of you in Edgewater (south of Annapolis).
yeah, it's boring alright
did go jetskiing Friday afternoon though, it's a fun change...
09-11-2004, 01:36 PM
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Re: not quite OT: "Direct Drive" and Somender Singh - cleaner, quieter, colder burn with 20% less ga
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Black R »</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
I wonder how dimples would affect the swirl in that area compared to these "nicks....."</TD></TR></TABLE>
It's not just the dimples though. He also leaves the ported intake side rough (not polished), obviously because if it were smooth the atomized fuel would stick to the walls.
I wonder how dimples would affect the swirl in that area compared to these "nicks....."</TD></TR></TABLE>
It's not just the dimples though. He also leaves the ported intake side rough (not polished), obviously because if it were smooth the atomized fuel would stick to the walls.
09-11-2004, 08:37 PM
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Re: not quite OT: "Direct Drive" and Somender Singh - cleaner, quieter, colder burn with 20% less ga
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Nishant »</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">hmm i have to go buy popular science now</TD></TR></TABLE>
and scan and post the article for all the lazy fawkers around here...
(like me)
Thanks for posting this Ken.
and scan and post the article for all the lazy fawkers around here...
(like me)
Thanks for posting this Ken.
09-13-2004, 06:58 PM
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Re: not quite OT: "Direct Drive" and Somender Singh - cleaner, quieter, colder burn with 20% less ga
that's an awesome read, but it does bring up interesting points:
-Integrity of head
-Compression (lowered?)
Manufacturers are already focusing on flow and "chaotic airflow" ... I give the guy credit, hope it results in something that all the engineers have missed.
-Integrity of head
-Compression (lowered?)
Manufacturers are already focusing on flow and "chaotic airflow" ... I give the guy credit, hope it results in something that all the engineers have missed.
12-16-2004, 09:10 AM
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Re: (georgiajdm)
ken, excellent find, i only wonder what this does for "hotspots" that we are trying so hard to remove....... i wold think whatever fuel is stuck in those little ridges will detonate rather quickly..
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