Hey Ciro there is a Nick and a NickT, who have different view points.
Just in case you are in any doubt I am
NickT sorry mate I couldn't resist an opportunity like that
Ok let’s look at the water issue. A ford focus has a 44 litre fuel tank so if we need 20% of this capacity for water for steam generation then that would be roughly 9 litres, but lets say 12 to give us a better margin. So thats a weight gain of 12 kilos plus the extra weight of the water tank, pump and plumbing
so perhaps 20 kilos
However this would be more than offset by loosing the water coolant - 6 kilos - plus the heavier radiator with all those cooling fins, the water pump and plumbing
Not to mention the reduction in aero drag
Unfortunately we have a lot of theory but no real idea of the reality yet
The potential is enormous
lower overall operating temperature, reduced thermal strain on valve train components, reduced emissions, increases in efficiency, not sure about power delivery yet (2 power strokes in every six, one big bang explosion and one hot steamy one
), increases in compression ratio because of the lower operating temperature and water injection during the conventional fuel/air intake stroke. Then there is the speed range of this engine, what is it
What happens as it moves through the rev range, will it have high outputs at higher revs like a petrol engine or will it have the higher torque output of a diesel at lower revs
perhaps it will give us the best of both worlds
The best current production engine, in terms of a complete package with a broad power band, high torque, high power output, good economy and good emissions is the new VW unit that powers the Golf GT 1.4TSI
That right its the world's first production supercharger-turbocharger hybrid system called Twincharger. For details check out
http://www.autozine.org/technical_schoo ... wincharger Now let’s just think in terms of the fundamental design and innovation it has taken the motor industry to reach this panicle and how this compares to those engines that were being developed in the first half of the 20th century
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...... apart from the evolution of the control systems for delivering the fuel air mixture and the spark ignition, and the evolution of materials there is NOTHING fundamentally different or new
its still the same ol' Otto cycle
Now think about this fundamental development, the six stoke engine and its thermodynamics and how they compare to those of the best 4 stroke engine
If you can get you head around this
then it gets interesting
Now if I was the boss of a car company or an engine specialist I would be beating my way to this guy's door
then I would beg, borrow or steal say 25% of an average F1 engine budget to invest in tasking someone like Ricardo to do some testing and development
Ciro, you are absolutely right, we won’t see anything like this in F1 for some considerable time, but that doesn’t mean we should ignore it. Remember often the best designs
in this world are the simplest and most elegant ones, the ones that seem to be so obvious when we look at them that we cannot believe they had not been thought about it sooner
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