GM Bets On Direct Fuel Injection

With CO2 emissions and fuel economy being the talk of the day in this time of crisis, manufacturers are driven to create viable and sometimes strange ways of cutting figures for both of the aforementioned standards.

But one of the age old way to improve fuel economy is also one of the most cost effective for the industry. Direct fuel injection, around for sometime now, may not be as productive as say a start/stop system, but is one of the widely available technologies which help put some more miles to the gallon.

General Motors' direct fuel injection systems will be featured in the following year on 18 different models, including the Chevrolet Equinox and Camaro, the Buick LaCrosse, the Cadillac SRX and Sport Wagon, bringing the total percent of GM models which use the system to 10 percent, gmblogs.com reported.

Direct fuel injection works by spraying highly pressurized fuel directly into the combustion chamber, instead of through the cylinder ports. The air-fuel mixture obtained this way uses less fuel to produce the same horsepower as a conventional port injection system. Obviously, lower CO2 emissions are a result of the diminished fuel consumption.

The company has plans to use other fuel efficient technologies for the rest of its range. Turbocharging, variable valve timing, and active fuel management are all technologies that allow for less fuel consumption without sacrificing power.

Dubbed "the technology of the year" by Automobile magazine, direct fuel injection came to the attention of the American public with the introduction of the BMW 760Li and Isuzu Axiom.

However, he first mass-produced car to use fuel injection was the Mercedes 300SL Gullwing, over 50 years ago, and generated about 10 percent more power while consuming ten percent less fuel.