Photo: Toyota
With the stricter fuel consumption and CO2 emissions regulations these days, all automakers are downsizing their engines and are fitting them with turbochargers to still offer power. All, but Toyota...
The Japanese automaker, surprisingly, thinks there is “no replacement for displacement” and ramming air into small engines is too crass for its ideology.
So, instead cutting its engines’ cubic capacity and simulate it with force inducted air, Toyota is heavily investing in larger displacement Atkinson-cycle engines, leaving the turbocharged solution only for a few models, as Toyota’s senior managing officer in charge of drivetrain r&d Koei Saga told Automotive News.
Mr. Saga thinks that increasing the cubic capacity of the engines and running them on the more efficient Atkinson cycle, the delivered power will increase without sacrificing fuel economy or CO2 emissions.
The engine combustion cycle used by Toyota engines are simulating the original Atkinson cycle invented by James Atkinson in 1882, through smart variable valve timings. They feature a longer power stroke than the compression one by keeping the intake valve open longer than normal. A small amount of fuel mixture is sent back into the intake, but the overall economy is increased. Top-end horsepower might be affected, but the increased thermal efficiency allows a stronger acceleration and better fuel economy.
Story via Automotive News
So, instead cutting its engines’ cubic capacity and simulate it with force inducted air, Toyota is heavily investing in larger displacement Atkinson-cycle engines, leaving the turbocharged solution only for a few models, as Toyota’s senior managing officer in charge of drivetrain r&d Koei Saga told Automotive News.
Mr. Saga thinks that increasing the cubic capacity of the engines and running them on the more efficient Atkinson cycle, the delivered power will increase without sacrificing fuel economy or CO2 emissions.
The engine combustion cycle used by Toyota engines are simulating the original Atkinson cycle invented by James Atkinson in 1882, through smart variable valve timings. They feature a longer power stroke than the compression one by keeping the intake valve open longer than normal. A small amount of fuel mixture is sent back into the intake, but the overall economy is increased. Top-end horsepower might be affected, but the increased thermal efficiency allows a stronger acceleration and better fuel economy.
Story via Automotive News
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