When the next-generation Infiniti QX50 crossover arrives next year as a 2019 model, it will be powered by a 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder unit introducing a technology never seen before in a regular production vehicle: a variable compression engine.

Under development at Nissan for 20 years, the – Variable Compression -Turbo engine – or VC-T – has a device that changes the distance the pistons travel in their cylinders by as much as 6 mm, or about a quarter of an inch.

It’s an idea that automakers, such as Saab, and engine developers, including AVL, have tried to perfect over the years. The reason: Varying the compression ratio has the potential to offer dramatic improvements in power and efficiency.

Read the full article from Automotive News here.

The beloved Mazda6, beautiful and elegantly styled as it is, needed a little more power in its currently generation. The 2.5-litre four-cylinder just didn’t give the car enough grunt. Now, it seems like Mazda’s flagship sedan will finally get some extra love in the form of a turbocharged engine.

Mazda is keeping the 2.5-litre engine and giving it cylinder deactivation. But it is also bringing the 2.5-litre direct-injected turbocharged engine, which debuted in the CX-9 crossover, over to the 6 lineup.

See full Jalopnik.com story

Car and Driver magazine claims that longtime Blue Oval engine designer Jim Clarke has a million dollar idea that could save the internal combustion engine (or at least prolong its life) by extracting even more horsepower out of a smaller engine block.

The concept alters a turbocharged engine in two ways: by using two individual throttle bodies per cylinder (one per intake port) placed right next to the cylinder head to get air into the cylinders more quickly and by placing individual turbochargers as close as possible to the exhaust port of each cylinder.

That means the engine would operate with one turbocharger per cylinder. It might sound like a recipe for sickening amounts of horsepower, but in this case it’s used to get boosted air into the engine more quickly. In order to fit all that under one hood, the turbochargers must be about 20% smaller in size than a conventional spool. A smaller turbo also has less rotating inertia, further speeding up the boosting process.

For news on other new engine concepts, visit our Industry News page.

Source: http://www.carbuzz.com/news/2017/10/21/Ford-Engineer-Patents-Exotic-Engine-With-One-Turbocharger-Per-Cylinder-7741635/

See full article.

Cars like the Mercedes-AMG GT use a V8 with turbochargers inside the V of the engine. In an effort to increase efficiency and performance, some manufacturers have implemented a “hot V” setup in in their engines, placing the turbochargers for their V-shaped blocks between the cylinders rather than on the outside. But how exactly does that improve the engine? Well, it’s all about packaging.

Read more: Road & Track

 

 

Are electric cars really about to take over from the old-fashioned internal combustion engine?

Judging by some of the headlines we’ve seen recently, you could be forgiven for thinking petrol and diesel engines were about to be consigned to the scrap heap.

Yet the reality is rather different.

Source: BBC News

See the full article: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-41268513