A lot people think that the rising standards of fuel economy regulations will be the death of big and powerful engines. Well that’s just not true. New engine technologies that are being developed and implemented can greatly increase the fuel economy of big engines.
Higher Compression Ratios
An increase of the compression ratios in an engine can improve the performance and fuel economy for a vehicle. The amount of fuel and air squeezed in the engine’s combustion chamber is the compression ratio.
Mazda has been developing technology for both gas and diesel powered vehicle to increase their compression ratios. Mazda’s SKYACTIV-G gasoline engine uses a 13:1 compression ratio in America, where the standard ratio is 10:1.
Direct Injection
The majority of engines used today mix the fuel and air before sending them to the combustion chamber. With a direct injection engine, highly pressurized fuel is directly injected into the combustion chamber at the height of the pistons’ stroke. Direct injection creates more power and fuel efficiency than multi-point fuel injection.
Cylinders on Demand
A cylinders on demand engine will only use the minimum number of cylinder it needs for performance. An example would be accelerating a vehicle from 0-60 miles per hour. In order to accelerate that quick, an eight cylinder engine would need all of the cylinders firing. Once the vehicle reaches a cruising speed, it will only require 4 cylinders to maintain speed and perform. If you need to make a pass or accelerate the rest of the cylinders will kick in again and disengage once you reach a cruising speed. Cylinders on demand engines can improve fuel efficiency by 10% when the vehicle is cruising.