Re: CFR engine

[Christian Stanton <cstanton@pixley.com>]

Real modern (shields up!) computer controlled engines control knock by 
'listenening' for the engine knock and retarding the spark until the knock goes 
away every time the ignition fires.
Older versions used a single knock sensor (in between 2 and 3 cylinders on a 4 
banger)
The newest versions are using direct spark plug sensing of combustion chamber 
across the spark plug gap immediatly after firing (pioneered by Bosch/Saab).  
Each cylinder has it's own coil unit which sits directly over the spark plug.

Although I would rather work (and drive) an engine I can fiddle with, 
it humbles me that computer engine management of the essentially same ol' lump 
of steel
with the same ingredients going in (gas and air) can produce a tiny fraction of 
the emmissions and 100 HP/liter naturally aspirated and 100,000+ miles with no 
tuning.

Imagine an 150Hp 1500 Midget.....(a stock Honda Civic coupe is now 160Hp 
1.6Liter)

>>> "Toby Atwater" <tob@taltec.net> 05/13 6:45 PM >>>




>Alan Inglis wrote:
>>
>> I'm pretty certain that the CFR engine has a variable
>> compression ratio. How do they do that?
>
>It's a single-cylinder engine on which the cylinder bore is mounted on
>adjustable threaded rods.  Turn the rods one way, the cylinder head
>moves up away from the crank and the combustion chamber gets bigger;
>turn them the other way, the cylinder head moves down and the combustion
>chamber gets smaller.  Since bore and stroke remain the same, this lets
>them adjust the compression ratio *while the engine is running*.  When
>it reaches a point at which it knocks on a particular fuel, that's the
>MON number for that fuel.


anybody ever think about making this into an engine? It would be kinda nice
to adjust your compression depending on gas
prices\performance\relaibility..... very intresting stuff. or maybe on
future engines, have the whole setup automatic, so you cant destroy your
engine even trying to make it knock. I always wanted to be an auto
engineer.....