[GregW / Oregon]

The Future of the Internal Combustion Engine by Steve Dinan

The future:
Whether or not you believe in global warming or the world wide shortage of oil, one thing is certain: the price of fuel is going up, and governments all over the world are putting laws into effect to improve fuel economy and curb CO2 output.

This will have profound effects on the cars we love to drive. The only way to make a high performance car engine that produces good power output on demand, low fuel consumption and CO2 output is to decrease the size of the engine and add turbocharging. The 335, 535, and 135 models are just the first few in a long line of cars BMW will likely produce. As we move forward it is likely that displacement will reduce, redlines will lower, and boost will increase. I am sure you all have heard of the new 4.4L Twin Turbo V8 coming out in the new X6. This engine will likely proliferate its way through the entire V8 product line over the next few years. Additional new engines will come out with a constant reduction of displacement and increased boost.

To get the engines to make ever-increasing power output for their size, material strength will become more important. Once BMW has had a chance to evaluate the long term wear of the new 3.0l inline six, Dinan believes BMW will upgrade the block and crankshaft rods and pistons inside the engine. They will likely increase boost as these upgrades are made, and as their confidence grows. Water jackets will be altered, and heat exchangers will get improvements to handle the extra load.

Great days ahead:
With the introduction of turbos, we can now make big power gains at low cost. The software has become incredibly complex, but even expensive software costs a lot less than making a whole turbo or supercharger kit. We are going to be making a lot of really fast cars for relatively low cost.

Be carefull:
Turbos are like drugs. Every time you add boost the engine makes more power, and so you just want to keep adding more! The problem is that long-term durability can be compromised. Things that will not show up in... [Read More]

[Mr. 5]

Yep,
This is what's so amazing about the 335.
The new M3 gets an average of 16 mph and my 335 gets an average of 25 mph, yet I can do the 1/4 mile in 12.3

[Neema]

Steve's stating the obvious, but hey. . . . you can never have enough people who are aware of the environmental and economical issues we have, and who spread the knowledge/awareness.