Concept engine (not GM)

[CatiaJockey]

This is an awesome power plant that I hope keeps getting developed.
Saving the World Two Strokes at a Time
This is no wimp engine.
It's a two cylinder with four pistons delivering 300+ Horse Power
It's extremely small and very efficient and is presently in use in test applications
The configuration below is equivalent to a extremely ballsy four cylinder engine
When doubled, it's an extremely ballsy 600+ H.P. engine

It’s called OPOC (Opposed Piston Opposed Cylinder), and it’s a turbocharged two-stroke, two-cylinder, with four pistons, two in each cylinder, that will run on gasoline, diesel or ethanol. The two pistons, inside a single cylinder, pump toward and away from each other, thus allowing a cycle to be completed twice as quickly as a conventional engine while balancing it's own loads.
The heavy lifting for this unconventional concept was performed Prof. Peter Hofbauer. During his 20 years at VW, Hofbauer headed up, among other things, development of VW’s first diesel engine and the VR6.
The OPOC has been in development for several years, and the company claims it’s 30 percent lighter, one quarter the size and achieves 50 percent better fuel economy than a conventional turbo diesel engine.
They’re predicting 100 MPG in a conventional car.

Video of the developer here:
http://www.engineeringtv.com/video/O...posed-Cylinder

[98_Camaro]

That's actually REALLY AWESOME!
Can't imagine what the torque would be like though.

[Apex Motorsports]

Wow, that is cool.

[The Stig]

That is awesome! Anywhere we can sign up to be a test car for this thing?

[DGthe3]

I heard about that engine over the summer on Autoline After Hours (AAH #63) They had Hofbauer come in and talk about it. Its pretty neat and there are a wide range of potential applications for it. The show is about an hour long, maybe a bit longer but you can probably skip the first ~20 minutes as they'll be discussing 6 month old automotive news.

Oh, another little factoid: Bob Lutz is on the board of EcoMotors (the company that is developing this engine)

[a_Username]

Is he still with Volkswagen? That would be awesome in an SportEco version of an R32 or something like that.

[The_Blur]

[DGthe3]

Originally Posted by a_Username

Is he still with Volkswagen? That would be awesome in an SportEco version of an R32 or something like that.

I don't think so. I'm 99% sure that his work at Ecomotors consumes 100% of his time. The company has drawn people from many of the major automakers in order to develop this engine. Its probably at least a decade away from being in any vehicle from an automaker we've ever heard of (though I think there has been some interest by a Chinese truck manufacturer). The chief problem is that it will need to be proven before any major automaker will even consider putting it in one of their car, and at the moment its little more than a concept. On top of that, the engine is so radically different that they would pretty much have to build a brand new assembly line to make them, which is extremely expensive.

[a_Username]

Originally Posted by DGthe3

I don't think so. I'm 99% sure that his work at Ecomotors consumes 100% of his time. The company has drawn people from many of the major automakers in order to develop this engine. Its probably at least a decade away from being in any vehicle from an automaker we've ever heard of (though I think there has been some interest by a Chinese truck manufacturer). The chief problem is that it will need to be proven before any major automaker will even consider putting it in one of their car, and at the moment its little more than a concept. On top of that, the engine is so radically different that they would pretty much have to build a brand new assembly line to make them, which is extremely expensive.

If it is eventually proven to do what they claim, then you can be sure some, rather it be an existing one or brand new, automaker will put it in a vehicle. I agree the risk would be high, but it was also very high when Henry Ford revolutionized the automobile industry.

BTW, I'm probably being optimistic here.

[8cd03gro]

I'm anxiously awaiting the day this company goes public.

[a_Username]

Originally Posted by 8cd03gro

I'm anxiously awaiting the day this company goes public.

I'm betting this will be privately operated for a long time to come. It's either that or they'll cash out to someone like GM. (Just guessing lol).

[DGthe3]

Originally Posted by a_Username

If it is eventually proven to do what they claim, then you can be sure some, rather it be an existing one or brand new, automaker will put it in a vehicle. I agree the risk would be high, but it was also very high when Henry Ford revolutionized the automobile industry.

BTW, I'm probably being optimistic here.

I was optimistic when I said 10 years. Could easily be more like 20. If it works, we will see it in cars eventually. But first, expect to see it in survailence helicopters, generators and other small scale applications for a while. No matter how much lab testing gets done, a few months in the real world will provide more data and a bigger range of conditions than researchers could hope for. And that will expose the weaknesses that need to be addressed before a company like GM would be willing to put it in a car. Most automakers aren't terribly keen on betting billions on a radical engine, they learned from the wankel. The wankel rotary engine took about a decade to develop before there was a half decent result, but even then, the results weren't nearly as good as the promise. They're wary of the same thing happening with the OPOC

[CamaroSpike23]

makes me think of the reisser cycle engine