Forums: Engine Swap

Have you always wanted to assemble a car engine? If so you may want to consider buying a Corvette Z06 or ZR1, this is because there is a new build-your-own engine option available. This option will set you back $5,800 extra, don’t worry if you are worried that you will end up with an engine that does not run, as a General Motors technician will supervise you throughout the build.

Transonic Combustion, a startup based in Camarillo, CA, has developed a fuel-injection system it says can improve the efficiency of gasoline engines by more than 50 percent. A test vehicle equipped with the technology gets 64 miles per gallon in highway driving, which is far better than more costly gas-electric hybrids, such as the Prius, which gets 48 miles per gallon on the highway.

In the past year, the U.S. auto industry has reeled under market pressure, faced bankruptcy, accepted billions of dollars in government bailout money, and agreed to mandates for cleaner and more efficient vehicles. But for two brothers from Colorado with an automotive start-up company, things couldn’t be better. Levi Tillemann-Dick, 28, and his brother Corban, 24, are carrying on a dream they hatched with their late father, Denver inventor and businessman Timber Dick, to bring to market a radical new engine design that is much more efficient than a traditional internal combustion engine. The four-stroke engine used in gasoline-powered cars...

Researchers from Purdue University and Cummins Inc. have developed an advanced "closed-loop control" approach for preventing diesel engines from emitting greater amounts of smog-causing nitrogen oxides when running on biodiesel fuels. Operating truck engines on a blend of biodiesel and ordinary diesel fuel dramatically reduces the emission of particulate matter, or soot. However, the most modern and efficient diesel engines burning biodiesel emit up to 40 percent more nitrogen oxides at some operating conditions, and fuel economy declines by as much as 20 percent. Unlike conventional diesel, biodiesel contains oxygen, and the researchers have shown that this presence of oxygen...

The Ford Mustang will get not one, but two new engines next year. Ford Motor Co. announced Monday that it plans to introduce an all-new 5.0-liter, V8 engine for its 2011 Mustang GT in the spring. The V8 engine will deliver 412 horsepower and 390 pound-feet of torque - 87 more horsepower than the outgoing engine. "This is the right engine for the car," said Bob Fascetti, Ford's director of large gas and diesel engines. Monday's confirmation follows Ford's announcement in November that it will also provide an all-new 3.7-liter V6 engine with 305 horsepower in the Mustang when it...

Plug-in hybrids may generate more eco-buzz when the calendar flips, but diesels could prove more powerful in revving up the automotive economy. Those of us who remember diesel-powered hatchbacks of the '70s as loud, dirty and troublesome may have to adjust our thinking to see them as "Green Cars." But the diesel-powered Audi A3 TDI won the title of Green Car of the Year at the 2009 Los Angeles Auto Show, following in the tracks of Jetta TDI, another diesel from Audi's parent Volkswagen. And there are more where those came from. In truth, diesels have become quiet, strong and...

According to an unnamed senior company source quoted in Autocar, Mercedes-Benz is currently deciding if it will launch a new range of three-cylinder engines. According to the source, if the German automaker chooses to go the three-cylinder route, the engine may be one cylinder bank of the company's well-regarded V6 line. If MB does go with an inline three, it will join fellow German automaker BMW in lowering its cylinder count. Apparently, though, taking this route is thought to be an expensive proposition that would require extra engineering in the form of a strengthened bodyshell, additional sound deadening and redesigned...

Eurojet proposes thrust-vectoring upgrade for Typhoon By Andrew Doyle Eurofighter and engine supplier Eurojet are stepping up their efforts to interest Typhoon customer nations in a thrust-vectoring upgrade that promises to bring substantial operational benefits and pay for itself through lifecycle cost reductions. Equipping the twin-engined Typhoon's EJ200s with thrust vectoring nozzles (TVN) could reduce fuel burn on a typical mission by up to 5%, while increasing available thrust in supersonic cruise by up to 7%, the engine consortium says. Eurojet partner ITP benchtested a TVN several years ago, and EADS earlier this year equipped its Typhoon cockpit simulator to...