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Fuel consumption, and the physical behaviours behind it, have never been of greater interest to the automotive engineering community. The enormous design, development and infrastructure investment involved with a new engine family which will be in production for many years demands significant review of the base engine fundamental architecture. Future CO2 challenges are pushing car manufacturers to consider alternative engine configurations. As a result, a wide range of diesel engine architectures are available in production, particularly in the 1.4 to 1.6 L passenger car market, including variations in cylinder size, number of valves per cylinder, and bore:stroke (B/S) ratio. In addition, the 3 cylinder engine has entered the market in growing numbers, despite its historic NVH concerns. Ricardo has performed a generic architecture study for a midsize displacement engine in order to assess the pros and cons of each engine configuration.

Engine efficiency and optimization are key aspects for automotive manufacturers. Lamborghini has particularly focus attention for reduction of time to market building up a synergic approach for new component's development using simulation, Know-how experiences, engine engineering expertise and experimental validation. In particular to reach the best results in the shortest time it is used, in the preliminary stage of development, a massive support of simulation analysis. In the Lamborghini approach analysis and simulation has become key aspects during concept and development of timing drives. This type of activity is used to support the development of better chain timing drives focusing on improving durability, lower friction, less noise and reduced cost in less time than conventional trial and processes. Even during the concept design phase it is useful to use a mathematical model to calculate dynamic forces and motions of a chain drive.

Engine efficiency is one of the key aspects to reduce CO₂ emissions. Lamborghini S.p.A. has focused attention on the engine friction modeling, analysis and measurement to understand and control the phenomena. To reduce friction it is necessary to improve understanding of the behavior of the engine components and to pay attention to detail at every tribological contact. The valve train can make a significant contribution to whole engine friction especially at low engine speed and this is particularly true for a high speed sports car engine. Direct acting valve trains are often used for this type of engine to minimize the moved mass and so enable high speed operation. However the sliding contact between the cam and tappet results in higher friction loss than the roller finger follower valve train used on many modern passenger car engines. In addition, the high maximum engine speed demands a large valve spring force to maintain contact between cam and tappet.

The authors have published SAE paper 2008-01-0088 on the analytical comparison between 4 and 8 counterweight crankshafts for an I4 gasoline engine. This paper showed that for a particular design of a 4 counterweight crankshaft, the differences in bearing force and oil film thickness were very small and the only major difference in terms of bearing shaft tilt angle occurred at mains 2 and 4 (increase of ∼20% compared with 8 counterweight version). The 4 counterweight crankshaft has a significant mass advantage as it was 1.42kg lighter than the 8 counterweight crankshaft. This new paper addresses the testing performed to validate the analysis results in bearing durability by subjecting the engine to a mixture of high speed and general durability cycles. A comparison was made on the bearing conditions after running a total of 100 hours through prescribed durability cycles on a gasoline engine with both 4 and 8 counterweight crankshafts.

This paper presents results of an analytical comparison between two alternative versions of a crankshaft for a 2.2L gasoline engine. The first version had 8 counterweights and a bay balance factor of 80.3%. The second had 4 (larger) counterweights giving a bay balance factor of 56.6% and a crankshaft mass reduction of 1.42 kg. The results presented in this paper relate to the main bearings in terms of specific loads, oil film thickness and shaft tilt angle under full load and no load conditions across the speed range. Torsional vibration analysis and crankshaft stress analysis were also performed but the results are not presented here. The differences in bearing force and oil film thickness were very small and the only major difference in terms of shaft tilt angle occurred at Mains 2 and 4 (increase of ∼ 20% compared with 8 counterweight version).

The pursuit of flexibility is a recurring theme in engine design and development. Engines that are able to switch between the two-stroke operating cycle and four-stroke operation promise a great leap in flexibility. Such 2S-4S engines could then continuously select the optimum operating mode - including HCCI/CAI combustion - for fuel efficiency, emissions or specific output. With recent developments in valvetrain technology, advanced boosting devices, direct fuel injection and engine control, the 2S-4S engine is an increasingly real prospect. The authors have undertaken a comprehensive feasibility study for 2S-4S gasoline engines. This study has encompassed concept and detailed design, design analysis, one-dimensional gas dynamics simulation, three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics, and vehicle simulation. The resulting 2/4SIGHT concept engine is a 1.04 l in-line three-cylinder engine producing 230 Nm and 85 kW.