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Novel Scuderi engine boosts Nissan fuel efficiency

Scuderi Group is one of a handful of companies seeking to break with the traditional design of the internal combustion engine in the name of fuel efficiency.

The company today announced results from a simulation using its namesake engine with a Nissan Sentra sedan that showed a 36 percent reduction in fuel consumption, the equivalent of a 54 percent improvement in miles per gallon. That same level of performance jump can be achieved with other cars, according to president Sal Scuderi.

The efficiency test, done in conjunction with applied research lab Southwest Research Institute, is a step in convincing major … Read more

115: 100 mpg in a Hummer

Chrysler days away from bankruptcy? The 100 mpg Hummer H3, the Peapod car uses the iPhone for just about everything, and we soak up the fumes trackside at Laguna Seca.

Listen now: Download today's podcast SHOW NOTES

• CNET's day at the track

• Watch the Scuderi split-cycle engine at work

• Chrysler's Peapod car turns on with an iPhone

• Good roundup of ways to connect your iPod in the car

• 100 mpg in a Hummer H3

New efficient engine prototype revealed

Hybrid engines aren't the only way to improve fuel efficiency. Scuderi Group unveiled a cutaway of its Scuderi Split-Cycle Engine prototype at the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) 2009 World Congress in Detroit. The new design is the first major change in engine dynamics since its creation 130 years ago, says Bill Wren, representative for the family-run start-up.

Most conventional internal combustion engines operate using the Otto Cycle. The Otto Cycle uses four strokes of a piston--intake, compression, power, and exhaust--that fire in quick succession using two revolutions of the crank shaft to complete the cycle. This process is only 30 percent efficient, which means you get only 30 percent the energy contained in a gallon of gasoline.

In the Scuderi Split-Cycle Engine, the four strokes are divided over two paired cylinders--one intake/compression cylinder and one power/exhaust cylinder. On a conventional engine, the combustion occurs as the piston is going up. But in the Split-Cycle engine, the piston pair fires after top-dead center, and combustion occurs as the pistons comes down, producing more efficient, cleaner combustion with one cylinder pair and compressed air in the other. … Read more