Battery Derangement

[trader_4]

There's a local guy here who claimed he had a revolutionary rotary valve engine design. From what I gather, the essential difference was that the valves were controlled via rotating openings, instead of normal valves that go up and down. The claim was that it got much better emissions, MPG, etc. He was taking investments from people, typically some local small business guy, etc. At one point, the SEC came after him, but somehow he resolved that. This went on for many, many years. Last I heard, maybe ten years ago, he has some new deal where he was going to build cars using the engine in some former USSR country. He's ride around here in his Rolls Royce. Every time I heard about this I thought the obvious. If this thing does what you claim, then you'd think it would be very easy to prove it to various auto makers, license it, cut a deal that would make everyone very rich. You don't have to go into the auto business in Eastern Europe.

[rbowman]

I remember my father and uncle talking about all those great inventions that were being suppressed by the automotive or electric industries -- as they worked their way through a case of Genesee. Those were 12 quart cases, not those wimpy cases of 12 ounce cans.

[rbowman]

Exactly how is the computer going to deliver me to one of the area trailheads?

[Clare Snyder]

The "fish" carburetor may have worked on 1930's era vehicles with

1930's era gasoline - there is adequate evidence that it did - but the change in gasoline composition rendered it impractical, at best - and the change in automotive technology doomed it completely. It was NOT a "supermileage" carb - and it DID go into production (several times) and WAS used in nascar and powerboat racing, and supplied for VW performance use. It was a simple carb - but suffered driveability problems

[Clare Snyder]

Today's "design life" closer to 20 years, particularly for the better japanese models - My old Ford PU is 24 now and just starting to show rust -here in the south-central ontario rust belt - and over the last

7+ years I may have spent $1500 on repairs. No sign of quitting any time soon - so it's not just the Japs (and Koreans).

The design life of a Mitsubishi or Mazda may be closer to 10 - and some of the GM products

[dpb]

All of the products I noted earlier are GM... :)

[Roger Blake]

I have a book with the plans for the Fish carburetor. It's really nothing all that special.

[gfretwell]

"Don't you know, you can see the whole trail online in 5 minutes"

Bill Bryson - "A walk in the Woods".

;-)

[gfretwell]

That was the reality, not the urban legend.

[Ed Pawlowski]

There was also a "supercharger" thing you could put under the carburetor that was being pushed for a while. It was like a spacer and had fan blades in the venturi and it was supposed to increase horsepower.

Don't forget the water injector too. Increases power and fuel mileage.

[rbowman]

I'm old-fashioned and prefer to live in reality rather than a simulation.

[rbowman]

That's a bit outside of my price range but if I could get 0-60 in 3.8 with 34 mpg, I'd be a very happy camper.

[gfretwell]

Actually water injection does work. (they did it on planes during WWII). The water turns to steam in the combustion stroke and gives you a little boost. The trick is using the right amount of water so you get max boost without putting the fire out. I suspect that is the performance gain the EPA swears you get with E-10. You are inevitably injecting some water into the motor because the "E" is seldom going to be 100% alcohol. Even if it was distilled to that purity, that I doubt, it is going to start absorbing moisture as soon as the air gets to it. That is right up until it phase separates and becomes a gasoline and vodka pousse-café.

[Clare Snyder]

The water also cools the intake charge as it evaporates, increasing air density, which increases power output. It also helps reduce detonation. The BMW M4 GTS gets 493HP compared to the normal M4's 425

- all attributed to factory water injection.

[Ed Pawlowski]

That looks better than the one on the back pages of the 1960 issue of Pop Science.

[rbowman]

Getcha Turbo Rocket Fluid here... That was back when US car manufacturers were innovative. Around 1963 I was seriously considering aiming at a career in automotive engineering and poring over the glossy brochures from General Motors Institute (now Kettering University). I wound up at another Institute in another field, which probably was just as well.

[rbowman]

And they're claiming 34 mpg. Considering they also put the car on a diet it must be a real rocket.

[Scott Lurndal]

Just look at old 60's and 70's movie footage of the Boeing 707 takeoff - all that black smoke is from the water injection.

[makolber]

I could almost see having a small electric car just for local commuting,,, but then you still have to pay full price for insurance for another vehicle.

It is sobering when you consider that the equivalent power flow through a standard gas station filling hose is something like 1 Million Watts.

Mark

[rbowman]

Something like an electric Messerschmitt would be fun:

Three wheeled vehicles are a gray area currently but in many states they are classed as motorcycles. The insurance on my bikes is a lot less than on the car and in this state it isn't legally required.

I doubt it would work. What people think they *should* do usually isn't what they do do. In this area, unless the gas prices go off the chart, people would drive MRAPs if they could get their hands on them.