100 mpg in a Lincoln, double horsepower, and 80% less emissions?

[SomeOldGuy]

Johnathan Goodwin can get 100 mpg out of a Lincoln Continental, cut emissions by 80%, and double the horsepower. Does the car business have the guts to follow him?

http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/..._Friendly.html

[puppychow]

the auto industry is like old people - the thought of change makes them pee in their diapers.


i want me one of them rides!

[mervaka]

you know the oil companies are afraid of change? they have a lot more reason to though.

[KubeDawg]

Originally Posted by mervaka

you know the oil companies are afraid of change? they have a lot more reason to though.

I don't think they're afraid of change considering their efforts to develop or take on new types of fuel, they're not just 'oil' companies anymore. But I can see how they can feel threatened by the fact that people want a greener world, want less polution, less addiction to oil, especially foreign oil, and the oil companys see this. Right now, it's not a lucrative business for fuels like ethanol or hydrogen. Electric cars are out of the question cause they'd be out of business... Change will shift will enough people stop using oil/gasoline. Once that happens, the oil companies will likely follow suit and we will see a mass reduction of oil usage.

The car manufacturers probably get paid high amounts of cash to control the mpg of a car, or only allow small changes to occur so the oil companies can still ultimately get paid.

[Innoc]

Electric cars have more than just the oil companies against them. There's very practical reasons why they aren't feasible in many situations. Chief among these is a leap in battery technologies that are cost effective and environmentally friendly. The much lauded Prius has an environmental footprint that is ghastly. Things need to change but they need to change in ways that make sense and that are affordable.

[KubeDawg]

Well, sex appeal is a big factor for a lot of people. I'd much rather have a green lotus exige that a gd prius...

[Innoc]

You do know I wasn't referring to esthetic's right? There's some very real consequences of whatever direction we jump that have to be addressed. I prefer Electrics but, like I said before, they have some serious hurdles to jump.

[KubeDawg]

But how much or the population focuses on the guts of it, or how it works as opposed to what it looks like, comfortability, and getting from a to b and price of gas??? Sex appeal sells. Start making popular vehicles more fuel efficient, people will still buy them, and feel like less of a hassle to 'save the environment' or stop global warming or do whatever it is they wish they could do if they weren't lazy.

[Backstaber]

Ethenol = bad.
Food prices are rising because of it now. Chiefly corn.

[4est]

Stuff like this discredits the vast majority of the article:

it started up on the first try and ran so quietly that at first they didn't believe it was really on. "When you start a diesel engine up on vegetable oil," Goodwin says, "you turn the key, and you hear nothing. Because of the lubricating power of the oil, it's just so smooth. Whisper quiet. And they're like, 'Is it running? Yeah, you can hear the fan going.'"

BULLSHIT

A diesel is a diesel whether it is running diesel (oil) or cooking (oil). It would sound the same.

[Innoc]

Granted we're talking about a larger diesel in this article but it's my understanding that the new generation of micro diesels they have in Europe and in Japan are hard to tell.

[Ihmhi]

Americans do not care about what a car runs on.

They care about one or more of the following:

1) How it looks
2) How it drives (speed, torque, handling, etc.)
3) Usefulness (even though a lot of SUV owners do not go driving up mountains and shit, they do like being able to have 2 weeks of groceries in the back)

Cars typically fall into either 1 & 2 (sports cars, less interior room, great handling etc.) or 1 & 3 (SUVs, crpa handling and control but tons of room). When alternative fuel vehicles like these can be made, the public will buy them.

[BinaryLife]

Originally Posted by Ihmhi

Americans do not care about what a car runs on.

They care about one or more of the following:

1) How it looks
2) How it drives (speed, torque, handling, etc.)
3) Usefulness (even though a lot of SUV owners do not go driving up mountains and shit, they do like being able to have 2 weeks of groceries in the back)

Cars typically fall into either 1 & 2 (sports cars, less interior room, great handling etc.) or 1 & 3 (SUVs, crpa handling and control but tons of room). When alternative fuel vehicles like these can be made, the public will buy them.

We also like being able to drive in the snow.

Of course I drive a mustang. It can drive in the mildly wet possibly windy maybe gravely or a little leafy road.

[4est]

Originally Posted by Innoc

Granted we're talking about a larger diesel in this article but it's my understanding that the new generation of micro diesels they have in Europe and in Japan are hard to tell.

BUT... they would sound the same with Diesel as they would with vegetable oil. The combustion would still use the same explosions and the same mechanics.

[KubeDawg]

But the thickness of diesel fuel compared the thickness to vegetable oil might be what's making the difference. Even if it lowers the noice to that of a regular truck, that'd be a noticable improvement.

[Innoc]

Actually it's changes to the noise dampening materials and some engineering changes that make it MUCH quieter. Couple that with a turbocharger and you eliminate a great deal of the exhaust note as well. We haven't been able to have these engines in the US until recently due to the reformulation of the fuel.

edit: I wasn't arguing the fuel difference but an overall design difference.

[4est]

Originally Posted by KubeDawg

But the thickness of diesel fuel compared the thickness to vegetable oil might be what's making the difference. Even if it lowers the noice to that of a regular truck, that'd be a noticable improvement.

Nope it's not a thickness issue - It still sounds the same. It was a bullshit claim. Also, Bios usually have a heated tank to keep the fuel thin enough to pump through the lines.

On a related note, if anyone wants to hear how "silent" a turbine engine is... check out Jay Leno's jet bike:

http://www.jaylenosgarage.com/video/...ml?vidID=39175

[Innoc]

Heated tanks won't help issues with the fuel lines or fuel filters. I've read about some designs with multiple fuel tanks. One for bio fuel and one for pure diesel. The idea being that right before you shut the engine off you switch over to pure diesel for 1 to 2 minutes to flush the lines and filter of most of the bio fuel so that the risk of a clog is reduced. Sounds like an additional step that most people would overlook.

[4est]

Originally Posted by Innoc

Heated tanks won't help issues with the fuel lines or fuel filters. I've read about some designs with multiple fuel tanks. One for bio fuel and one for pure diesel. The idea being that right before you shut the engine off you switch over to pure diesel for 1 to 2 minutes to flush the lines and filter of most of the bio fuel so that the risk of a clog is reduced. Sounds like an additional step that most people would overlook.

Absolutely true. The heated tank is only to keep the fuel liquid in cold weather. Starting and stopping the engine with true diesel is the correct method to keep your lines and fuel pump from being clogged with fat sludge. Plus, you need remove and replace the stock lines anyway. The typical stock lines will be eaten by biodiesel.

http://www.goldenfuelsystems.com/ has some good info. I preferred their old url of Greasel.com. Anyway, they have some good info and conversion kits. I toyed with the idea of putting one in my old Mercedes diesel. Click on the video on the website to hear the Unimog ROAR while burning pure veggie oil.

[Jimyd]

I bet this guy will mysteriously die in a car accident by driving through some guardrails into a ravine in 6 months.

Tick Tock.