Roadholder 370 - October 2018

26 'Otto' vs 'Atkinson' Efficiences utilised on motorcycles engines until systems were developed and introduced on engines from Suzuki and Honda. The intention, on these engines, was related to reducing the 'peaky-ness' of their high-revving multi- cylinder motors rather than any real attempts to improve fuel consumption. It could be argued that use of VVT to improve fuel efficiency of motorcycle engines is unlikely to be made a priority as such machines are generally fairly expensive leisure devices where performance takes priority over economy. Motorcycle engine VVT will be discussed in a future article. The Atkinson cycle engine can be effectively used in modern deployments when controlled by sophisticated computer controllers. Toyota use the Atkinson cycle engine in some of their cars and also their Lexus vehicles. Most other deployments of 'Atkinson' engines are by far-eastern manufacturers e.g. Honda, Hyundai, Mitsubishi and Kia. They are often deployed in hybrid vehicles whereby the lack of power can be overcome by 'switching-in' the hybrid electric motor(s) to make up any power deficiency as and when required. I personally own a Lexus GS450H which deploys a 300bhp 3,500cc V6 normally-aspirated petrol motor (with the computer controlled Atkinson VVT feature) and a 200bhp electric motor. It is quite noticeable when cruising on a level road that the engine goes into what my wife describes as 'lazy mode': it becomes very quiet and smooth and the on-board fuel consumption display will show circa 50mpg at a steady 50mph. As soon as performance is needed, the valve timing switches to 'non- Atkinson' mode and performance increases (as does the fuel consumption!). If further power requirement is needed the control system switches in the electric motor to provide a further increase in power. This all makes it apparent that the modern 'Atkinson' engines are predominantly a variation of the variable valve timing (VVT) technology that is now quite common. VVT systems can tend to be quite complex and bulky thus, for a long time, they were not Edward (ted) Etherington 1st April 1947 - 14th July 2018 Anthony Curzon (As related to me by his friend, Alan Hillier) I t is my very sad duty to inform you all that member of the Surrey Branch, Edward 'Ted' Etherington, passed away in his house in Kenley, in Surrey. This was the same house that his mum and dad (Edward and Minnie) had bought in the early 1950s and where Ted had spent all his childhood. Although mum and dad had died 20+ years ago, Ted would never consider selling their house. He was an only child and had a strong bond with his parents. The house was empty for many years with Ted living and working away in Poole. The opportunity of redundancy from his job in Poole was taken and Ted transferred to B.T. in Reigate. This is where he finished his