New technology makes software-only AFM possible

[Coppertone]

I

The real answer is one the auto industry keeps ignoring, until only recently. Stop producing V8 engines, and then purposely disabling half of the engine 80% of the time, what's the point? Produce an engine that can give you great power, all the time, with fuel economy. It's called DIESEL! Nissan has the new 5.0 V8 Cummapart coming, Dodge has the 3.6L diesel, Ford is working on a Mini PowerJoke, that leaves GM out in the cold. Produce a Mini Duramax, stick it in a half ton, and you could easily get 30 MPG without too much effort, and it could be reliable as all heck, with tons of power available all the time, with no hokey pokey cylinder deactivation. Gasoline engines are out of date, they should have been extinct years ago. With the technology available today, everything should be diesel.

Not sure if trolling...

[LaserBlueZ71]

So AFM reduces emission to acceptable levels but doesn't do anything for fuel economy?

It reduces emissions levels, through reduced fuel consumption...on paper.

 

Did you know that when Auto manufacturers test vehicles for EPA numbers, they do not test them in realistic conditions? For example, highway MPG, the sticker you see on the window of a brand new vehicle claiming it's fuel economy numbers, is obtained when the vehicle is traveling 70 KM/H on a dyno. Well, when is the last time you traveled on the highway at 70 KM/H, with no wind and weather? The testing that is done to get the EPA numbers, is not conclusive to the kind of driving vehicle owners do in reality.

 

If an auto maker can get their points down for each vehicle they make, they can produce more vehicles to sell. So, you do whatever you need to, to get the lowest possible point count, per vehicle. The harder a vehicle is on fuel, the bigger the hit you take on points when you start producing said vehicle. When they test vehicles for MPG, it is at lower speeds, with no wind, no weather, low rolling resistance tires overinflated to cut down on resistance, in a temperature controlled building that has cooler air so the engine has more oxygen to breathe for maximum efficiency.

 

From a business perspective, an auto maker cannot spend too many points, making any one category of vehicle, or they will doom themselves. If they produced real world results and were forced to pay with points according to those results, they couldn't build trucks. If they did, no points would be left over to build cars, cross overs, SUV's, vans, every other category of vehicle out there, and the consumer market demands all these types of vehicles. If I know I only have food in the fridge for 1 day, but I know I need to eat for 2 days before I can buy more food, I have no choice but to consume less food per day to make things work. It's basically the same principal in the business of building vehicles for sale.

[Coppertone]

In 2008, the testing procedures were amended and now include weather, a/c, etc. variations. They are now very close to real world numbers. Some data was gathered recently that show consumers reporting MPG higher than the EPA numbers.

[LaserBlueZ71]

In 2008, the testing procedures were amended and now include weather, a/c, etc. variations. They are now very close to real world numbers. Some data was gathered recently that show consumers reporting MPG higher than the EPA numbers.

I do remember reading that somewhere just recently. In fact I think a few users here are exceeding GM MPG estimates with 2014 and 2015 gas models.

[Cowpie]

That would be a great step forward. Let's see how it actually plays out.

 

On the diesel thing, it would be viable from purely a mpg standpoint, but diesels have their own issues. Since the EPA started mandating EGR, SCR, and DPF on diesels, any perceived advantages to the consumer have narrowed considerably. Go down and price a new DPF filter or a catalyst unit for the SCR. Then there are injectors for both DEF to the SCR unit, and fuel to the DPF unit to initiate regions. And that is something else, imagine the average consumer going to the mall, and just as they park, the system demands a active regen. If you haven't experienced one, you are in for a treat. Many folks have some sort of fondness for diesels based on days gone by. The card game has changed and there is a new dealer at the table.

 

The added cost of purchase, the increased maintenance costs, the overall cost of diesel ownership today rapidly evaporates. Now, if the OEM's would jump at some of the other engine designs that have shown good promise, that would be a step forward. Various engines from Ricardo (a GM partner), Cummins, and others have taken E85, gotten similar diesel performance and economy, done it on displacement sizes half the size of a diesel, and it only requires the same emissions stuff as a typical gas engine. Now that would be a major step forward. E85 runs roughly half the cost of diesel, or less, and no more emissions stuff to worry about than we have now. And no AFM stuff needed to meet some EPA game. Cummins 2.8L E85 inline 4 engine offers diesel like economy, and similar performance as a 5.3L V8, but while reaching all of it's torque rating at 2000 RPM compared to 4200 for a 5.3L. It is already targeted to go into some commercial vans.