New 2 Stroke Engine - WOW what a repower this will be!

I just received this and thought what cool engine this might be for a Bluebird. Talk about increasing values...this may be one of the only ways. Make it more affordable. Have a look. This would fit ANY Bluebird in the correct configuration.

It’s called OPOC (Opposed Piston Opposed Cylinder), and it’s a turbocharged two-stroke, two-cylinder, with four pistons, two in each cylinder, that will run on gasoline, diesel or ethanol. The two pistons, inside a single cylinder, pump toward and away from each other, thus allowing a cycle to be completed twice as quickly as a conventional engine while balancing its own loads.
The heavy lifting for this unconventional concept was performed Prof. Peter Hofbauer. During his 20 years at VW, Hofbauer headed up, among other things, development of VW’s first diesel engine and the VR6.
The OPOC has been in development for several years, and the company claims it’s 30 percent lighter, one quarter the size and achieves 50 percent better fuel economy than a conventional turbo diesel engine.
They’re predicting 100 MPG in a conventional car. For a good demo, See:
http://www.engineeringtv.com/video/O...posed-Cylinder

[Hunter]

I want one with 2 banks and I would have room to work insied the engine compartment.

[Mallie Lennon]

interesting,, especially considering the move away from 2cycles in motorcycles and boats.
I did not hear them mention cost, which is never a factor when using OPM.

With 2 banks you would have 600 HP, not sure about the torque but it should be respectable, very respectable. Maybe our resident guru Mr. Brady will chime in. I am certain he will be all OVER this.

Different cylinders sizes may help to configure the power you want as you have to remember your transmission and rear end capabilities. No doubt this is a long way out yet but wouldn't it be neat to have a Wanderlodge that gets 12 or 15 MPG?? And go like the wind over hill and dale and under Roy and Dale!Watch market values soar then.

As far as cost there are only half the cylinders required so it should be economical once it makes it's way into production. And it doesn't sound like you would need to roll main and rod bearings in for a very long time! Plus no valve train either to manufacture. There are alot less moving parts in this engine.

[Mallie Lennon]

The opposed pistons is not new. I think it was Fairbanks morse had one like that, but I believe it had two cranks. It was a slow turning, large pistons and used in large auxiliary power plants.

[Randy Dupree]

Originally Posted by Mallie Lennon

The opposed pistons is not new. I think it was Fairbanks morse had one like that, but I believe it had two cranks. It was a slow turning, large pistons and used in large auxiliary power plants.

and submarines.

Here's one that goes back to before WWII:

http://www.sa.hillman.org.au/TS3.htm

This isn't my field.

I paraphrased the following from my friends over at Eng-Tips:

"The opposed piston (OP) two-stroke engine concept has been around for more than 60 years and is pretty well understood. OP engines were produced by: Junkers, Rolls-Royce, Napier, GE, Detroit Diesel, Fairbanks-Morse, etc.

Thermal efficiencies may offer an improvement over conventional engine technology due to the lack of a cylinder head which means less heat loss area, but modern day engines are really well engineered with efficiencies at 50% and greater. It remains to be seen whether EcoMotors can eke out sufficient gains in efficiency to offset the additional mechanical, manufacturing, reliability, emissions, and packaging complexities. There are also issues with cylinder liner lubrication and combustion chamber shape which requires less than optimally placed side mounted injectors."

Interesting, but skeptical.

[irmagoo]

that was cool david... thanks for posting the link to hillmans
mike

[iamflagman]

At a first it looks a little like a VW Beetle engine, read more at http://www.ecomotors.com

[Mike Hohnstein]

2 strokes are dirty, doubt you will ever see another such engine on the road. Detroit didn't really want to lose the old 2 strokes, and ddec made them much easier to diagnose service problems but the feds keep raising the bar on tail pipe emissions. Same reason Cat took 3208s off the market, and they haven't come up with a better engine yet from a profit stand point.