Autonews Issue 2, 2017 Autonews digital magazine Edition 2 Q2- covers•• | Page 10

10 – AUTONEWS - AA CLUB OF KENYA MAGAZINE TECHNICAL NEWS Infiniti reveals the variable compression engine The future of the internal combustion has never looked this brighter with the unveiling of the variable compression engine by Infiniti. Essen- tially it works in a very simple way by varying the volume of the combustion cylinder depend- ing on the speed and load exerted on the engine. The engineers devised a couple of rocker arms that variably adjusted the Bottom Dead Center position of the pistons, which subsequently made the engine behave like a high compres- sion unit normally related to sports cars when Bottom Dead Centre is at its highest position. In a similar manner when the piston is at the low Bottom Dead Centre position, the increased volume makes the piston travel longer in the chamber hence creating intense compression pressure seen in diesel engines. The result is small capacity engine with high levels of torque supplemented by direct injection and variable geometry turbo to boost peak power. Mazda unveils innovative new compression ignition engine Mazda has unveiled its next genera- tion SkyActiv petrol engine that uses compression ignition hence eliminating the need of spark plugs. This new engine will employ homogenous charge compression ignition (HCCI) technology. It uti- lizes cylinder pressure to ignite the air-fuel mixture similar to a regular diesel engine. This lean burn tech- nology delivers better fuel economy of about 3.3L/100KM and lower C02 emissions. Mazda intends to deploy to its fleet by 2018 with the next generation Mazda 6. Advantages: It will be the world’s first gasoline engine for mass produc- tion vehicles to achieve a high compression ratio of 14.0:1 • Significantly improved engine ef- ficiency thanks to the high compres- sion combustion, resulting in 15 percent increases in fuel efficiency and torque • Improved everyday driving thanks to increased torque at low- to mid- engine speeds • A 4-2-1 exhaust system, cavity pistons, multihole injectors and other innovations enable the high compression ratio • The 15% improvement in fuel efficiency and torque was calculated by comparing SKYACTIV- G to Mazda’s current gasoline engine. Compres- sion ratio, fuel economy and torque vary ac- cording to mar- ket, carline and transmission. AA KENYA 2017 EVENTS AUTO CLINIC November 2017 Target Audience: Private Vehicle Drivers SAFEWALK: Target Audience: School children and their parents TRAIN THE TRAINER FIRST AID AND DEFENSIVE DRIVING Target Audience: Matatu and Boda Boda LOCAL EVENTS Coucour D’ Elegance September 24th 2017 GLOBAL AUTO EVENTS September 4 Moscow, COMTRANS September 12 Frankfurt, IAA October 6 Bucharest Motor Show October 13 Sofia Motor Show (2017) October 25 Tokyo Motor Show December 1-10 LA Auto Show