A powerful, fire breathing Engine is the heart of any car or motorbike
September 20, 2011 Uncategorized
A car, motorbike or for that matter, any marvel of modern engineering such as a train, plane, lawnmower or even a snowmobile; has at its heart, a fire-breathing marvel of modern engineering which is of course, its engine… Modern engines are small in comparison to the engines of old. Since the early part of the Twenty First Century the size and capacity of engines has been decreasing to meet ever more stringent road and emission laws, this is however counteracted by technological advancements in the computers and electronics which map and tune the integral parts of a modern engine, ensuring that these engines deliver more – ‘bang for your buck’ – by this we refer to; the improvements in overhead cams and cam lift, the advent of pneumatic valve springs and retainers, variable valve timing and twin spark cylinders, even the development of high standards in synthetic engine oil have indeed advanced the integral parts of a modern engine, couple these advancements with modern computing power and development of remap-able ECUs, where timing sensors on the crank and inside the engine management system come together to optimise the output potential of the engine. The way the ECU within the car can be remapped to provide different engine outputs has its uses for car manufactures who supply the same or similar car or motorbike models on sale in different countries and continents around the world.
Taking the example of the Honda Motor Company, who sell their cars and bikes all around the world… The emission laws in Japan and indeed the petrol that is available at the pumps in this country, allow for Honda to program their ECUs to various motoring conditions which are bespoke to that region, the example of the octane in the petrol pump fuel is one core composition of the ECU’s set up, in Japan, petrol pump fuel is around 105 octane, when compared to the petrol commonly sold in Europe, we find the octane to be more like 95 octane, as high as 98 if you are to choose the ‘premium’ branded pump petrol. Knowing this fact, Honda Motor Company are free to program their Japanese specific ECUs to run with a lower amount of fuel when compared to the ECU set up for Europe, to produce the explosion which powers their engines to optimum revolutions the Japanese pump petrol is far superior. Returning to the core of this point, we begin to see that the lubricants and in turn the liquids such as good even synthetic car engine oil which go into an engine can play an important role in the outcome, life and range of said engine, point in point we see that these cheaper alternatives to performance and high quality lubricant neither last as long, or provide the best solution to getting the most out of your engine, indeed presenting a false economy, much the same as cheap petrol neither going as far as the higher octane petrol nor will it get you up to speed quicker.