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Detroit, 1:55 PM
Sat Nov 28
4 posts in the last 24 hours

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  • posts about #lotusomnivore more →

    Lotus Completes Omnivore Engine, Feeds It Alcohol

    The Lotus Omnivore: A Piston Engine That'll Eat Anything
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    Dsmvwl  Admin  Promote to frontpage Approve user Ban user ×
    Image of LaughingAtFate LaughingAtFate
    02/26/09

    In reply to Lotus Completes Omnivore Engine, Feeds It Alcohol
    Given that Lotus is owned by thatindonesian outfit called Proton, I can see this ending up in the small ute that's sold in the Aussie Market as "Jumbuck"


    Hmmm

     Reply
    LaughingAtFate was starred LaughingAtFate was unstarred
    Image of the good dr zero the good dr zero
    02/26/09

    @LaughingAtFate: Indonesian =/= Malaysian.
     Reply
    the good dr zero was starred the good dr zero was unstarred
    Image of beercheck beercheck
    02/26/09

    In reply to Lotus Completes Omnivore Engine, Feeds It Alcohol
    I'd be much more enthused if Lotus would put their "add lightness" cred into making a damned flying car, already.
     Reply
    beercheck was starred beercheck was unstarred
    Image of beercheck beercheck
    02/26/09

    In reply to Lotus Completes Omnivore Engine, Feeds It Alcohol
    Sounds neat, but there's a nagging voice in my ear saying stuff like "jack of all trades, master of nothing" and "crippling compromises" and "needless complexity" and such.
     Reply
    beercheck was starred beercheck was unstarred
    Image of TurboBrick [LIGIER] TurboBrick [LIGIER]
    02/26/09

    In reply to Lotus Completes Omnivore Engine, Feeds It Alcohol
    I hear there's a Scandinavian auto manufacturer who has a tradition of using two-strokes and they're looking for a friend who can supply engines. Hello EU overlords, are you paying attention to this??
     Reply
    TurboBrick [LIGIER] was starred TurboBrick [LIGIER] was unstarred
    Image of brandegee brandegee
    02/26/09

    @TurboBrick: Raises hand: answer is Sonnett IV!
     Reply
    brandegee was starred brandegee was unstarred
    Image of Tyson Tyson
    02/26/09

    @TurboBrick: First you'd have to weld 3 of them together, though.
     Reply
    Tyson was starred Tyson was unstarred
    Image of BRAWNDO_POWERED BRAWNDO_POWERED
    02/26/09

    @Tyson: Knowing SAAB (Not Saab) It would be a radial set-up.


    My pants tighteth.

     Reply
    BRAWNDO_POWERED was starred BRAWNDO_POWERED was unstarred
    Image of Van Sarockin, rogue trebuchet Van Sarockin, rogue trebuchet
    02/26/09

    @BRAWNDO_POWERED: Naw. Just and inline 3. With three carbs. In this case, you'd have to make do with individual injectors and velocity stacks. But they could probably poke through the hood. So it's all good.
     Reply
    Van Sarockin, rogue trebuchet was starred Van Sarockin, rogue trebuchet was unstarred
    Image of Skunky Skunky
    02/26/09

    In reply to Lotus Completes Omnivore Engine, Feeds It Alcohol
    But will it blend?
     Reply
    Skunky was starred Skunky was unstarred
    Image of combat chuck combat chuck
    02/26/09

    In reply to Lotus Completes Omnivore Engine, Feeds It Alcohol
    Kudos to Lotus for issuing a press release that only requires 3 rolls of my scroll wheel to get past.
     Reply
    combat chuck was starred combat chuck was unstarred
    Image of damnelantra™ damnelantra™
    02/26/09

    In reply to Lotus Completes Omnivore Engine, Feeds It Alcohol
    thats pritty damn amazing
     Reply
    damnelantra™ was starred damnelantra™ was unstarred
    Image of engineerd engineerd
    02/26/09

    In reply to Lotus Completes Omnivore Engine, Feeds It Alcohol
    The ePRS (patent pending) found this a better topic than GM's finances:


    Coming to a Geneva Motor Show near you, the Lotus Engineering Omnivore engine.


    Designed to run on virtually any fuel source, except wood and uranium, The Omnivore engine is a single-cylinder, 2-stroke, monoblock engine designed for research purposes.


    Omnivorous features include variable compression ratio and direct fuel injection. This allows the engine to adapt to a variety of fueld better than its vegan counterpart, the four-stroke engine.


    Instead of a poppet valve, a charge trapping valve is used to control exhaust gas flow and timing. We were going to call it VVTI, but that was already taken. Besides, "charge trapping valve" sound way more awesome than "poppet valve."


    A fairy at the top of the combustion chamber moves up and down to change the compression ratio.


    Mike Kimberley, CEO of Lotus, said that this engine represents Lotus' commitment to being green and would like to meet Kermit.


    The Omnivore engine is a study in multi-fuel engines and is an effort by Lotus to single-handedly break our dependency on oil. This is a great business plan since, if they pull it off, everyone will have to buy their engines from Lotus and then Lotus will be able to take over the world, which is their ultimate goal.

     Reply
    engineerd was starred engineerd was unstarred
    Image of Van Sarockin, rogue trebuchet Van Sarockin, rogue trebuchet
    02/26/09

    @engineerd invented the race car: I can live with that.
     Reply
    Van Sarockin, rogue trebuchet was starred Van Sarockin, rogue trebuchet was unstarred
    Image of UDMan UDMan
    02/26/09

    In reply to Lotus Completes Omnivore Engine, Feeds It Alcohol
    Wes, I'm thinking that you will see this type of engine first in some kind of motor bike application before you ever see on in a car. Emission regulations are just a bit less stringent, and the lighter weight is exactly what you need on a bike.


    Looking at the illustration, there is a wet sump, which I believe is the oil supply, and not necessarily the cooling system. I'm wondering if it in fact air cooled. That would be sweet.

     Reply
    UDMan was starred UDMan was unstarred
    Image of brandegee brandegee
    02/26/09

    In reply to Lotus Completes Omnivore Engine, Feeds It Alcohol
    Monoblocks are back! Last seen on Bugattis perhaps?


    Direct-injection two-strokes are already gangbusters on snowmobiles (crazy improvements on efficiency and emissions). It's the variable compression that's big news with this thing...too bad they don't cite a compression limit.

     Reply
    brandegee was starred brandegee was unstarred
    Image of BЯдΖǐL-ЯЄРΘЯΤЄЯ BЯдΖǐL-ЯЄРΘЯΤЄЯ
    02/26/09

    @brandegee: Can it handle diesel?
     Reply
    BЯдΖǐL-ЯЄРΘЯΤЄЯ was starred BЯдΖǐL-ЯЄРΘЯΤЄЯ was unstarred
    Image of discontinuuity has left the Jalop until further notice discontinuuity has left the Jalop until further notice
    02/26/09

    @brandegee: Offenhauser race motors had monoblocks, which is why they could get up to 59 psi of boost in some models, without blowing a head gasket:

    [en.wikipedia.org]
     Reply
    discontinuuity has left the Jalop until further notice was starred discontinuuity has left the Jalop until further notice was unstarred
    Image of Bentoboxx, My Tank is full of it Bentoboxx, My Tank is full of it
    02/26/09

    In reply to Lotus Completes Omnivore Engine, Feeds It Alcohol
    No Officer, I was not making Moonshine, I was making gas for my Elise! Honest!
     Reply
    Bentoboxx, My Tank is full of it was starred Bentoboxx, My Tank is full of it was unstarred
    Image of Jo Schmo Jo Schmo
    02/26/09

    In reply to Lotus Completes Omnivore Engine, Feeds It Alcohol
    Sweet I can run my lawnmower on bacon grease now.
     Reply
    Jo Schmo was starred Jo Schmo was unstarred
    Image of A strolling player A strolling player
    02/26/09

    In reply to Lotus Completes Omnivore Engine, Feeds It Alcohol
    Now you can send all kinds of unburned fuel straight out your exhaust pipe!
     Reply
    A strolling player was starred A strolling player was unstarred
    Image of SirNotAppearing SirNotAppearing
    02/26/09

    @A Strolling Lucida G Luxury Joyful Player, back by popular ...: Thanks for reminding me of the spicy shrimp and grits I ate last night.
     Reply
    SirNotAppearing was starred SirNotAppearing was unstarred
    Image of Das ASHloch (achtundsiebzig) Das ASHloch (achtundsiebzig)
    02/26/09

    In reply to Lotus Completes Omnivore Engine, Feeds It Alcohol
    Sweet. I'd hate to see the question come down to "fuel efficiency and energy independence" vs "fighting the CO2 Boogie Man" when something like this might be certified.


    At least one day some of those Civic tuners might have an excuse for the lawnmower sound coming out of their tailpipes.

     Reply
    Das ASHloch (achtundsiebzig) was starred Das ASHloch (achtundsiebzig) was unstarred
    Image of leighzbohns leighzbohns
    02/26/09

    @Ash78:


    Less hydrocarbons burned = less CO2 in the atmosphere.


    Of course, less electricity generated by coal, less roads built from concrete or asphalt, and less steel smelted = less CO2 in the atmosphere.

     Reply
    leighzbohns was starred leighzbohns was unstarred
    Image of aurora40 aurora40
    02/26/09

    @Ash78: Oh, I didn't even realize this was for fuel efficiency or energy independence? I just assumed it was for lazy or inattentive drivers. Now when you pull up to the pump, you can just grab whichever nozzle is closest to you.


    While a neat concept, I can't really picture any other scenario under which you'd want to be able to pump arbitrary fuel into your car. So far, every gas station I've been to has had gas...

     Reply
    aurora40 was starred aurora40 was unstarred
    Image of If FromaBuick6 has to watch one more Chevy commercial, he's going to punch Howie Long in the face If FromaBuick6 has to watch one more Chevy commercial, he's going to punch Howie Long in the face
    02/26/09

    @leighzbohns: For that matter, less hot air blown out the asses of politicians and environmentalists = less CO2 in the atmosphere.
     Reply
    If FromaBuick6 has to watch one more Chevy commercial, he's going to punch Howie Long in the face was starred If FromaBuick6 has to watch one more Chevy commercial, he's going to punch Howie Long in the face was unstarred
    Image of Das ASHloch (achtundsiebzig) Das ASHloch (achtundsiebzig)
    02/26/09

    @aurora40: For now...I just like the idea of diversifaction of fuel sources. You don't know where the legislation will go, nor where the refining/production incentives might go in the future, so having an engine that uses as many as possible can only be a good thing.
     Reply
    Das ASHloch (achtundsiebzig) was starred Das ASHloch (achtundsiebzig) was unstarred
    Image of Van Sarockin, rogue trebuchet Van Sarockin, rogue trebuchet
    02/26/09

    In reply to Lotus Completes Omnivore Engine, Feeds It Alcohol
    I'm an omnivore. Lotus can feed me alcohol anytime. It doesn't even have to be Breakfast Scotch.
     Reply
    Van Sarockin, rogue trebuchet was starred Van Sarockin, rogue trebuchet was unstarred
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