Quote:
Originally Posted by Pinhead
BTT...
Does anyone know what is wrong with lean burn with current technology?
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Back in 2000 I had the opportunity to interview the top engineer at Seimens' Corp (the guys that replaced Bosch in making our modern OEM fuel delivery systems) named Peter Rice. I asked him questions along these lines:
Q) Do your systems shut off fuel on decel?
A) Oh absolutely not! Even though the engine doesn't need fuel to keep turning, if we shut the fuel off, the catalytic converter might cool down. When you hit the accelerator again, there'd be a brief moment of higher pollution.
Q) Back in the late '70s Chrysler had their Lean Burn 318 engines. These engines were horrid with their open chamber heads, lousy carbs, and poor manifolding. Surely if Chrysler could do it back then, modern engines could do better with a lean cruise mode.
A) Oh no! By leaning out the engine the catalytic converter might not operate at peak efficiency.....
Q) As far as improving fuel economy goes, have you ever.....
A) We couldn't do that...catalytic converter....
The Green Peace types have been dubbed "tree huggers". Maybe we should dub the OEMs the "cat huggers".
Mike