Oi! Watch the name calling.
Haven’t Lotus already produced/designed the camless engine?, I saw it in a motorbike magazine about 3 years ago.
Just found this, seems Mercedes will be first to use it.
That all sounds like really great technology .
All we can hope for now is that the Japs get hold of it and develop it for the masses in a reliable form .
Don’t shoot me down in flames but are F1 engines not Cam Less??
Dont they have gas powered valves as the springs cant shut em’ fast enough?
They don’t have valve springs but they’ve still got cams.
Bernard
This technology is obviously the way forward but it has to work at 7K revs before it can work at 20K revs in an F1 car.
Ah, but an F1 engine only has to last 500 miles.
Ian
yeah but its not the durability its the ability for the actuators to react fast enough and pulse quickly enough.
It’s also interesting to note that Lanchester conceived the idea of variable valve actuation using solenoids way back in the 1920’s, at the time the latency of the solenoids precluded the sort of RPM required for modern engines and of course there were no microprocessors available to control them. He did manage to get a prototype engine running which interestingly enough did not require a starter motor.
Dave
Never thought of it not needing a starter, gets a decent chunk of weight off and improves packaging too… like it.
People beginning to respect this engine now? Well there’s so much more to come…
simon
This is beginning to sound like a soap opera…or an advert
People beginning to respect this engine now? Well there’s so much more to come…
Nobody has ever questioned that the engine was clever, its the execution and quality control that are the issues. Maybe if Rover had bigger budgets they could have developed the engine into something to rival the major players. Fact is that they have made bad products for a number of years and that has led to their demise.
Simon, I have seen my fair share of bad engine builders and I don’t disagree with you. It is also true that standard production K-series have reliability issues. Freelanders, MGF’s, Elise’s all have their share of problems in standard form. Its also true that Rover didn’t have a huge budget to sort the problems so they had their hands tied. What you appear to be saying is that the K has to be built to very exacting standards to stand a chance of holding together as its design is less robbust than other engines, you may well be right and I wait with interest to see what unfolds with time.