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Ford funds research into improved diesels

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FORD IS putting £350,000 into exploring ways of improving the fuel consumption of diesel engines and reducing harmful emissions.

It has made the grant available to the University of Bath's Department of Mechanical Engineering which also gets £1.6m from the government's Science Research Investment Fund.

The university will explore ways to make the temperature control and cooling mechanism of the engines more efficient and investigate the increasing the number of engine parts that are powered by electricity rather than mechanically.

The research will help Ford's work with PSA Peugeot Citroen on improved diesel engines.

"This isn't research that sits on a shelf gathering dust - our results will be in the cars people drive, cutting diesel bills and reducing waste products, within five or ten years," says professor Gary Hawley, who heads the University's Powertrain and Vehicle Research Unit.

36-volt systems

Dr Hawley also said that research at the University of Bath was looking farther ahead. He also said that he believes that within the next five years vehicle electrical systems would switch from using a 12-volt system to 36 volts.

This would mean that car engines would have the capability within their starter system to cut out when drivers stopped the car at, say, junctions and traffic lights, and restart automatically when drivers put their foot on the accelerator. This would virtually eliminate pollution from standing traffic.

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Stacy94PGT
My first car was a 67 Mustang Coupe, 2nd one was a 67 Cougar XR-7, 3rd one was a 66 Mustang Coupe. Why did I get rid of these cars for ? I know why, because I'm stupid, stupid, stupid.

My next Ford.....