In a world where EVs are phasing out ICE cars, Porsche says, “nope!”
Porsche has unveiled an intriguing and potentially groundbreaking concept for a six-stroke combustion engine, a significant departure from the traditional four-stroke design that dominates the automotive industry. For those unfamiliar with the basics of internal combustion engines, let’s break it down simply.
Even if you’re well-versed in engine mechanics, we’ll keep things straightforward. Most combustion-powered vehicles operate using a four-stroke cycle: intake, compression, power, and exhaust. During the intake stroke, a mixture of air and fuel enters the cylinder. The compression stroke follows, where the piston pushes this mixture to the top of the cylinder.
Moreover, ignition occurs, causing a rapid expansion that drives the piston downward during the power stroke. Finally, the exhaust stroke expels the remaining gases from the cylinder. Porsche’s innovative approach introduces two additional strokes to this familiar process. According to patents filed with the US Patent and Trademark Office, the design features “six individual strokes that can be divided into two three-stroke sequences.”
This means the cycle would incorporate an additional compression and power stroke between the traditional power and exhaust stages. The new sequence would consist of intake-compression-power followed by compression-power-exhaust.
On top of that, to achieve this, Porsche’s design also incorporates a unique crankshaft that rotates on a ring with two concentric circles, known as an annulus. This innovative setup alters the centre point of rotation, which in turn slightly lowers the piston’s travel at the bottom dead centre.
Consequently, this change modifies the compression dynamics, resulting in two distinct top and bottom dead centres. So, why pursue such complexity? The primary benefit lies in the potential for increased power output combined with improved efficiency. In a conventional engine, only one of the four strokes generates power.
What’s more, with Porsche’s six-stroke design, the ratio improves to one stroke in three, while also promoting more complete combustion of the fuel mixture. However, this enhanced efficiency comes at the cost of greater mechanical complexity, raising questions about whether the performance gains are sufficient to warrant such an intricate design.
As with many patented concepts, it is uncertain whether this innovative engine will ever make it to production. Nonetheless, it reflects Porsche’s commitment to exploring advanced technologies that keep combustion engines relevant in an era increasingly focused on electric vehicles (EVs). We got all this from Motor 1 and their full article is linked here. Thank you Motor 1 for the information and images.
