direct-injection

You may have read or heard one of your favorite Car Tech editors talking about gasoline direct injection and how it's one of the "big technologies" that's helping to keep the almost 200 year-old internal combustion engine alive well into the 21st century. In this week's issue of the ABCs of Car Tech, I'm going to explain just what the heck gasoline direct injection is and why you should care if it's in your next car's engine or not.

How did fuel injection work before direct injection?The modern gasoline internal combustion … Read more

Pop quiz, tough guy: How do you make VW/Audi's direct-injected, turbodiesel engines better? If you answered "add another turbo," then congratulations. You're now ready to work for Audi's R&D department!

Okay, so I'm sure that Audi's engineers are a bit more qualified than that, but "adding another turbo" is exactly what they did with the advent of the new BiTDI 3.0 V-6 engine. The new engine, which will find its way under the hood of diesel-powered A6 and A7 Sportback models in the U.K. market, features … Read more

Antuan catches hell for his review of the Mustang Boss 302, we tell you where to get Satellite Radio 2.0, and we ponder potential problems with direct injection engines.

• Are there problems with direct injection?

• The CNET review of the Mustang Boss 302 that's dividing drivers

• Satellite radio 2.0 features

• CNET's LOLCars gallery!

Short of employing a full hybrid system, automakers are finding many ways to improve fuel economy in current, gas-engine cars. Engineers are looking at every part of the drive cycle to determine where savings can be made.

Some of the technologies being employed are old, such as turbochargers and continuously variable transmissions, but they are being refined to take advantage of new materials and computing power.

There have also been some newer innovations that cut fuel use, such as the use of idle stop and dual-clutch transmissions.

A number of factors are helping push these developments. Consumers are trying to cope with increasing gas prices, and governments are pushing for reduced carbon dioxide emissions, which relate directly to fuel economy.

Check out these 11 technologies that reduce fuel consumption. … Read more

Ford's been taking advantage of its EcoBoost forced-induction technology to downsize engines across its line. V-8s give way to turbocharged V-6s. V-6s give way to turbo four-bangers. Continuing the trend, Ford has just announced the smallest engine it's ever built: a 1.0-liter EcoBoost three-cylinder engine.

Besides the obvious fuel savings from its lower displacement, Ford's new tiny terror packs in all sorts of economy-boosting technologies. For example, Ford's split cooling system helps the cylinder block to warm faster which helps to save fuel during the least efficient warm-up phase, especially in cold weather. The three-cylinder'… Read more

At the 2011 New York auto show, Mazda unveiled the revised and slightly reshaped Mazda3. You'd have to do a double take to spot any of the subtle cosmetic differences between the new 2012 model and the outgoing 2011, but pop the hood and you you'll find yourself staring at an entirely new drive train. Actually, you'll find yourself staring at a bright blue cosmetic engine cover, but beneath that is an all new drive train that uses Mazda's SkyActiv efficiency technologies.

Starting with the power plant, the 2.0-liter SkyActiv-G engine uses gasoline direct injection … Read more

It's no secret that Kia and its parent company, Hyundai, have been making almost quantum leaps in the quality of their vehicles in the last generation or two. Comparing, for example, the 2011 Kia Optima to its 2010 iteration is almost like comparing apples to oranges. The new model is larger in nearly every dimension, but thanks to its sportier proportions, it looks much more menacing than its pudgy predecessor. While both examples offer 2.4-liter engines, the 2011 Optima's gasoline direct-injection system gives it a 24-horsepower advantage while also gaining 2 mpg in both city and highway … Read more

Everywhere we went in the 2011 Cadillac CTS Coupe, we were met with turned heads and upturned thumbs. People couldn't get enough of looking at the angular coupe and, when the opportunity presented itself, asking us about it.

The CTS Coupe is a good-looking car with a profile that screams speed even when resting in a parking lot and neat touches such as handle-free doors that make this Caddy look more like a 2051 model than a 2011. We wouldn't turn down the extra performance if someone tossed us the keys to a rip-snorting CTS-V, but our tester'… Read more

The Audi A5 is one of (if not the) best looking vehicles that Audi makes. In the S5 trim, with its 354-horsepower direct-injected V-8, nobody's arguing that the coupe is short on power. However, there's no such thing as too much of a good thing, which is why we're grinning ear to ear at the announcement of a new, more powerful RS5 variant due to bow at the 2010 Geneva auto show.

The RS5's V-8 retains the same displacement as the S5, a healthy 4.2-liters, as well as its direct injection system, yet manages to … Read more