A new generation of engine efficiency

New technologies help to maximize fuel efficiency, reduce emissions, and deliver market-pleasing performance.

Rising fuel costs and impending emissions regulations have sharpened the automotive industry's focus on efficiency, as evidenced by an increasing breadth of engineering developments and new technology applications highlighted during the SAE 2008 World Congress. Nowhere was this truer than in the powertrain arena, where engineers are working to balance the conflicting demands for higher fuel efficiency, lower emissions, and market-pleasing performance.

Diesel engines-perennially popular in Europe-offer a number of advantages that are hard for a conventional gasoline-powered engine to match, including the potential for measurably higher energy efficiency. However, in North America, where many remember the dirty, noisy, sluggish passenger-car diesels from several decades ago, diesel-powered passenger vehicles suffer a serious image problem. And although diesel fuel offers a higher energy density than gasoline, this hidden advantage is far overshadowed by a per-gallon cost that is even higher than the cost of gasoline.