omgwtfbyobbq
08-23-2006, 02:39 PM
There was quite a bit of discussion about thermal efficiency over on the VW GTD forums (http://www.vwdiesel.net/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=2329&highlight=thermal+efficiency+coating), and I was wondering, how much more efficient can they make a diesel? Then I found this article (http://journeytoforever.org/media/e/elsbettnews.jpg) on the Elsbett engine. It's oil/air cooled, built to run on straight, filtered plant oil with no modification, and gets over 70mpg in a mercedes. The best I've heard out of a mercedes is ~30+mpg, so for it to be getting roughly twice that means the engine is super duper efficient, probably because the designers built it to minimize heat losses. One of these in a stock Rabbit should allow over 100mpg, drop the Cd from .44 to .25, and we're over 150mpg. Add an electric 5th wheel with ~30-40 mile range, and we're over 200mpg! :eek: