>
A new (and possibly revolutionary) engine design by EcoMotors is making its way across the web. Dubbed an “opposed piston, opposed cylinder” configuration, the design features two pistons that face each other in one cylinder and act as both a piston and a cylinder head for the other piston. This essentially makes the pistons “push” off of each other. EM claims that although the design is a two-stroke, it has the same operating characteristics as a four-stroke configuration. Running off of diesel fuel, they claim a two cylinder (that’s four piston, pictured) engine can make 325 horsepower with greatly increased fuel economy.
Although we’re not quite sure on how the fuel savings come in, we suspect it has something to do with the lack of energy-sapping valve mechanisms inherent to four stroke designs.
The only problem? Like most “solutions” this is a number of years off before even being considered for full-scale production. We need real fixes right now.