Hoovey689

iTrader: (16)

Plastic Fantastic: Are composite engines the future?

Florida engineer Matti Holtzberg has spent the last 40 years trying to perfect and implement a way of building useable engine blocks from composite plastics. With the advent of carbon fiber and its subsequent permeation of all things high-performance, Holtzberg decided to apply the technology to his composite engine idea.

Armed with a vast base of research and immense skill, Holtzberg retooled his operation to mold carbon composite engine blocks, with an eye toward selling them to racing teams. Holtzberg's blocks are based on the venerable 2.0-liter Duratec mill that sees duty in the Ford Focus.

Holtzberg's carbon-fiber block has the potential to save more than 20 pounds over the aluminum equivalent, but at an enormous cost. There's no definite word on pricing just yet, but it should be at least $2,500 per pound saved, which pretty well limits the technology to race teams... for now.

The technology could make huge leaps forward in weight saving and fuel economy should it ever hit the streets, but don't figure on that happening for quite a while.

http://www.autoblog.com/2011/05/10/a...es-the-future/

JessePS

Maybe in 50 years we will have carbon fiber engines, but probably by that time we will have pretty much all electric vehicles.

cenix

i like the individual throttle bodies on the motor in the picture. it would be awesome to see a running version of something like this for street cars...

mmarshall

As the image shows, Ford tried to develop a plastic engine some years ago (with metal cylinder sleeves and bearings, if my memory was correct). The result was unsuccessful.

IS-SV

Maybe not in my lifetime (engines), but I think use of plastic and composites throughout rest of vehicle will increase rapidly in next few years.

Byprodrive

iTrader: (1)

pull the aircleaner housing off a M5

Byprodrive

iTrader: (1)

Chrysler was heavy into plastic research in late 80's or early 90's. I remember seeing plastic pistons & wheels.

Och

iTrader: (3)

How would you cool a plastic engine? Plastic is nowhere as efficient as aluminum, or any other metal, when it comes to heat transfer.

Seems to me that they are trying to fix something that isnt broken.