Gasoline Direct Injection (GDI) Engines

Okay, so from what I’ve read and understood about fuel injection, I’m come to the conclusion that when it comes to going green, direct fuel injection technology is the way to go. As opposed to multi-point injection (MPI), where fuel is injected through the intake ports before entering the cylinders, GDI engines inject highly-pressurized fuel directly into the combustion chamber of each cylinder which not only increases engine performance, but also increases fuel efficiency while reducing CO2 emissions by as much as 25%. Companies like GM, Mercedes, and Volvo are introducing their new cars with directly fuelled engines, even Ford’s 2010 Mustang comes a twin turbo 3.5L “EcoBoost” engine, lowering emissions by 15% and increasing fuel efficiency by 20% thanks to direct injection technology.

In fact during last year’s “Engineer Technology +Innovation Awards” in the UK, project HOTFIRE took first prize in the automotive sector when they designed a gasoline direct injection (GDI) engine concept that reduces fuel consumption by 15%. Made up of engine designers from Lotus Engineering, fuel injection specialists from Continental Powertrain and thermodynamics and mechanics experts from University College London and Loughborough University, the team achieved a final product with “direct injection spark ignition engine architecture that does not require stratified lean burn combustion to achieve the approximate 15% fuel savings. This ensures that the system can be used over all speed/load ranges and eliminates the need for an expensive lean NOx trap which is usually required when lean combustion is employed.” I don’t fully understand what that means, but it sounds awesome.