Diesel ... sportbike?!?

[unixronin]

Yup.  You better believe it.  Gizmag has the gen here, and drops hints about four other turbo-diesel motorcycles in development.  See another viewpoint here.  It's designed and built in Holland, uses a modified 1200cc VW 3-cylinder turbodiesel engine, weighs 445lb, and reportedly makes up to 120BHP and 200lb.ft of torque ... and gets 150mpg.  That's about 700 miles between fuel stops on a 5-gallon tank, or two weeks of your daily commute between fill-ups.

Photo gallery page here.

Comments

[smandal.livejournal.com]

I'm skeptical. If their technology is all that, why isn't in cars already? A 120bhp, 200 ft-lb motor that gets 150mpg would revolutionize the car industry, let alone the moto industry.

Inflated numbers? Unacceptable emissions? Wacky power curve?

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

445lb total weight? :)

[smandal.livejournal.com]

Most of the combustive energy of a motor is lost to direct heat and friction losses. The only time the weight of the car comes into play is if you're trying to approach the acceleration performance of a bike -- you would use more power more of the time.

For example:

My 750cc VFR with 100hp/55ft-lb at the wheel gives 40mpg in mixed riding.

A late model Honda civic with a 1.7L inline-4 makes 115hp/100ft-lb at the crank and gives about 35mpg in mixed driving.

So, I'd think that a 1.2L bike motor that gives 120hp/200ft-lb with 150mpg could deliver something close in a car.

Something is hinky.

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

Part of the "something" is that the author of the forum article that originated the 150mpg claim blew his math rather badly. greyman pointed me at the original 2.5L/100km numbers in the Dutch specs, which works out to about a still-impressive 94mpg. Remember, diesels are more efficient, and on top of that, diesel fuel stores more energy per unit volume than gasoline.

[smandal.livejournal.com]

Yes, diesel takes you 30% farther per gallon, so that brings the eqivalent gas mileage to 70mpg. Closer, but not quite plausible.

This is interesting reading:

http://www.grinningplanet.com/2005/04-12/diesel-vs-gasoline-article.htm