what causes cars that are cammed to sound choppier at idle?
In: Engineering
Consider that everything is a trade off with engines. Your well running engine is quiet and idles smoothly at the cost of power. It also gets good fuel efficiency.
If you want to maximize power you tune the engine for the specific condition you wish to maximize (high RPM, high power output). The trade off is the engine doesn’t run well at low RPM, and needless to say, are NOT fuel efficient.
An engine designed for high flow of air is not going to run well at low air flow conditions.
Honda came out with a V-tech engine that uses 2 different cam profiles. The first is for efficiency and allows the engine to idle well and perform well at low settings such as cruising down the freeway. Once engine parameters meet computer defined conditions, it changes the cam profile to become tuned for high power output at the cost of low RPM performance. This isn’t an issue because the cam profile returns to normal at low power settings and conditions.
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