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Audi Announces New Valvelift System
More power and torque with less fuel consumption – that is the dream of every engine designer. With the Audi valvelift system, which manages the inlet valve timing in a gasoline engine in a very innovative way, that dream becomes a reality. Audi uses this technology for its direct-injection 2.8 and 3.2-liter V6-FSI engines in the A4, A5, A6 and A8.

Intelligence is all in the head, one might say – the cylinder head in the case of a car’s engine. The aim is to open and close the valves in such a way that the correct charge of air is always drawn into the cylinders. The first breakthrough came years ago with the rotation of the camshaft by means of adjusters – permitting the valve opening and closing times to be varied. The Audi valvelift system now achieves the next step – variable control of the valve lift, thus influencing the cross-section of the intake duct.

How it works: The two inlet camshafts are equipped with teeth. On each of them sit three cam elements – cylindrical sleeves, on the outside of which there are spiral grooves. There are six metal pins integrated into the ladder frames of each of the two cylinder heads, which extend by four millimeters, powered by lightning-fast electromagnetic actuators. Two of them are responsible for each cam element.

The top illustration shows the right-hand pin in action. It engages in the groove of the rotating cam element and so pushes it by seven millimeters to the right on the shaft. It is locked in the end position by means of a spring-loaded pin. The metal pin, now idle, is pushed back mechanically.

Each cam element carries two adjacent profiles for small and large valve lifts. When pushed to the right the cam element is in the full load position, where the voluminous full-load profiles (shown in red in the drawing) operate the especially narrow roller cam followers. They open the two inlet valves with a lift of 11.0 mm – ideal for high charge volumes and flow speeds in the combustion chamber.

Under partial load the cam element is pushed to the left by the left-hand pin; now the small cam profiles (green) come into play. They open the valves with a small and variable lift, either only 2.0 mm or 5.7 mm. This asymmetric opening leads the to the charge air rotating both spirally and cylindrically as it flows into the combustion chamber. This “drumble”, which is assisted by edges and bumps in the combustion chamber and a specially shaped piston, renders superfluous the charge motion flaps which are otherwise necessary in the intake duct of FSI engines.

The changeover between the valve lift settings takes place in the range between 700 and 4,000 rpm; it is completed within two revolutions of the crankshaft. A collection of short-term interventions – a switch to retarded ignition, the adjustment of all four camshafts and the closing of the throttle – prevent torque surges. What the driver will notice are the engine’s smooth power build-up and spontaneous throttle response.

The most important effect, however, is that fuel consumption drops by up to seven percent. AVS technology achieves its greatest potential fuel savings at a constant speed in the mid-load range. In sixth gear, the engine of the Audi A6 2.8 FSI propels the car at up to 150 km/h (93.21 mph) using the small valve lift setting.

The Audi valvelift system enables the volume of air drawn in to be controlled to a large extent by the opening of the inlet valves. The throttle butterfly can remain fully open even under partial load and the undesirable choke losses are considerably reduced. A technical pipe dream becomes reality – in a new, intelligent way. Current solutions operate with additional elements such as levers or cups between the camshafts and the valves. This has various disadvantages: the increased mass of the moving parts, greater friction and reduced valve gear rigidity.

None of these problems are associated with the two-stage Audi valvelift system. Its uncomplicated design means that it can cope with engine speeds of up to 7,000 rpm, so it can deliver high peak performance. Its compact proportions also simplify the packaging of the engines in the vehicle and permit efficient production using the modular system. The components are made in the engines plant at Györ in Hungary, where a large proportion of the V6 engines also come off the production line. In AVS technology, which is the result of six years of development work, Audi sees a solution with great potential for the future. In theory it will be possible to implement further development stages, up to and including the complete shutdown of individual cylinders.

The FSI engines with AVS sport a few other special features. A new type of sensor technology feeds data to their management systems. It gets its information from the position of the adjustable inlet camshafts and no longer from the pressure in the inlet manifold as before, which is in fact constant when operating with the throttle wide open. In the case of the 2.8-liter V6, a variable intake manifold enhances the effect of the AVS system. It increases torque at low revs and power output at high revs.

Audi Technology ABC

• Choke losses
are unavoidable on a conventional four-stroke gasoline engine, because the engine load is regulated by means of the intake air volume. The engine encounters resistance from the throttle butterfly in the intake choke when drawing in air, since the throttle is only slightly open under partial load, and this choke effect reduces efficiency. The throttle butterfly is still retained with the Audi valvelift system but it now plays only a minor role. The engine actually runs with the throttle wide open in various part-load ranges.

• The Audi valvelift system
is currently employed at Audi on two V6 engines – the 3.2 FSI and the 2.8 FSI. With the 2.8-liter V6, delivering 154 kW (210 hp), the luxury saloon Audi A8 consumes just 8.3 liters of fuel per 100 km (28.34 USmpg). The associated carbon dioxide emissions amount to just 199 grams per kilometer (320.26 g/mile) – the lowest figure in the entire luxury saloon segment.

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Audi Announces New Valvelift System



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JRobUSCJRobUSC - 6/26/2008 3:57:57 PM
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Audi didn't already have this? BMW has had Valvetronic since 2001, I wouldn't have thought it would take seven years to come out with their own version.

reply to this comment
AlexTxAlexTx - 6/27/2008 2:46:34 AM
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Audi prefered to use Direct Injection first.
Also Audi was the first one to go to 5V per cylinder and Direct Injection and the first turbocharged engine with Direct injection.
The only other manufacturer to use that technology was Ferrari.
Amazingmorron


WhattheWhatthe - 6/27/2008 10:04:53 AM
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Lets welcome audi to the party! VVT, nice when will everyone else catch up to these clowns. Pontiac Vibe has VVT, and has since 2003. Yes I know its a Toyota motor, but it's funnier when you say Pontiac vs. audi.


amazinBimmeramazinBimmer - 6/26/2008 10:01:16 PM
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Jrob.. ssshh this is audi.. technology hasnt caught up with them yet.. just check the fwd platform that they have, including the a8...hahahah

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chewychewy - 6/27/2008 5:21:19 AMView My AgentSpace
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valvelift is going to work really well for Audi.

BMW came out with turbo+direct injection quite some time after Audi had it. How could you possibly explain that?




JRobUSCJRobUSC - 6/27/2008 10:27:29 AM
0 BoostDrop the Boost Up the Boost
Chewy, that's a little different, it's not like turbos are new technology, BMW just didn't use them for 20 years. They were kind of anti-forced induction, preferring to make power through their race car roots with higher RPM (which Audi does too on their higher end non-turbo models). They would have continued that trend but were essentially forced to switch to forced induction as the horsepower race escalated because they were running into space constraints under the hood of a 3-Series to fit larger naturally aspirated inline-6 engines. But they certainly knew how to build turbo engines and use direct injection -- as soon as they came out with one, boom, back to back International Engine of the Year awards. Now that fuel economy is becoming so paramount, turbos and direct injection will proliferate BMW's entire engine lineup within a few years. It's already starting (see 335, X6, new 7-Series, existing 535 and upcoming 555 and probably M5/M6, etc.).

Anyway, the issue here is variable valve lift systems, and I was pretty surprised Audi didn't have one before. It's unnecessary on turbo vehicles, so I understand them not having it on some models, I'll give you those. The majority of their lineup is naturally aspirated, however, and all their naturally aspirated V6's and V8's would have benefitted from it. BMW came out with Valvetronic in 2001 on the 4.4L V8 745, which incidentally also won International Engine of the Year. It's good technology, and Audi makes some fantastic cars (and engines), which is why I was surprised they weren't using something similar by now.


chewychewy - 6/27/2008 1:58:06 PMView My AgentSpace
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they did have variable timing, this is the latest version


JRobUSCJRobUSC - 6/27/2008 3:22:53 PM
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chewy, you're confused. Variable valve timing and variable valve lift are totally different. Honda had VVT years ago, BMW has had VANOS for years, etc. Those are variable valve timing systems. Variable valve lift is not nearly as common, and according to this article Audi didn't have it before, which is surprising since BMW has had Valvetronic since 2001 and car manufacturers rarely let key competitors do something for seven full years before coming out with their own versions.


JRobUSCJRobUSC - 6/27/2008 4:29:15 PM
+1 BoostDrop the Boost Up the Boost
sorry, I should be more clear -- Honda's VTEC system was for lift and timing, so it was a precursor to VANOS and Valvetronic. My point was variable valve lift and variable valve timing aren't the same.


WhattheWhatthe - 6/27/2008 1:45:16 PM
+1 BoostDrop the Boost Up the Boost
Where is wanker009 on this one?
Shouldn't he be saying audi is the greatest, best, most innovative, most creative, bestest car ever.
audi!audi!audi!audi!
Bringing you 1993 all over again! (Honda VTEC)

reply to this comment
WhattheWhatthe - 6/27/2008 1:45:54 PM
+1 BoostDrop the Boost Up the Boost
1990, memory fading fast.
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