OK - on a more positive note....
Here is a high mileage idea that seems to make very good sense. It does not violate any laws of physics, as far as I can see, and it seems like it could be implemented. I wonder if/when we might see this technique used:
Six stroke engine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The first one of these I heard of ( the Crower version) was the one where they inject a small amount of water after the normal combustion/exhaust strokes. The water turns to steam from the heat, the expanding steam powers the piston down (the fifth stroke), and then another exhaust (the sixth) stroke occurs.
So, you get more power, and since you absorb the heat, it reduces/eliminates the need for a cooling system. OK, not sure how much water you need to carry with you, what problems you would have with minerals, freezing, etc, and steam being pushed past the rings into the oil, but....
The other one (Velozeta), relies only on hot air. It supposedly does not require any new technology, it sounds like it would just be a different set of valve timings. I guess you still need a cooling system, but maybe smaller?
I think there is a small amount of hype in saying you get 'an extra power stroke!'. What you get is, instead of one power stroke in four cycles, is two power strokes in six cycles. So, for the same power out, that extra stroke would need to be at least half as powerful as the main power stroke. I wouldn't think there would be that much residual energy left, but maybe they factor in a smaller cooling system?
Anyhow, it seems to make a lot of sense. Be interesting to see if this gets adopted.
-ERD50