X-Prize Sonata
Progressive Automotive X-Prize 100 MPGe Fuel Economy Race Entry #20 Hyundai Sonata
Technical Description
- Cylinder head was ported in a unique way
- Inter Charger PCV Catalyst (now called the Smart Emissions Reducer)
- Prototype device called the Stratifyer
- Cal Cat fuel heater and ionizer
- Fuel Pressure Regulator
- Air Ionizer
- Battery Disconnect
- HHO Water Reservoir
- Aqua Pulser Ignition Booster (PDI)
- HHO Electrolyzer (behind radiator)
The first modification to the Sonata was to the cylinder head. (For more information, see Head Porting for Performance & Economy.) It was removed from the engine and heavily reworked. The combustion chambers were massaged by radiusing the sharp edges around the squish pads, and the area around the exhaust valves was opened up. The exhaust ports were swirl ported for better evacuation, and for better homogenization of the exhaust gasses allowing the catalytic converters to do a better job. The intake ports were radically reshaped to induce more swirl than the factory design would allow, and textured with “Powre Lynz” to promote better vaporization of the fuel. Power increase was a whopping (estimated) 30% over the usable range! Fuel economy went from the stock 30ish to 51 on the maiden voyage.
A Smart Emissions Reducer was used in the PCV system to break down the larger oils and ionize the entire charge.
The Stratifyer is a prototype of a product not yet released. It uses engine coolant as a heat source, and has a cone milled into the interior. The PCV gasses enter the cone at the tangent of the base, swirl around inside the heated cone, and exit at the apex. This vortex action helps to fully vaporize the light to medium HC elements, and break down the larger droplets of oil into smaller droplets, or even vaporize it. There is a fuel injector mounted center of the cone’s base and sprays minute amounts of gasoline into the charge to make it more combustible. The PCV gasses exit the valve cover, go to the Stratifyer, then to the Smart Emissions Reducer, and finally to the intake manifold.
The Cal Cat (short for Calorie Catalyst) also uses engine coolant for a source of heat. The Cal Cat is a liquid-to-liquid heat exchanger of sorts. The interior has coolant flowing, while the outer cavity is the fuel side. There are 5 different catalysts packed into the fuel side to ionize the fuel. By definition, a catalyst disrupts electrons. Loose electrons are electricity. The Cal Cat has a grounding stud that diverts the stray electricity safely to ground. Tests have shown that the system is far more effective with the ground wire than without.
Although not used as a fuel economy enhancer, we needed to install a fuel pressure regulator and auxiliary fuel pump to power the racing style fuel cell (tank) mounted in the trunk to fulfill X-Prize requirements. This regulator (as well as the trunk mounted fuel pump) is inoperative normally. The trunk mounted fuel tank is a regular racing style unit that can be removed for the actual race (which took place in July of 2010 at the Michigan Speedway). The idea is they can weigh the tank before and after the race and know exactly how much fuel was consumed.
The air cleaner is loaded with sheet metal screws with a single wire that connects them all together. There is a high-voltage high-frequency ion driver connected which ionizes the incoming air. The screws are coated with liquid tape to protect against accidental shock, and to prevent points that might leak energy away from the screw points.
Another regulation modification was a battery disconnect. Coming off the negative battery cable is a quick-disconnect, the style used by some race cars.
The car incorporates beneficial HHO as part of the package. Along the firewall is the reservoir that holds the water and acts as a liquid-vapor separator. It is made of a clear plastic so the water level is visible. The actual cell is mounted in the front lower part of the engine compartment behind the radiator, under the air intake passage.
Ignition duties are augmented by the Aqua Pulser PDI driver. It puts about 575 volts on the business side of the spark plug through custom ignition coils.
The X-Prize gang insisted on a fire extinguisher mounted within reach of the driver. We mounted one in the back on the passenger’s side rear floor.
They also wanted to be able to monitor conditions during the race. A telemetry device was given to us to tie into several points, including the OBD-II port and a fuel flow meter (not installed at this time). This would be visible in the driver’s side rear floor area. It normally just sits under the driver’s seat.
X-Prize team used a tow-behind emissions analyzer that broadcasts data to a control panel. It requires a tow hitch and special tail pipe. These modifications, again are not for fuel economy, but for competition regulations.
The last item of mention is the Ecoceptor Controller. We first tried installing a top-of-the-line MOTEC stand-alone engine management system. The idea was to allow the factory ECU to control transmission, cam timing, speedometer, dome lights, and all non-performance functions, while the MOTEC would control fuel and spark. We could not get the MOTEC to work. We were in contact with their East and West Coast Support guys, and one of their top engineers. The MOTEC got replaced with a LINK PC G2 ECU. We had the same issues with it. Later we discovered that the aftermarket ECUs look at cam versus crank signals to establish many of the timing decisions. The Sonata’s cam sensor is on the cam that twists (variable cam timing). When the factory ECU would change cam timing, the aftermarket computers would skitz out and show 19,000+ RPM on the screen (and dump fuel accordingly). This cost us a set of new cats and O2’s.
Mounted to the driver’s side of the console is the solution. We developed a controller that would cut back on the fuel and make the factory ECU like it. It was revolutionary, unlike anything else out there. This and many other iterations helped us develop the much simpler IXR and EHI controlls.
Unofficially the Sonata got a best of 83 MPG. At the Roush Labs in Livonia Michigan we got an official best of 42 MPG, which is 40% better than the stock rating of 30 MPG.
Whereas the majority of entries were ground-up projects, we wanted to showcase technologies that could improve MPG for existing vehicles already on the road -- in a cost-effective way.