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tech
briefs
Edited by Darlene Fritz
Suspension/shock absorbers
Rod guide, silent block
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Dan Carney
to Fords version of the engine, valvetrain advances that reduce mass,
according to CX-9 Product
friction, and noise, he said.
Development Engineer Stan
Hortinela. Upstream of the valvetrain is the in-
take system, which is a significant con-
shape to better grip the aluminum block This allows us to throw out the nor- tributor to noise. Honda, like all manufac-
material. Toyota calls the design of its mal way engineers have been dealing turers, carefully tunes the intake system
cylinder sleeves spiny liners. with thermal expansion in engines, using resonance chambers to tailor the
The outside of the cylinder, the part Williamsen said. That was to try to con- sound of its engines.
that bonds with the casting, is finished strain and control and provide enough The key to pleasant sound is taking
with a random-strand finish, Williamsen clearance to assume the worst. the peaks and valleys out of the sound
explained. It looks a lot like the outside Now, with nearly the same thermal emitted from the engine over its rev
of a bobbin of thread that has been poor- expansion rate for both cylinders and pis- range, said Chris Combs, a senior engi-
ly wound. tons, Toyota can reduce the tolerances neer. One of the most important things
This irregular finish maximizes the built into its engines and use nearly gap- that people dont realize, he said, is
surface area available for bonding the less piston rings. The primary benefit of that it can be loud but it can sound
sleeve to the block casting, more than the gapless rings is improved emissions okay.
doubling contact area, according to control, he said. This is a case where the The goal is to shape the sound so that
Williamsen. In addition to improving ri- emissions regulations have been a driver it is enjoyable and not irritating. Lower-
gidity, this also enhances the engineers for good, which is manifested in the NVH frequency sounds tend to emanate from
ability to minimize tolerances between level you are noticing. the exhaust, while the intake contributes
piston and cylinder. Honda uses a similar technique for the higher-frequency sounds, Combs
Traditionally, thermal expansion rates casting its blocks, and has recently up- said. That crossover between intake and
for the iron cylinder liners have differed graded the design of its V6 engine block exhaust varies depending on the engine,
significantly from that of the aluminum for use in the Acura MDX crossover SUV. he said.
pistons, forcing engineers to design The new block features improved external Adding larger resonance chambers to
enough tolerance for both cold starts and gussets and braces for increased rigidity, the intake tract lowers the pitch of the
hot running conditions. in combination with the cast-in rough engines sound, he said. As a final touch
Bonding the iron of the cylinder liners liner process. Cold-start NVH is particu- for some of its models, Honda adds active
so thoroughly to the aluminum block gives larly improved by the better thermal con- engine mounts that reduce the vibration
the cylinders a thermal expansion rate trol of the cast-in liners, said Dennis the engine sends to the chassis. The ac-
closer to that of the aluminum pistons, Graham, Hondas principal engineer for tive mounts are particularly effective at
according to Williamsen. Toyota then the engine. You have a lot less piston reducing noise and vibration at idle and
bonds steel inserts to its pistons skirts, to slap in warming-up conditions, he said. low-rpm driving, Combs said.
move the pistons thermal expansion rate At the top end of the engine, Toyota Dan Carney
closer to that of the cylinders. has reduced noise by employing lighter,
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tech briefs
Lockpin
Lockpin
Lockpin slot in
outer camshaft
Hollow (outer)
camshaft
Inner (solid)
intake camshaft
Exhaust lobes (blue) are pressed onto the (copper-colored) hollow exhaust camshaft.
The exhaust camshaft has (light blue) pins that go through the (green) intake lobe
assemblies and the exhaust camshaft slots into holes in the (red) solid intake camshaft
that sits inside the exhaust camshaft. The blue pins lock the intake lobes to the shaft.
The range provided by the pins through the slots permits the exhaust camshaft to
change timing vs. the intake camshaft.