Guys, the hot vapor engine is an undisputable fact, Smokey Yunick is the father, and the patent number is U.S. patent number 4,503,833 granted on March 12, 1985.
First, some Smokey Yunick credentials that are undisputable, traceable by documentation and numerous photos...B-17 pilot in WWII (1942-43, crash landed two bombers that were so shot up they failed structurally upon landing), member of Flying Tigers (1943-1944), helicopter pilot (1970's-80's), casanova (forever), motorcycle racer (1938-40), inventor (lifelong), head of Chevrolet racing development (1955-1956), Head of Ford racing (1957-1958), Head of Pontiac Racing (1959-1962), won Nascar Championships in 1951 and 1953 with Hudson, won Daytona 500 twice, won Indianapolis in 1960 (almost again in 1969, hose clamp prevented it), created the angle plug head for Chevrolet, the extended reach spark plug in your car today, etc., etc. Made and lost several fortunes, successfully searched for gold, silver and oil in Equador, was automotive consultant to Ford, Chevrolet, and Chrysler at various times in his life, knew Henry Ford II by first name, Bunkie Knudsen was his best friend, Pete Estes, Harley Earl, Mickey Thompson, Bruton Smith, Ed Cole, Zora Duntov, Richard Petty, John DeLorean, and Werner Von Braun were friends...
The hot vapor engine not only existed but was installed into at least 6 different makes of vehicles...after a thirty minute ride in the car, Ford, GM, Chrysler, DeLorean, BMW, Volvo and Volkswagen were all interested. DeLorean immediately offered 20 million (with the backing of H.L. Hunt in Texas) with a formal contract to be signed on a Thursday. DeLorean was arrested for drug possession on the preceding Tuesday, and the deal fell through. For Smokey's direct account of what happened, see page 525 of his autobiography "Best Damned Garage in Town".
Cars in which Yunick hot vapor (adiabatic) engines were installed included the DeLorean (3 cylinder), Ford Fiesta (1 cylinder), Volkswagen (2 cylinder), Pontiac Fiero (4 cylinder), Chrysler (4 cylinder) and Buick Skylark (3 cylinder). Some of these cars still survive, and Smokey's daughter has the Volkswagen and the Pontiac Fiero is owned by a collector in South Carolina. A 3 cylinder engine is in the Smithsonian, along with his trademark hat.
All automotive engineers that tested the hot vapor engines came away amazed with the power vs. gas mileage, as well as the tremendous lowering of emissions because of the engines efficiency. Puzzling to them was the lack of a spike that should have killed the engines, and they tried everything imaginable to get the engine to spike but to no avail. Finally, just before his death in 2001, GM bought the rights to the homogenizer, the very item that Smokey considered the brains of the system. You will see it soon because there are several experimental cars under way that will stimulate the technology, not GM designs but rogue designs by guys like yourselves, or should I say the doers and not the theoreticists who talk it to death...
I was lucky to have met Mr. Yunick in his later years, 1999, at Lowe's Motor Speedway, and told him that I thought that he was one of the most gifted engineers to have ever lived. After asking him about the status of the hot vapor engine he seemed to brighten up, and stated that he was leaving it as his legacy, that he realized in the early 70's that the fossil fuels would not last forever. Asked about his most proud moment in life, after his wife Margie and kids, he mentioned the hot vapor engine and the number of engineers from around the world that tested it trying to get it to fail, and the fact that all left amazed at the performance and lack of emissions.
Guys, instead of talking about the hot vapor engine research it, make one (Smokey did, so can you, he tells you how), and put it into a car. This solution is so much better than a hybrid, a corn car (ethanol), etc.
...just do it...bruce kepley, Monroe, NC, USA
I built a 2.2 liter HVC that essentially required way different cam, taller gearing, a lot more manifold heat with less volume and other stuff. I wound up with a modified IHI, an expensive pile of aluminum and a set of wheels that hauled ass like a wildcat after a tabasco enema all while knocking down 40mpg in a dodge minivan.