cryo-treated automobile (?)

[phantom power]

I can imagine how cryogenically treating metal parts might make them last longer, by hardening them. But I can't think of any way it would cause an engine to double it's gas-mileage. Hardened surfaces with less friction?

Hutchison cryogenically tempers machine parts, tools, golf clubs and even razors. He says it makes them last three to five times longer.

A few years ago he began an experiment on his hybrid Honda, freezing the engine components. The results were a fuel-efficiency dream.

David Hutchison says, “You should expect a “Cryo'd” engine to last anywhere from 600,000 to 1 million miles without wearing out.”

A hybrid Honda typically gets really great gas mileage anyway, around 50 miles to the gallon, but David Hutchison's cryogenically tempered engine has been known to get close to 120 miles a gallon.

http://www.kfor.com/Global/story.asp?s=3390503

[mahatmakanejeeves]

1. engine has been known to get close to 120 miles a gallon

Under what conditions? Real world? What's the payback time? I.e., is it worth it to disassemble the engine, treat the parts, and then put the engine back together again? That takes a while. Will any increase in mileage offset the time and expense of (essentially) rebuilding the engine?

Many questions. Trust, but verify.

[Dogmudgeon]

2. It's already in use

According to the article, many NASCAR autos use the same, or a similar, process.

If cryo-tempering is adopted as a standard metallurgical technique, it could provide some significant performance breakthroughs in many areas, including engine efficiency. I think it's at the point where several doctoral and post-doc projects could be dedicated to it.

--p!

[mahatmakanejeeves]

3. many NASCAR autos use the same, or a similar, process

I'll have my sponsors pick up the tab.

IIRC, engines in drag racers ("funny cars") are rebuilt after just a few runs. Those engine rebuilders can take the engine apart and put it back together in an astonishingly short space of time.

When cost is no object....

I wonder what Google says. OK, this link says the bottom of the engine is rebuilt after each run. Click here for some good old boys:

Brandon Green:Engine Specialist

[Dogmudgeon]

4. He's a starting point or two

http://www.metal-wear.com/More%20Detail.htm

It's an extended FAQ, primarily to advertize the company (Controlled Thermal Processing, Inc.), but it has a number of worthwhile links, including links to the American Metallurgy Society.

For the economics, I am in no position to make a case for or against the process, but I think that the cost of the refrigeration or liquid nitrogen would be the cheapest part of cryo-tempering.

Of course, other industrial processes have looked promising but then failed in actual use. This one is a contender.

By the way, the Google search string I used was http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=cryo+tempering+NASCAR

--p!

[NickB79]

5. I've seen several cars run well over 300,000 miles

The last one was a Ford Fiesta, of all things. Grandparents drove that thing from Minnesota to Montana and back on many occassions to visit relatives every summer. The problem is that the body rusts out before the engine dies. Maybe this is more of a problem up here because of the salted roads in winter, but they'll have to start building car bodies to be much more resiliant if they want to capitalize on a 600,000 mile engine.