BY KEVIN SAWYER – Bosch, the engineering and electronics giant base in Stuttgart, Germany, has completed research into how using water will improve your engine’s performance as well as boost your gas mileage. According to their engineers, the average gasoline powered engine actually uses about 5% of the gasoline to cool down the engine as it drives.
Can anyone really afford to waste 5% of their gasoline just to cool their engines while they are driving? Bosch doesn’t think you will have to any longer. The engineers at Bosch have been perfecting a water injection system designed to cool your engine and leave you with that extra 5% of gas in your tank. The system is called WaterBoost and, in tests run by the German engineers, can increase engine performance 5%, kill CO2 emissions 4%, and increase your gas mileage by at least 13%.
It works by spraying water into the intake valves of a vehicle to work as an engine coolant. Your engine’s performance is increased because a cooler running engine can generate more air into your engine’s combustion chamber. The water allows the fuel to burn more cleanly cutting down on emissions and, again, your engine isn’t working so hard at burning up your gasoline so you will see your mileage increase.
The system was originally introduced on the gigantic Mercedes Benz eight cylinder engines but the company is working on a system designed for the small three and four cylinder engines that are, now, so common. Once the WaterBoost system is installed on your vehicle, you just only have to remember to throw some distilled water into the tank after you get gas. Filling up the WaterBoost tank will get you 3,000 miles or so running time. That’s Boston to Los Angeles twice!
If the tank has no water in it, not to worry. Your vehicle just won’t experience the advantages of the WaterBosst system and will just run normally. The company looks to release the technology to the public in the near future, and with gasoline engines looking to be around for a while, it looks like there will be a strong market for the product.
PHOTO CREDIT: Bosch