No abstract

The air filtration system for an internal combustion engine comprises the air filter, the filter housing and the intake air duct which conducts the air flow from the vehicle grille to the filter housing. This generates gaso-dynamic resistances to the air intake into the engine. The air filter housing and the intake air duct are often mounted in the engine compartment mainly where it fits better and less according to the air flow and noise reduction criteria. The paper aims to show the contribution of the restriction produced by the filter housing and the intake air duct to the total restriction produced by the air filtration system. Several air filtration systems from vehicles fitted with both spark-ignition engines and diesel engines are tested. The results show that the restriction produced by the intake air duct system as well as the air filter housing have a significant contribution to the total restriction produced by the air filtration system of a vehicle engine.

With more than 4,000,000 units sold worldwide, Toyota Prius represent a successful story in the hybrid electric vehicles industry. The paper presents the economic and social context that led to the development of this new type of car and the evolution of Toyota Prius, which arrive now at the third generation. This spectacular achievement was the result of an impressive R&D effort that led to hundreds of new inventions and innovations. Some of them (engine cycle, battery, hybrid system etc.) are presented in this paper, with emphasis on truly revolutionary solutions for the automotive industry, which clearly distinguishes Toyota Prius from other hybrid vehicles. Besides the innovative character, these solutions offer better environmental and economic performance, but without compromising the well-known Toyota reliability. Toyota Hybrid System receives his confirmation by the prestigious organization TUV Germany, which ranks Toyota Prius first in reliability top in the recent years. We can thus say that besides the economic and ecological advantages Prius has made an important contribution to growth and strengthening Toyota brand, being a truly successful product.

Abstract.The paper aims to analyze a series of OBD data from a Volkswagen Passat 2.0 tdi, 103 kW, equipped with an automatic DSG transmission, while traveling in the city. Some parameters are analyzed, with a special emphasis on the relation between the engine speed and vehicle speed, presenting also an example of using the information provided by the OBD to determine the gear ratios. The gear steps and the way they are used while driving the vehicle are identified in the end.

In order to better protect the engine, air filters with high efficiency should be used as well as appropriate maintenance activities. Maintenance activity must take into account the behaviour of the air filters during exploitation, namely the increases of the gaso-dynamic resistances they produce while air filters are used. This paper presents the variation of the pressure restriction depending on the amount of dust retained by the air filters and also the storage capacity of dust by the air filters. Filters are loaded on a laboratory rig with dust from the roads of Bucharest.