WRC Event at Viaduct Events Center, Auckland

We had a great opportunity to go to the WRC event in the Viaduct Events Center.  The experience was great and we got to take a private tour with a tour guide along with a professional rally driver.  We saw plenty of cars and the new technologies with them.

My favourite display was the new Ford engine that featured a variable valve timing, on both intake and exhaust cams.  The display was very interesting,  it was a cutaway moving model that included the movement of the pistons, valves, and the cams and timing chains.  I was able to get a hold of the man who was demonstrating the model.  As I noticed the strange looking cam-shaft sprockets,  I asked him about it, and he mentioned the variable valve timing that was operated through the centrifugal forces of the rotation.  I found this very interesting because we had just learned about centrifugal forces that work within the automatic transmission.  He explained to us that the centrifugal forces change the valve timing.  I thought this was very good as most manufacturers use a "on and off" type variable valve timing feature, which means that when the engine reaches a certain RPM, the valve timing changes and gives it more power.  The advantage in  the Ford's technology is that it varies in the timing difference, not like an "on and off" style.

Exhaust cam sprocket,  Spring loaded weights work on centrifugal forces to change the valve timing... you'd think that they're paralell to the radius of the sprocket but I don't really know

Intake cam sprocket,  at first I thought that they work through oil pressure being pumped into those gaps to change the timing,  but apparently it works through centrifugal forces.

I also noticed this strange thing, which at first I thought might be the EGR, which they typically look like this,  but then I noticed the oil filter screwed in underneath it.  I didn't get a chance to ask him what it was though, so it could be anything?  I like how this is not built into the block as usual, it might be better as oil is very hot and can pass the heat around through the galleries built inside the block.  Having these galleries could be better in a seperate component,  but would cost manufacturers more money to produce. 

This strange component sits just under the intake manifold, has an oil filter screwed into it and two hose connections at the top.  It also has an electronic input which may be an oil pressure or oil temperature gauging unit.

There was a Mitsubishi Evolution X on display, it was a tiptronic model, which I think may have a DSG transmission.