Chapter 227

"Well, of course we're using some confidential technology." Qin Miao said: "Although Ha Gong Da doesn't have automotive engineering, this vehicle is just machinery after all, and our mechanical engineering department is top-notch nationwide..."

After blowing the conch loudly, others also felt nothing; as long as you don't drink alcohol, it's fine—drinking beer, you don't drink it like that! One gulp, one cup, keep drinking and you really can't stand it.

"Specifically? Could you give us an introduction?"

"Nothing much. If you want the engine to output more power, you just pump in more air and inject more fuel—the former needs a high-performance turbocharger, the latter a high-performance fuel pump. Actually, diesel engines have developed to the point where mechanical pumps have reached their limit; this electronic control pump is the future..."

All the Germans widened their eyes; finally we got to the point!

Now diesel engines use a plunger pump—simply put, it's a piston; when the piston reaches the top, diesel pressure is maximum, but… the piston also has other states, so the fuel pressure in this high-pressure oil pipe is constantly changing and cannot guarantee that when needed it's exactly the maximum pressure.

If this problem isn't solved, diesel engine performance can't be improved!

"We at Ha Gong Da are researching common-rail technology—simply put, instead of one fuel pump per cylinder, all cylinders share one fuel pump, pressurizing high-pressure diesel into a single oil pipe, which maintains high pressure constantly, so the fuel pressure entering the injector is constant."

"Exactly, exactly, that's a good idea!"

"At the same time, we integrate our electronic control components on the injector, with the computer controlling fuel injection; this way, there won't be excessive fuel injection causing black smoke—both environmentally friendly and fuel-saving..."

"This idea… is awesome!"

What Qin Miao said is the high-pressure common-rail technology for diesel engines—a technology that began to be adopted in the 1990s for National III diesel engines; initially, due to poor fuel quality, many diesel engine failures occurred, but after National IV and V, this high-pressure common-rail became the most common.

Even if you floor the accelerator, if the computer determines you don't need that much fuel, it won't inject too much fuel; environmental benefits are secondary, the key is genuine fuel savings!

In this era, the five-ton Old Liberation and Old Dongfeng consume over twenty liters per hundred kilometers; in the future, a forty-ton heavy truck consumes only thirty-plus liters per hundred kilometers—this is technological progress!

This technology was only started in R&D in the 1980s, the industry leader being Germany's Bosch; the company still does basic research, and Qin Miao, relying on the technology he mastered in his previous life, can directly advance the high-pressure common-rail system to the third generation.

Now talking about these basic ideas is useless; the key is detailed design—how to build the high-pressure oil pump, the internal structure of the electronically controlled injector—without years of research you can't find the optimal solution, but Qin Miao can directly reach the technological endpoint.

"Do you have this technology? Can you let us see it?"

Qin Miao smiled: "Sorry, not for now, after all… we're not partners yet."

"Alright, by the way, we've also heard you have an automatic transmission design that's as fuel-efficient and reliable as a manual transmission..."

"That's right." Qin Miao nodded: "Actually it's quite simple—just add electronic control components to a manual transmission base to turn it into an AMT transmission."

When it comes to automatic transmissions, many pundits say AT is the king and everything else is trash, but in the future, dual-clutch—i. e., DCT transmission installations—will soon surpass AT.

Dual-clutch can be understood as two sets of manual transmissions; shifting back and forth is fast, with no torque converter energy loss, high fuel efficiency; as for the shudder… it's not the fault of dual-clutch itself, but of dry dual-clutch.

Besides these, there's CVT, which relies entirely on a steel belt to transmit power, offering stepless shifting with many advantages; the downside is it can't handle high torque, and if the belt breaks while driving, it's disastrous.

These are common in passenger cars, but for heavy trucks the mainstream automatic transmission is just one type: AMT—MT is manual, adding an A in front means adding a set of automatic shift components to make an electronically controlled mechanical automatic transmission; it's easy to retrofit and low-cost, but shifting jerks, so only veteran drivers can use it well.

Speaking of exploration on this technology foundation, Mercedes-Benz truly is pioneering.

In 1985, Mercedes-Benz used Electronic Power Shift technology on its NG series heavy trucks—also called 'electronic power shifting', abbreviated EPS. This technology was merely a primitive computer-assisted shifting technique, only reducing manual shifting operations.

After ten years of refinement, in 1996 Mercedes-Benz's first-generation Actros finally equipped with the Telligent intelligent shifting program transmission, using a shift lever to control the pneumatic shifting system; it remained semi-automatic, and even early versions retained the clutch pedal, requiring the driver to manually control it when starting.

Now, Mercedes-Benz internally has surely begun researching this technology; Qin Miao saying this is a case of great minds thinking alike!

"Great, this technical route is the same as ours!" Adolf-Weissflog exclaimed: "What electronic components do you plan to use, how is the program logic? Do you have a prototype?"

Qin Miao smiled; it looks like this guy is the one in charge of the automatic transmission project.

"Of course we have… but… sorry, we can't go into too much detail, after all we're not partners yet."

"Mr. Qin, we'll head back tonight; I'll report what we've seen and heard to the company's executives, hoping we'll have a chance to cooperate next time!" Karl-Kenspel made up his mind.

If we could cooperate with Ha Gong Da in these fields… then exporting the NG80 heavy truck wouldn't be impossible!

"Hmm, then I look forward to your good news!" Qin Miao nodded.

The bait is cast out again, and my work… has increased even more! Today was just hype; next time they'll have to see the actual product!

If we have nothing to show, they'll think we're just bragging, and then it'll be awkward to continue cooperating!

Sigh, what a toilsome fate; for now I'll stay at Ha Gong Da's campus office workshop, first produce samples, write initial programs, get them running somewhat, then next time the Germans come over, I'll have to let them see the results!

Everyone's busy, so I can only do it myself!

After seeing off the Germans, Professor Yuan finally spoke up: "San Shui, you're stringing them along like this—are you trying to bring in Mercedes? What about the cooperation with Steyr..."

"Steyr certainly doesn't matter; the Germans' actions aren't that fast, and speaking of which, I don't even know if Factory Director Wang of the Yellow River Plant has gotten a slap."