In order to make the engine perform at an optimal level, valves play a crucial role. You must have come across Honda cars with a VTEC logo at the back. VTEC stands for Variable Valve Timing & Lift Electronic Control. This system comes with Honda cars, and it is designed for four-stroke internal combustion engines. This technology helps in increasing the volumetric efficiency of these engines. The VTEC technology helps in enhancing the fuel efficiency of the car at low RPMs. Moreover, it also aids in higher output and performance at high RPMs. Before understanding the dynamics of a VTEC engine, you need to know what four things that are needed for an engine to work. These are air, fuel, compression, and spark. VTEC technology deals with air to make an engine work efficiently.
VTEC Engine and the 4-stroke engine
There are four strokes in a 4-stroke engine. These are intake, compression, power, and exhaust. The piston works downwards in the intake stroke, and the air gets into the cylinder compartment of the engine. In the compression stroke, the piston works upwards and compresses the mixture of air in the cylinder. In the power stroke, the spark plug ignites a spark and burns the mixture of air. As soon as the spark plug ignites a spark, the piston starts to work downwards. The exhaust stroke works upwards and removes burnt gases from the cylinder. Here the VTEC technology makes the airflow better and helps in pumping more mixture of air through the intake stroke. Similarly, it also aids in removing the maximum amount of burnt gases from the cylinder.
How does VEC Engine work? | PakWheels Tips
Working dynamics of VTEC Engine
The operation of valves depends on the camshaft. As the camshaft moves, the valves work by virtue of the lobes attached to the camshaft. By doing this, the time for which the valves remain open or close can be varied. If you enter more air into the valves and extract most of the burnt gases from the valves of the engine, you can get optimal performance from your engine. In VTEC engines, there are two types of profiles on the camshaft. One profile is for high-lift cam, where the lobe is a little bigger. The other profile is for lower-lift cam, which works to open the exhaust and intake valves at the same time.
The lower-lift cam is used when the car is traveling at a low rpm. This is because, at the lower RPMs, the engine does not need a lot of air. At high RPMs, the high-lift cam is used, which increases the time a valve remains open or remains close. This helps in the maximum amount of air mixture to enter the engine and the mixture fo burnt gases to exit the engine. This increases the power of the engine. This particularly happens in turbo cars where the turbocharger helps in putting a higher volume of air into the combustion chamber of the engine. Furthermore, exhaust gases are also utilized by the turbocharger for maximum performance.
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