TheFuelandEngineBiblevariablevalvetiming.iVTEC,VVTi,Valvetronic,Valveliftandmore.

TheFuel&EngineBible
VariableValveTiming
Timetoconfuseandeducateyoufurthernow,becausetheconceptofastaticorsinglemode
combustionengineisalittleoutofdateintoday'sworld.Becauseofthenatureoffuelinjection,
carburettors,the4strokecycleandvalves,theinternalcombustionengineonlyreallyworksreally
wellatoneparticularrangeofspeeds.Anyhigherorlowerandyoustarttocockupfuelefficiency,
reliabilityandpower.Toovercomethisissue,andtotrytomakeenginesmoreuseablethroughout
theirrevranges,manufacturersinventedvariousdifferenttypesofvariablevalvetiming.Theideais
simplealterthetimingand/orsizeoftheintakeandexhaustportsatdifferentengineRPMstoensure
thattheengineisasefficientaspossiblethroughoutit'srangeofoperatingspeeds.Thankstoadayof
pisspoorweatherandalotofsparetimeonmypart,Inowbringyouanexplanationofsomeofthe
rangeofvariablevalvetimingmethodologiesandhowtheywork.I'mnotgoingtogointoallthe
differentvariations,combinationsandpermutationsbecausetherearesomanynow.However,atop
leveloverviewoughttotellyouwhatyouneedtoknow.Sowithoutfurtherdelay:

HondaVTEC
VTECstandsforVariableValveTimingandElectronicLiftControl.Notsurewhyitisn'tVVTEC
otherthanitwouldlooklikeatypo,butthereisanothervariationcallediVTEC,meaningIntelligent
VTEC.ThebasicfunctionalityofVTECissurprisinglysimple,andhencewellusedandveryreliable.
Initssimplestform,VTECallowsthevalvestoremainopenfortwodifferentdurations.Ashort
openingtimeforlowspeedoperationtogivegoodtorqueandacceleration,andalargeropeningtime
forhigherspeedstogivemorepower.Todothis,thecamshafthastwosetsofcamlobesforeach
valveandaslidinglockingpinonthecamfollowerthatdetermineswhichlobeisoperatingthevalve.
Thelockingpinismovedbyahydrauliccontrolvalvebasedontheenginespeedandpowerdelivery
requirements.Thetwolobeshapesarereferredtoasfueleconomycamsandhighpowercams,
meaningthatHondaengineswiththistechnologyarereallytwoenginesinoneaperformance
engineandaneconomicalengine.Thetwoanimationsbelowshowapairofcamlobesandfollowers
todemonstratethefundamentaloperationofVTEC.Theleftanimationisfueleconomymodethe
bluelockingpinisnotengagedsothetwofollowersrunontheirrespectivecamlobesindependently.
Theyellowoneisthemaincamfollowerwhichpushesonthevalve.Ontheright,inpowermode,the
bluelockingpinisengagedsonowtheredcamfollowerislockedtotheyellowonewhich,nowbeing
drivenbytheredone,nolongercontactsthelowerprofilecamlobe.Becausetheredfolloweris
runningonahigherprofilecamlobe,itnowforcesthevalvetostayopenlonger.

ToyotaVVTi
GoonguesswhatVVTistandsfor.IfyouguessedVariableValveTimingIntelligent,thenstep
forwardsandclaimagoldstar.VVTiisthesecondapproachtovariablevalvetiming.Theproblem
withHonda'sideaisthatyoureallyonlyhavetwomodeseconomyandpower.TheVVTisystem
goesastepfurtherandallowsacontinuouslyvariableengineoperatingprofile,soratherthansimply
havingeconomyandpowermodes,there'saninfinitenumberofpositionsinbetweenthatcanbe
selectedontheflyinfractionsofasecond.Thismeansthattheenginecanbekeptinit'ssweetspot
forafarbroaderrangeofoperatingconditionsanddemands.Todothis,VVTidoesn'thavetwosets

ofcamlobes,ratheritcandynamicallyadjustthetimingoftheentirecamshaftinstead.Thismeans
thatwhilsttheactualdurationthatthevalvesareopenneverchanges,theirtiminginrelationtoallthe
otherengineoperationscanbeadjusted.Inasimpleengine,thetimingbeltorchainfromthe
crankshaftloopsupandaroundacamshaftpulleythatturnsthecamshaft.WithVVTi,thetimingbelt
loopsaroundapulleythatcontainshydraulicfluidoroil.Thecamshaftitselfhasvanesontheendof
itthatsitinsidethefluid,sointhissystem,thecamshaftisnotdirectlylinkedtothetimingbelt
pulley.Byalteringtheoilpressurethroughaseriesofvalves,thepositionofthecamshaftvanescan
bealteredinsidethepulleyhousing.Thecutawayanimationbelowshowsanexampleofthis.The
pulleyhousingisrenderedinyellowthat'sthepulleywhichisdrivenbythetoothedtimingbelt
loopedaroundthetheoutsideofit.Insideyoucanseetheredvanesofthecamshaft(alsoinred)
whicharefreetorotateacertainamountbackandforth.Whenrotatedallthewayinonedirection,the
engineisineconomymode.Whenrotatedallthewayintheotherdirectionit'sinpowermode.

BMWVANOS&ValvetronicVariableValveLift
BMWhavetwotechnologiestheycanputintheirengines.VANOSistheirVVTsystemthatvaries
thetiming.Ituseshighoilpressuretoarticulatepistonswithhelicalgearsattheendofeachcamshaft.
Dependinghowfareachpistonismovedeitherbackorforth,duetothehelicalgears,thecamshaftis
rotatedonewayortheother.ThishastheeffectofchangingthepositionoftheTDCorientationofthe
camshaft,whichcanadvanceorretardthetiming.
BMWalsouseasystemofvariablevalvelifingtoo,toalterhowfarthevalvesopen.Thisistheir
Valvetronicsystemandinsimpleterms,italtersthepivotpointofthecamfollower.Differentpivot
pointsresultindifferentdeflectionsofthetipofthefollowerforanygivenpositionofthecamlobes.
Thatlargermovementincreasesthesizeofthevalveopeningwhichallowsmoregastopassthrough.
ThemechanismbywhichitdoesthisisalotmorecomplicatedthanI'mgoingtoillustratehere,but
theanimationbelowshouldgiveyousomeideahowitworks.Theleftoneshowstheenginerunning
infueleconomymode.Thecamactsontheredcamfollowerwhichpressesagainstarollerbearingin
theyellowvalvelever.Thetipofthatleveriswhatpushesthevalveopen.Inpowermode,onthe
right,thebluepivotbearinghasrotatedaroundandalteredthepivotpointofthecamfollower.This
meansthattheresultingactionontheyellowvalveleverismoresevere,forcingthevalvetobeopen
furtherandforlonger.Simpleeh?Andveryprecise,beingGerman.

AudiValvelift
ItseemsonlyfairtomentiontwoGermansolutionsgiventherearetwoJapanesesolutionsatthetop
ofthepage.Audi'ssystemisverysimilartoHonda'sinthatisusesarelativelysimplymechanismto
choosebetweentwodifferentlyshapedcamlobes.Inprinciple,itworksjustlikeiVTEC,theonly
realdifferenceisthemechanismusedtoselectthecamlobes.Insteadofhavingtwocamfollowers
andalockingpin,Audiuseapairofslidingcamlobesonasplinedpartofthecamshaft.Thesliding
lobecarrierismovedalongthecamshafttodeterminewhichofthetwolobeswillbeusedtooperate
thevalves.Theanimationbelowisnonlooping,andshowsthis.Onthefirstrotation,thelowprofile
camlobeactivatesthecamfollower.Atthebeginningofthesecondrotation,theblueactivatorpin
dropsintothespiralgrooveintheslidinglobeholder.Duringthatrotation,thelobesaremovedalong
thecamshafttotheirnewpositionsothatonthethirdrotation,afterthebluepinretracts,thehigh
profilecamlobenowactivatesthecamfollowerinstead.Toslidethecamlobesbacktotheoriginal
position,thesecondactivatorpinisusedinstead,engaginginthesecondspiralchannel.Frankly,I
thinkthisismuchclevererthantheBMWsystem,butI'msuresomesortofTeutonicengineeringwar
woulderuptiftheyheardmesaythatoutloud.

Aretheremoretypes?
Surethereare.Everymanufacturerandtheirrespectivedogshavesomeformofvariablevalvetiming
now.Hopefullythefourdesignsonthispagewillgiveyousomeideaofthedifferentengineering
solutionstothesameproblem.I'mnotgoingtocoveralltheothertypesthey'reallvariationsofthe
fouralreadycoveredhere.SonexttimethemotoringboreinthepubasksyouifyouknowhowVVT
works,youcangeekoutonhim.Won'tgetyoumanywomen,butatleastyou'llsoundlikeyouknow
whatyou'retalkingabout.