Evaluation of the combined driving cycle and its effect on fuel efficiency in a vehicle with an Otto cycle engine

Abstract

The study proposed to analyze the combined driving cycles and their effect on fuel consumption within the Distrito Metropolitano de Quito. For this, a test protocol was established where the orography of the land, traffic density and road infrastructure of the District were studied. These factors allowed the evaluation of consumption through a global positioning system and a canister in order to systematically travel a set of roads in distance, time, and average speed in a vehicle with an Otto cycle engine. The data was processed through a statistical analysis of minimization of weighted averages. The findings revealed that the combined driving cycle obtained a high reliability (99.7%) in each procedure. The outcome of the study concluded that the combined cycle was differential to that proposed by the manufacturer, since there is a variation of 40% as proposed by the vehicle manufacturer.