Anyone familiar with the Tom Ogle conspiracy? (he supposedly patented a 100+mpg device)?

ah yea the "SuperCar" initiative. its funny that Toyota asked to be included and was rejected... that might have been a mistake

 

My problem is that these super inventions apparently violate the Laws of Thermodynamics. Absent a scientific explanation of just how they garner free energy from the humidity in the air, I will remain sceptical. Just as when it was steam engine time, the steam engine was invented in many places nearly simultaneously, if there is a real scientific advance, it will be found out.
As the Catholic Church found in the middle ages, you cannot hide truth.

 

I guess they could. Haven't heard of anyone trying it with a lean burn engine. Those that tried it on another engine have improved their fuel economy by allowing the engine to run on a more advanced timing. Or they gave up trying to get the system tuned.

After reading about a simple diy system for a carb engine, I looked into it. It isn't simple, or cheap, to do with fuel injection. For most trying to save gas, it isn't worth the investment. With the availability of cooled EGR, manufacturers probably feel the same way. Engines with lean burn modes are still around. GM trucks with Holden badges still have it, and supposedly the subroutine for it is in the ECM of the US models.

The heat of lean burn is only a concern when modifying an engine for it. The issue for manufacturers is passing emissions. Perhaps, it is possible for a lean burn engine to pass them. Diesels have gotten much better, and lean burn has a large part in their efficiency. There might be a regulation that just disallows lean burn modes. Wouldn't be the first time a law dictated a solution.

 

Patents are public record. That is the whole point.

They also have a expiration of 17 years. Any patent filed in 1978 is long since in the public domain.