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As a result of environmental pressures and end-user demands many manufacturers are working on fuel injection systems for the small engines market [reference 1, 2, 3, 4, 5]. A common approach is to take an automotive or motorcycle system and work to reduce its cost and complexity. This paper will present an engine management system designed from the outset specifically for low cost small engines. The key topics covered in this paper are sensor selection & minimisation, practical application of electronic throttle & ignition, power consumption minimisation and discussion of the software control strategy. In conclusion, this paper shows that most components required for a small engine management system can be integrated into a throttle body requiring only 3 external components. It is also possible, with the addition of electronic throttle and ignition, to deliver significant user enhancements.

A survey of the on-road petrol consumption of Australian passenger cars provided data which has been analysed for effects on fuel consumption caused by features such as transmission type, vehicle inertia class, engine size, air conditioning presence and vehicle location. Results show that cars with automatic transmissions consistently have higher petrol consumption than manuals for all inertia classes - 15% higher in city conditions and 11% higher in highway conditions. There is also a penalty for automatic transmissions at most engine sizes, although the penalty is relatively larger for smaller engine capacities. Presence of air conditioning was found to increase petrol consumption by 13.5% on average, but the data did not allow the impact of frequency of use to be determined. Coastal driving conditions resulted in petrol consumption being 9.4% higher than for inland conditions, and cars driven in winter had 4.4% greater fuel consumption than cars driven in summer.

As a result of environmental pressures and end-user demands several companies are working on low cost fuel injection systems specifically for small motorcycles and utility engines. A common approach to this application is to take an existing engine management system derived from automotive or high end motorcycle applications and to re-design it to reduce its complexity and cost for the small engine market. This paper introduces and discusses the latest development and application of a novel engine management system designed from the outset specifically for low cost small engines for motorcycles and utility applications (Pulse Count Injection, PCI [ref 2, 3]). The paper details comparisons of the performance of the PCI system compared to carburettor and conventional EFI systems. Detailed results are shown for; Fuel consumption comparison Engine out emission benefits Fuel flow comparison Cost reduction The paper demonstrates the latest state of development of the PCI system technology.