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Increasing fuel economy is highly demanded because of the GHG reduction today. Turbocharged downsized engines have much attention as one of the effective technology for this demand. Turbocharged boost technology enables to increase thermal efficiency, but this also has a response delay known as turbo lag, which may cause lower engine performance and poor drivability. This issue impedes the broader application of this technology. The research discussed in this paper focused on turbo lag, and adopted a numerical approach to analyzing the detailed mechanism of this phenomenon. The study concluded that turbo lag is a delay in the boost pressure response that originates from a combination of factors. The primary factor in turbo lag is a delay that is due to physical properties of the turbocharger system; the secondary factor is a decreased effective turbine energy caused by a shift in the operating point, resulting from the primary factor.

To practically apply thermoelectric technology in commercial use, improved performance in thermoelectric materials are said to be necessary in general. However, there is no frame of reference that illustrates how far away from optimal performance a material may be, nor is there any information indicating outstanding issues or possible applicable approaches that could improve system performance other than improvement in performance of thermoelectric. Application of thermoelectric in automobiles should require special design philosophy compared to general applications, but there is not enough information pointing out these special requirements.

Disk brake rotors require reduced unsprung weight and improved cooling ability for improved fade performance. Automotive brake rotors made from aluminum metal matrix composites (MMC) were evaluated by dynamometer and vehicle tests for the required improvement. The friction and wear performance and the thermal response during fade stops were compared with those of commercially produced gray cast iron (GCI) rotors. It was proved that MMC is a very effective material to replace GCI for brake rotor application, as it reduces unsprung weight and decreases maximum operation temperature of the brake system.