Where are the new concepts going to come from if this is the best there is?

[Bill Bradley]

	There are still new and exciting designs being invented.

	My personal favorite of recent years is the "Dyna-Cam" engine.  It
uses a sinusoidally lobed disc (imagine taking a washer and bending
opposite ends opposite ways) with double-headed pistons arranged
radially around the cam.  With four lobes, each cylinder fires every
revolution.  The engine was designed for piston aircraft, so a light
(<500lb) 12 cylinder version put out over 800lb*ft of torque (not a typo,
800) and 220 horsepower.   I figured that putting one in say, an MR2
would make one hell of a dragster...if you could keep the power down.

	You could play with the design (number of cylinders, cam diameter,
# of lobes on the cam, cylinder size) to tailor for just about any
torque/hp/rpm range.  The aircraft design was for maximum torque, minimum
weight, and fewest possible number of parts (for cost, easy of assembly
and maintenance).  It however has the same draw backs as all radials and
boxer designs, lubrication, bearing loading, complicated intake and
exhaust manifolds, and valve actuation.

	Unfortunately, cost is the primary concern for manufacturers, so
we're not likely to see anything but reciprocal ICE engine cars, or the
ICEs driving generators on hybrid gas/electric cars because no one wants
to put in the R&D money when they have a design that works "well enough"

	Bill