pushrod enginges outdated?

pushrod enginges outdated?

i was reading the viper will continue with the same engine when redesigned, so is the pushrod engine outdated or just a reliable form of obtaining power?

http://autos.yahoo.com/articles/autos_content_landing_pages/1518/the-future-of-viper/

It is outdated, but I guess that's what they want to do to stay true to it's roots. The good ol' American pushrod engine. It really doesn't matter though for the amount of power it's making. Pushrods just add more moving parts and the more moving parts, the more likely something can go wrong.

I believe in the case of the Viper motor - it was more of, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it".

Generally speaking, pushrod engine designs are proven technology that when augmented with newer tech, can be competitive with newer DOHC designs in terms of performance and emissions.

Outdated tech? Depends on who you ask - you'll have proponents for pushrods and proponents for DOHC designs. I personally like them both - both have a niche market and place in automobiles. We wouldn't have stunning engine designs like the LS7 7.0L V8 engine from the Corvette Z06 or SRT-10 8.3L V10 engine from the Dodge Viper.

Taken from their initial design concept - the pushrod design came about from the need to shrink down the overall engine package size and use less complex valvetrain designs. Downside is that they don't rev all that high, but they also don't need to as a function of their design. At that - pushrods have done a stellar job, with new tech, like DI, VVT, and better emissions management, they'll be around for a good bit longer.

Actually the other way around - there is more moving parts in the DOHC setup than the typical pushrod, even more so if you factor in variable valve timing / variable valve lift with a good portions of the DOHC setups now. EDIT: Though could look at it in the case of a very basic DOHC setup and compared it to a more complex pushrod setup - so your comment would be valid in that sense.

In some ways, the simplicity of the pushrod engine will be its downfall. Not too many major companies are pumping in new R&D into pushrods unless there is an incentive to do so (read -> racing).

i seem to notice american muscle car drivers think the pushrod engine is best and commonly call out import owners as the one saying it's outdated.

I think the only thing wrong in those engine is the lack of high revving power, but yet again, newer engine can go up to 7100rpms, and do tons of power at low rpms already

I saw this thing called CaminCam that is a dual vvt-i of sort for pushrod engines
and there's no timing belt it's geared directly to the camshaft (all cases I know though)

I do think the weak link is the pushrod in itself which can bent with time/overheat, but the same thing happens to valves in a OHC configuration. my dad's jeep has hydraulic pushrod, I think it's hydraulic cause it has never needed pushrod adjustments

^^ Yup, weak points are oil pump and pushrods on these pushrod engines. Though there are fixes in place, like higher capacity sumps/high performance pumps and heavy dty pushrods.

Oiling issue, at higher revs, engine will literally suck all the oil out of the pan before it makes it way back down - hence lot of the high revving ones use a dry sump setup with a large oil reserve tank (that or run a HUGE sump with some kickouts to hold more oil).

For pushrods, it was heavier duty pushrods and lower friction pushrod guides. Even with a bent pushrod, the engine will still operation, as was the case in some of my older Mopar engines. Oiling is an issue with any engine design, more so for a SOHC/DOHC design just because of the shear number of components and basically fighting gravity.

Really need to see a DOHC engine blown apart, next to a blown apart pushrod engine - both are very unique, and you can start to see their strengths in design.

As for being outdated or not - if we are going with just when the engines were first introduced, the OHC design was actually used in production first on aircraft, before anyone else was thinking about a pushrod design. That the pushrod was used extensively in older American cars where Europe and Asia used OHC more designs - might be part of the confusion. Also depends on what engine you were exposed to first and your age. I'm willing to bet that most younger folks here (age in the mid 20s or younger) would think pushrods are dinosaurs where as the older folks (late 30's and older) still see the potential of pushrods.

it's a combination of things. they don't want to do more research and development than necessary, keeping the history, not wanting to be the same as everyone else, obviously they like the advantages of the engine, and like it was said it can continue to be viable. :ninjastea

when i think of outdated i think what is more appropriate is old-fashioned. it still works today but it isn't high-tech.

holy sh*t alby is here!

nice topic. unfortunately I dont have anything to contribute...

i would bet 95% of the people on this board probably didn't know what a push-rod engine was prior to this thread.

I admit I didn't know anything about the cam in cam until I looked for something about "vvt" for pushrods

Your right. I've heard the term "pushrod" from my dad and other family members, but have never really asked or known what it is prior to this thread.

Oh the olden days..