Engine Technologies

This fire-breathing 27-liter 1,800-horsepower Rolls-Royce Merlin aero engine famously powered the Spitfire, Hurricane, Mustang, Lancaster and Mosquito WW2 aircraft. It's been mounted on a trailer and really is a sight to behold and feel.

DeepDrive is hard at work on a unique radial flux motor concept with two rotors. It's said to produce copious amounts of torque from light, compact, cost-efficient package. DeepDrive is now starting on-road testing with help from its neighbors: BMW.

After launching a modern pulsejet engine for UAVs back in March, Wave Engine Corporation announced this week that it's delivered the first units. The loud, pulse-combustion fire-breather is officially finding its way to air-bound vehicles.

One of the world's largest engines becomes a clean generator. Originally designed to burn diesel, dual-fuel, or gasoline for tankers and container ships, the Wärtsilä 31 marine engine gets a new life generating clean, renewable electricity.

An innovative new combustion engine eliminates half the guts of a traditional engine, and uses a fascinating internally rotating piston and sleeve arrangement, making it lighter, simpler and more efficient while still making strong power and torque.

Wave Engine Corp has aced a demonstration flight of a simple jet engine with no moving parts. A modern version of a pulsejet, the J-1 engine powered a UAV through take-off and several mid-air stop/starts before the aircraft nailed the landing.

Internal combustion engines have still got a few punches left in them. Case in point: Kiwi drifter "Mad Mike" Whiddett has unveiled "the wildest drift car I could think of," built around the world's first 5-rotor Wankel rotary engine.

According to the UN, there are about 258 million widows in the world. Tomasin Racing feels these are rookie numbers, so it's making a kit that turns a standard Honda CRF 450 into a certified widow production facility with a 500cc 2-stroke engine.

Most robots use electric actuators, but this little fella packs a lot more punch. Researchers have created a new type of minuscule combustion engine that gives this tiny frog robot explosive leaping abilities, as well as fine movement control.

The US Naval Research Laboratory has funded a groundbreaking project to develop a new hypersonic engine capable of morphing its shape during flight to optimize power, thrust and efficiency. It's now entering experimental testing in Florida.

GE once thought super-efficient propfans were the future of air travel, until low fuel prices in the late 1980s moved fuel consumption down the list of priorities. Now, it's bringing them back with the CFM Rise, promising 20% fuel savings.

Rolls-Royce has completed the first ground tests on its massive UltraFan engine, claiming it's at least 10% more efficient than any other large aero engine in service today. This carbon/titanium beauty will roll out on airliners in the 2030s.