Porsche develops new 6-stroke engine

Porsche’s new patent application causes a stir:

In the automotive world, the two-stroke engine has been history for many years. The four-stroke engine is the standard and has been the benchmark in mass automobile production for decades.

Currently, several patent applications are underway in which Porsche has submitted plans for a six-stroke engine to the patent office.

Unlike the widely used four-stroke engines, the new Porsche six-stroke engine is expanded by two additional strokes: an additional compression stroke and an additional power stroke.

The new six-stroke engine is based on six strokes, each of which can be divided into two three-stroke sequences.

The 81-page description of the new engine features a novel crankshaft that rotates around two concentric circles. The existing work strokes developed by Otto—intake, compression, power, and exhaust—are fundamentally altered as a result.

Technically, the Porsche 6-stroke engine works as follows:

At engine revolutions, the six-stroke engine mechanically connects two cycles, each consisting of three strokes. This is done by twisting the crankshaft via a modified planetary gearbox. This gearbox alters the relative length of the connecting rod to which the piston is attached.

As a result of this change in the connecting rod length, two upper and two lower dead points (UT', UT", OT', OT") are created, acting as reversal points for the piston.

Porsche describes the six strokes as follows:

• Intake (180 degrees)
• Compression (360 degrees)
• Power (540 degrees)
• Compression (720 degrees)
• Power (900 degrees)
• Exhaust (1,080 degrees)

Analogous to the normal four-stroke engine, the new Porsche six-stroke engine adds two additional strokes: "Compression" at 720 degrees and "Power" at 900 degrees. The second lower dead point (UT") comes into play here.

The result: Instead of generating power on every fourth stroke, this new design delivers “fresh” power on every third stroke, leading to more power.

This new engine concept promises a significantly more efficient use of the air-fuel mixture and more power. However, it remains to be seen whether the complex mechanical components of the engine can be reliably implemented in serial production, as the challenge lies in production costs and reliability.

It is important to emphasize that a patent application does not necessarily mean the six-stroke engine will actually be mass-produced. The political framework in Germany is currently strongly focused on electromobility.

Nevertheless, one thing must be clear: discarding the internal combustion engine, which has been installed in billions of vehicles, as is currently happening in our politically troubled society, would be premature in light of such a highly innovative development, in my opinion.

It is to be hoped that Porsche engineers can prevail against the ideological forces of the Green Party and that innovation will once again take precedence over ideology. Only then will Germany's position as a leader in industry thrive.

In this sense: “We’ll keep at it!”
Text: Jürgen Albert
Illustrations: Porsche