Quote:
Originally Posted by arghx7
The Prius uses late intake valve closing Atkinson cycle. It controls engine load using valve timing instead of a throttle valve. It also means that the compression ratio is lower than the expansion ratio.
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Prius works just like a regular otto cycle. It just has late valve opening like you said. But it still has a throttle valve, as seen in this pic. As you can see, VE is also affected by its small size.
I don't consider this a real "atkinson cycle" because it is far from his designs, but the modern concept works almost identical, and is much simpler.
Its a beautiful thing. They close the intake valves late to push extra intake air back out of the cylinder. This limits the actual VE of the engine.