The Only thing on a car engine that hasn’t changed since the inception of an ic engine is cams and camshafts.the good thing about cams and its shaft is that the mechanism works well in opening and closing and the cons of this cam mechanism are that the valves will never be in open or closed position but in some intermediate positions(this is due to the profile of the cams).with the use of cam mechanism we cannot build an engine where varying number of pistons work under different driving conditions..i.e. a v6 engine cannot be run as a 4 cylinder or a 2 cylinder engine, it has to be a 6 cylinder engine always .this leads to wastage of fuel.
So why not go bonkers and try something extraordinary?
Koenigsegg, a Swedish supercar company is doing exactly the same under the leadership of Christian von Koenigsegg called as a free valve engine.
A free valve engine eliminates the cam and throttle body replacing it with pneumatic actuators and mechanical springs on top of each cylinder.the actuators are electronically controlled by ECU(electronic control unit) of the car allowing the possibility to control each valve individually.the valves open or depress electronically while the spring restores the actuator position.
Benefits..
1.The Valves open or shut instantly without time lag. So fuel is not seeping in or exhaust is not seeping out gradually.
2.The Engine is much smaller than regular IC engines as it eliminates camshaft and timing belts and air plenum chamber.
3.Fuel consumption can be minimized as the valves are individually controlled, we can build an engine where the power is generated by varying number of pistons. Freevalve can shut down 1 or 2 or 3 cylinders depending upon the situation.
Consider a 8 cylinder engine.under ordinary conditions the torque generated by 4 cylinders is sufficient to run the car.the valves of 4 cylinders can be shut and fuel and air is sent into only the remaining four cylinders.under medium speed and acceleration conditions, the power or torque generated by 6 cylinders is sufficient.so the free valve shuts down 2 cylinders.
4. Freevalve can provide up to 30 percent more power than an engine with cam when all conditions are equal.