For those familiar with Christian Von Koenigsegg, you’ll probably already know that the founder of the hypercar manufacturer bearing his name has been developing an engine without a camshaft for many years.
Earlier in the year, we got our first taste of the advanced engine through the FreeValve subsidiary which Koenigsegg created. Then, a few months later, the engine made its concept car debut in China with local automaker Qoros and now thanks to /Drive, we know how that engine came to fruition.
The Swedish marque started with the 1.6-liter turbocharged engine found within existing Qoros vehicles and re-engineered it to support its camless technology. What this means is that instead of a camshaft, the engine’s values are opened by pneumatic value actuators and closed via springs or air pressure.
Each valve of the engine can be controlled and manipulated individually, providing a unique form of variable valve lift and simplifying the process of cylinder deactivation.
With the Qoros camless engine, Koenigsegg says torque is 47 per cent higher than the normal 1.6-liter and that horsepower has increased by a significant 45 per cent. What’s more, fuel consumption is improved by 15 per cent, emissions are down by 35 per cent and it is also significantly lighter.