Fuel consumption measurements
Automobile engine testing

This paragraph presents the different technologies used to measure engine fuel consumption, whether the engine is installed on a test bench or in a vehicle. The three main methods used are:

• volumetric measurement;

• mass measurement;

• Overall or instantaneous flow measurement.

Volumetric measurement is historically the oldest.

Measuring the fuel consumption of a combustion engine is one of the fundamental parameters required for the development of combustion engines. The measurement principle is based on flow measurement but requires a high degree of measurement accuracy, in the order of 10^{–r 4}, in order to perform accurate efficiency calculations.

For a long time, this measurement was carried out using graduated test tubes, with the operator measuring the time taken for the fuel to pass between...