BACKGROUND RATIONALE

When we refer to altitudes of 2,000 meters above sea level, for the European average citizen they are viewed as snowcapped topographies where people usually go up during the skiing season. But they would normally access those locations by cable car systems instead of car driving, in part due to scarce road infrastructure at the Alps. Contrariwise in our Colombian geography it is common to find cities like Bogota where regular vehicle operation takes place at 2,640 meters above sea level and even higher altitudes (3,000 meters when exiting the metropolis). This unique geographic scenario means that most vehicles in Bogota are running outside their original worldwide manufacturing standard, which is 0-1000 meter altitude range.

It is a known fact that automobile engineers in car factories are not used to design their models to operate specifically at high altitudes like Bogota. Manufacturers usually assume that a vehicle that has to run on 1,500 meter altitudes will be there for just short periods of time and after that they will necessarily go back down. Operational vehicles running at high altitudes are seldom considered by car designers. Even sadder to learn that global car makers do not visualize our Andean region motorists having to drive from 3,000-meter altitudes and then head down to a warmer 400-meter altitude destination, and all of that journey within an hour-and-a-period of time.

The unusual Colombian topography, when compared to the rest of the globe, forces all vehicles to constantly adapt their mechanisms to the different altitude variations within some relatively short periods of time and distances, thus causing the previously explained performance setbacks. Now, the attempt to modify car operational features to cities like Bogotá by adjusting the spark advance timing and other similar procedures, has shown to be useless in preventing the engine rattle noise when going to warmer lands or the pulling effect when momentum is lost at applying brakes on a street corner, and even the " motor choking reaction when stomping the accelerator in high-powered engine vehicles.

By installing the Marclais ecological valve to the vehicle, most of the previously mentioned hindrances are significantly reduced because the valve automatically regulates itself to allow proper engine oxygenation at different altitudes. Therefore the EV will prove to be a very useful mechanism for vehicles running at high altitudes like moorlands (rather than at sea level topographies), by allowing a greater airflow proportion into the engine. Nor is it necessary to make additional adjustments to install the ecology valve in the vehicle, or to worry about disassembling or calibrating it when traveling to warmer lands, because, as mentioned previously, the EV automatically self-adjusts to the varied heights above sea level.

From the above statements, it concluded that engine performance shortages in motor vehicles are inherent to the unique topographic conditions of Colombia’s geography. Such inconveniences from altitude factors do not occur elsewhere in the world. For that reason, Colombian technicians and engineers are so interested in solving the vehicle engine problems related to altitude variables in our region.