Manifold injection is a mixture formation system for internal combustion engines with external mixture formation. It is commonly used in engines with spark ignition that use petrol as fuel, such as the Otto engine, and the Wankel engine. In a manifold-injected engine, the fuel is injected into the intake manifold, where it begins forming a combustible air-fuel mixture with the air. As soon as the intake valve opens, the piston starts sucking in the still forming mixture. Usually, this mixture is relatively homogeneous, and, at least in production engines for passenger cars, approximately stoichiometric; this means that there is an even distribution of fuel and air across the combustion chamber, and enough, but not more air present than what is required for the fuel's complete combustion. The injection timing and measuring of the fuel amount can be controlled either mechanically (by a fuel distributor), or electronically (by an engine control unit). Since the 1970s and 1980s, manifold injection has been replacing carburettors in passenger cars. However, since the late 1990s, car manufacturers have started using petrol direct injection, which caused a decline in manifold injection installation in newly produced cars.
There are two different types of manifold injection:
- the multi-point injection (MPI) system, also known as port injection, or dry manifold system
- and the single-point injection (SPI) system, also known as throttle-body injection (TBI), central fuel injection (CFI), electronic gasoline injection (EGI), and wet manifold system
In this article, the terms multi-point injection (MPI), and single-point injection (SPI) are used. In an MPI system, there is one fuel injector per cylinder, installed very close to the intake valve(s). In an SPI system, there is only a single fuel injector, usually installed right behind the throttle valve. Modern manifold injection systems are usually MPI systems; SPI systems are now considered obsolete.