Car Engine: Types of Car Engines, Parts and How it Works

We all are aware of the importance of a car’s engine. Just as humans require energy to move around, similarly car engines also need energy. But despite this, most people measure the importance and aesthetics of a car by judging it from the outside. It’s very rare, for people, to think about the internal parts of a car, like a car engine.

But if you talk to any car or automotive enthusiast, they would proudly explain how essential a car engine is. There is a strong possibility that a common man may not know much about its parts or how an engine work. So, today we will talk about what a car engine is, what are its major components and how these parts and the whole engine works.

Get ready! You’re in for a detailed and educational ride.

What is a Car Engine?

To simplify the understanding of a car’s engine, it would be better if you would equate it to a heart of a car. An engine is a device that transforms energy from fuel with help of a spark. This spark helps in creating the power to move the car around. This combustion process is the reason why a car engine is also called an internal combustion engine.

The car engines are sealed with designed around sealed, resilient metal cylinders. The mixture of petrol vapour and compressed air inside these cylinders of the engine expands that in turn helps in providing the power to move the car.

Types of Car Engine

It would be safe to say that, mostly all modern cars are equipped with a car engine that is somewhere between two to eight cylinders. In fact, in some vehicles, there are as many as 16 sixteen cylinders! Isn’t that awesome. As mentioned before, cylinders are a very essential component. They are designed in a way in which they can be opened and closed whenever there is a need to bring in fuel to combine in order to release the produced exhaust gas.

Car Engine Layouts

You must be wondering now what is car engine layout is? In layman’s terms, an engine layout is basically the arrangement and the number of engine cylinders present. There are several types of engine layouts but we would be talking about the most popular ones. These are as follows:

– Straight or Inline Car Engine Layout

Most of the cars that we see on the roads today are equipped with Straight or Inline Car Engine layouts. As the name suggests, here, the engine cylinders are placed one after another, in a vertical line. It is quite popular as the installation and manufacturing of such car engines are inexpensive and less complicated. But inline layout gives the advantage of storing more cylinders and giving more power. They are mostly used in either family cars or luxury cars.

– Flat Car Engine Layout

Also known as the Boxer engine, in the Flat Engine layout, you can see that the cylinders are placed horizontally. The low centre of mass helps in handling the car better and the bigger surface area helps in cooling the air around the cylinders. This layout is not preferred by the industry and is used in limited brands like Porsche and Subaru.

– V-Engine Car Layout

The V-Engine car layout is generally used in high-performance vehicles like Ferrari and Mercedes Benz. In this layout, the chamber of pistons represents the V shape and it can accommodate various cylinders in a limited area. They are more complicated to build and thus, are used in limited, expensive ...[Continue reading]