Basics of car Engines

The Fuel and Engine Bible - how engines work including 2 stroke, 4 stroke and wankel (rotary) engines, fuel, octane rating, power, bhp, gas types and grades, carburettors, fuel injection, tuning, tweaking, nitrous, turbos, superchargers, chipping, hybrids, how to keep your engine running at peak fitness and much more.

Suck, squeeze, bang, blow

Not a sexual maneuver, but rather the common description for how an internal combustion engine works. The basic way all internal combustion engines work is to take a mixture of fuel and air, compress it, ignite it either with a spark plug or by self-igntion (in the case of a diesel engine), allow the explosion of combusting gasses to force the piston back down and then expel the exhaust gas. The vertical movement of the piston is converted into rotary motion in the crank via connecting rods. The crank then goes out to the gearbox via a flywheel and clutch, and the gearbox sends the rotary motion to the wheels, driving the vehicle forwards.
The diagram to the left is for reference for the technical jargon that will pop out on the rest of this page. It shows an inline-4 engine with dual overhead cams.

Nikolaus Otto

If you want to be pedantic, the suck-squeeze-bang-blow cycle of a 4 stroke engine should be called the Otto Cycle, after its inventor Nikolaus Otto. The development of the internal combustion engine is quite interesting, and rather than add even more clutter to this page, enquiring minds can read about the history of the internal combustion engine here. The rest of us will carry on.

Engine layouts

Here are some illustrations of the most common types of cylinder layout you'll find in engines today. Singles are typically used in motorbikes, snowblowers, chainsaws etc. V-twins are also found in motorbikes. The triple is almost unique to Triumph motorbikes where they call it the Speed Triple, or the 675. Inline-fours are the mainstay of car engines, as well as being found in some motorbikes too such as the BMW K1200S. Inline fives used to be used a lot in Audis but have found a new home in current Volvos. The V5 is something you'll find in some VWs. The V6 has the benefits of being smoother than an inline-four but without the fuel economy issues of a V8. Boxer engines are found in BMW motorbikes (twins) and Porsches and Subarus (fours and sixes). You had no idea, did you?

The difference between 4 stroke and 2 stroke engines

First, some basic concepts. Well one basic concept really - the most common types of internal combustion engine and how they work. It's worth reading this bit first otherwise the whole section on octane later in the page will seem a bit odd. Almost every car sold today has a 4 stroke engine. So do a lot of motorbikes, lawnmowers, snowblowers and other mechanical equipment. But there are still a lot of 2 stroke engines about in smaller motorbikes, smaller lawnmowers, leaf-blowers, snowblowers and such.
The difference between the two engine types is the number of times the piston moves up and down in the cylinder for a single combustion cycle. A combustion cycle is the entire process of sucking fuel and air into the piston, igniting it and expelling the exhaust.