After over 120 years the gasoline powered internal combustion engine is still the dominant choice of manufacturers. The main reason is not the most obvious. Gasoline provides an exceptionally high conversion of energy. When energy changes form there is alway some loss. When gasoline is burned in the engine it changes form from a liquid to a gas. The gas expands and drives the piston which powers the car. The wasted energy takes the form of heat and is exhausted from the engine. The ratio of power produced to fuel used is very good. It is common to see modern cars achieving over 30 miles per gallon.
MOST COMMON CURRENT ENGINE CONFIGURATIONS
Gasoline engines are most frequently referenced by the number of cylinders (combustion chambers) in the engine. The number of cylinders is usually an even number (4, 6, 8, 10, 12). This is mainly due to engine balancing that reduces noise, vibration and wear. The popularity of configurations has changed over the years mainly influenced by the price of oil over the last 50 years. ( Oil price gouge of 1973) The most popular configuration today is the inline four cylinder engine.
- INLINE 3 CYLINDER
- INLINE 4 CYLINDER
- FLAT 4 CYLINDER ( 2 cylinders on each side)
- INLINE 6 CYLINDER
- V 6 CYLINDER ( 3 cylinders on each side)
- V 8 CYLINDER (4 cylinders on each side)
- V 12 CYLINDER ( 6 cylinders on each side)
DIESEL ENGINES
The diesel is also an internal combustion engine. There are two differences between the diesel and gasoline engines. First the diesel uses high cylinder compression to ignite the fuel. The gasoline engine uses a spark plug and electricity to ignite the fuel.
The second is obviously the fuel. Diesel fuel is a less refined oil product and is less combustible than gasoline. Diesel engines are heavier than a same size gasoline engine. This is because the high compression and resulting vibration requires a stronger engine block and internal parts.
On the plus side this heavy duty design produces very long engine life. Diesel engines produce better gas mileage. Diesel fuel used to be significantly cheaper than gasoline because it required less refining and therefore produced more fuel per barrel of crude oil. In recent years the government has added more tax on diesel to discourage it’s use due to environmental concerns. Diesel fuel now cost as much or more than premium grade gasoline. Today the number of diesel powered cars has dwindled to just a few. The diesel is still very popular in trucks due to it’s relative economy when moving heavy loads and it’s longevity. To learn more about the history if the diesel engine go here.
FORCED INDUCTION
The majority of autos today are naturally asperiated (NA). The NA engines use the open atmospheric pressure to move air and fuel into the engines cylinders. There are two methods of forced induction Turbocharging and Supercharging. Both systems pressurize air and force it into the engine.To learn more about forced induction go here.
