You’ve probably heard of terms like ‘four-cylinder’ before, but what does this actually mean? How many cylinders is a good amount? There’s no doubt that this can be confusing for anyone unfamiliar with vehicles and how they function, so here’s what you need to know about car engines.
Let’s begin with the scientific part – how an engine essentially works. When a mixture of air and fuel is pumped into the engine’scylinder, it generates power. The mixture of air and fuel is ignited by a spark that causes a tinyexplosion and this happens across the engine’s various cylinders, thousands of times per minute, causing the car to move. The amount of power a car engine produces is completely dependent on the volume that is displaced by each cylinder, therefore cars with four or five-cylinder engines are likely to offerhigher performance compared to those that only have a twin-cylinder engine.
Now, let’s talk about the all-important layouts of a car engine, of which there are numerous types. An engine’s layout varies for a number of reasons, such as improving the smoothness of the drive, or fuel efficiency. The engine layout is carefully selected to fit beneath the bonnet easily, and to enhance the driving experience.
When it comes to the common configurations of an engine, many people can be left completely and utterly confused. But in all honesty, it’s rather simple to understand. In car engines, there are configurations ranging from twin-cylinder to eight-cylinder. Typically, thesmallest and cheapest carshave the least number of cylinders in their engine, whereas engines with more capacity generally use a higher number of cylinders.
John from Eden Commercials had something to add on this topic adding ‘A higher number of cylinders is not necessarily better, it is all about how much power is required.’For example, the Fiat 500 model has only a twin-cylinder engine, and although it is a hugely popular model,its performance cannot quite match that of a supercar with eight or more cylinders, but supercars are made for speed, whereas the Fiat 500 was designed for city driving. So essentially, more cylinders mean more power.
