Are plane engines constructed more complicatedly then car engines?

Question

Basically I want to know if plane engines are more complicated then car engines. I know plane engines are bigger but are they constructed more complicatedly.

Answer 1

Basically they are the same.  Just higher quality for the obvious reasons.  Many kit built planes use modified Volkswagen beetle engines.  You know the ones from the 1960's, air cooled, emitted a high pitched whistle from the exhaust.

The major modification was replacing the distributor and coil with a magneto.  The rest was adapting it for having a propeller instead of a transmission.

Answer 2

In the case of piston power; NO! Most piston powered aircraft have rather old design pushrod engines that were designed to be as simple as possible for ease of maintenance and reliabiliy. They run at lower power settings and slower speeds for the same reason.

Turbines and jets are more complicated in their design but use fewer moving parts. And since they doen't have any valve gear they require fewer bearings than a piston engine.