Could someone explain what the ltr of an engine actually means/does?

Question

For example, back in the days I always thought the higher the liter engine, the faster the car was. But lets take

6.0L Turbo Vs 3.0 V8

Basically someone explain the engine size (ltr) and 8V, what they are/do

Answer 1

The litres = the total swept volume of the cylinders (swept by the pistons). V8 = Eight cylinders arranged in a vee configuration, i.e., two banks of four.

Turbochargers force more fuel air mix into the cylinders thereby increasing power as if it were a bigger capacity.

Answer 2

a liter is approximately 61 cubic inches in volume.for example a 5 liter engine is 5 x61=305 cu. in. displacement.A 7 liter is 7x61= 428 cu.in..your 6 liter is equal to 6x61=366 cu.in.your 3 liter engine is 3x61 or 183 cubic inches. chances are the torque level of the 6 liter is more than the 3 liter.the 3 liter may rev higher because of weight and stroke.

Answer 3

V8 means it has 8 cylinders in a V configuration, 4 on each side.

3.0 = 3000cc's

6.0L is the size of the engine 6000cc's

Answer 4

Look at the below chart, it may clear things up. Since we started measuring using the metric system in the States it's become very confusing.  

ubic Inches   Liters

170 2.8

200 3.3

250 4.1

260 4.3

289 4.7

302 5.0

351 5.8

390 6.4

427/428/429 7.0



Liters Cubic Inches

2.3 140

2.8 171

3.8 232

4.6 281

5.0 305

5.4 329

Answer 5

its the same thing as cubic displacement its just measured out in liters ,its the metric system for what we used to call cubic inches,all car company's now its there's like this,that's the only difference,and your right the higher the liter the more cubic inches you have so it means bigger engine and should be faster,good luck.

Answer 6

Your interpretation is old hat nowadays. In general, yes, a high litre size engine will be fast but engine technology has improved in leaps and bounds over the years and today even relatively small engines are producing the power a 6litre V8 would have done 30 years back.  Speed is not just a product of engine power alone though, but a carefull matching of engine power and torque to gear ratios.

Answer 7

The answers above explain what the sizes mean. I was thinking of addressing the 'why' and the turbo aspect....

First up work out what's going on here:

http://www.keveney.com/otto.html

When the piston moves down on the inlet stroke it sucks in fuel and air. This then gets compressed when the piston moves up and the spark ignites it and the mixture explodes. The more mixture (basically the bigger the engine), the bigger the bang.

To go bang, the petrol needs the air to burn. Apart from a million other factors, the main thing that limits a car's power is the amount of air you can get into the cylinders. In a normal engine you can only get 500cc of air in a 500cc engine (actually it's a bit less than that usually).

The thing about a turbo is that it uses the exhust gasses to spin a turbine which compresses the inlet gasses meaning that into a 500cc cylinder you can squash 750cc...1000cc....1500cc - whatever the turbo is set up for. In simplistic terms, 1000cc of air in a 500cc piston will give you double the power.