Engines: The Power Behind Auto Racing (Part 2)
From the first steam engine to have ever been invented, to jet turbine engines inside F-16’s, they all play a key role in getting humans from point A to B and making our lives and work easier.
Most engines use what is known as a “four-stroke combustion cycle.” This process was invented by Nikolaus Otto in 1867, which is why it is also known as the Otto cycle. The Otto cycle’s first stroke is the intake stroke. In this stroke, fuel and air are
sucked or injected into the area above the piston. Only the smallest drop of fuel is used in this process. In the second stroke, the compression stroke, the piston is pushed upwards due to momentum which causes the air and fuel mixture to compress. The third
stroke, which is the combustion stroke, is when the spark plug is ignited for a brief instant. This spark causes the fuel and air mixture to ignite and expand rapidly, causing the piston to move downwards. The last stroke, known as the exhaust stroke, simply
lets out the gas above the piston to make room for another cycle through the exhaust of the car. Repeating this process hundreds, thousands, or ten-thousands of times per minute is what makes an engine run through rotational energy.
A normal engine often rotates at a maximum of anywhere from 4,000 to 9,000 rotations per minute (RPM). This causes the engine to generate a lot of heat, and to keep the engine from overheating, a radiator is used to keep the engine and other parts cool.
A radiator is positioned in front of the vehicle, in a place where it is sure to get plenty of air hitting it directly. The radiator has two main pipes coming out of it, the upper hose and lower hose. Using a water pump, the engine circulates the water from
the radiator, through a hose, then through the engine, and then back again. Most vehicles have a fan attached to the radiator to keep it cool in extreme conditions or at low speed. Aside from the engine, other pipes may lead from the radiator to circulate
cool water to other parts of the engine, such as the transmission and engine oil pan.
Aside from fuel, an engine also needs air to run. Air comes into the engine from an air intake, located outside of the engine. The air then goes into the cylinder of the engine, where it meets with the fuel and spark to create combustion.
Now that the basic idea behind an engine is understood, it is time to take a look at how one can produce more power from the engine of their car.
The first step is to increase the displacement of the engine. Displacement is how much fuel and air can be held at one point above the piston, in the cylinder. Measured in cubic centimeters (cc), the higher the displacement of the cylinder, the more fuel
and air is combusted. Normally, boring the head of your engine would increase the displacement, but larger pistons would also be required. Also, the piston rods and crankshaft would have to be changed to a stronger one to withstand the increased power.
Aside from increasing the displacement of a cylinder, one could also try adding more cylinders. It was thought that the limit for cylinders was 12, but Bugatti, a company of Volkswagon Group, has put those old thoughts to rest. The Bugatti Veyron has a very
unique engine, a “W16” engine. The engine has 16 cylinders, hence the 16 in W16. The “W” refers to the positioning of the cylinders. Normally, a car has a V6 of V8, going as high as V12. The “V” means that the pistons are arranged in a V shape, at a relatively
15 to 25 degree angle. However, Bugatti uses a W engine, meaning that the pistons are, in simplest terms, two V’s put together. In the W16, each side consists of eight cylinders, but the angle is increased to 90 degrees.
In the next article, more ways to increase the power of an engine will be discussed.
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