Engines: The Power Behind Auto Racing (Part 4)
The final, easy and affordable way to increase the power output of an engine is to swap the old carburetor and install “electronic fuel injection,” abbreviated as EFI.
EFI is utilized in cars that have an Engine Control Unit (ECU), since the ECU monitors the exhaust outflow, air inflow, and responds to the drivers input to adjust the amount of fuel injected into the cylinder. Typically, EFI is a great performance increaser
as well as increasing gas mileage. When a driver floors the gas pedal, the injectors inject extra fuel into the cylinder for a brief instant to make the car accelerate at once, instead of delaying, as a carburetor would.
Also, when an EFI engine is idle or during low speed driving, the ECU relays to the EFI unit to only inject enough fuel to keep the engine running, which drastically increases mileage. Aside from while-driving, EFI is also beneficial when one starts the
engine while it’s cold. When the engine is started cold, there is no need to use a choke, which was used in carburetor vehicles. The EFI engine automatically increases the amount of fuel in the air and fuel mixture to start the car easily.
Now that all the simple ways to increase engine power have been discovered and discussed, it’s time to take a look at common questions about engines.
One common question asked by novices is “What is the difference between a gasoline engine and a diesel engine?”
A typical gasoline engine uses a spark plug to ignite the air and fuel mixture inside of the cylinder. A diesel engine does not have any spark plugs. Instead, diesel is injected into the engine and the heat and pressure when it is compressed causes the fuel
to ignite. Diesel gets better fuel mileage than gasoline, because it is has a higher energy density.
Another common inquiry is about steam engines. People wonder if there are any advantages to steam engines, as well as other external combustion engines. The main advantage of an external combustion engine is that you can use anything to fuel it. While an
internal combustion engine needs high quality gasoline or some other type of gaseous fuel, such as petrol or compressed natural gas, an external combustion engine can be fueled by anything that burns, such as wood, newspaper, coal, or oil, such as those used
on old trains.
Most people have questions regarding the cycles of the engine and if there are any others beside the four, or Otto, cycle. The two-stroke engine cycle is different, as is the diesel cycle described above. Wankel rotary engines use the Otto cycle, but they
do it in a very different way than four-stroke piston engines. The Brayton cycle is used in gas turbine engines. The engine in the Mazda Millennia uses a different style of the Otto cycle which Mazda named the Miller cycle. Each of these cycles has its own
advantages and disadvantages and further research can clarify them.
Beginners also wonder what the difference is between four stroke and two stroke engines. A two-stroke engine has no valves and the spark plug ignites every time the piston reaches the top of the cylinder. Oil must be mixed into the gas in this type of engine
because holes in the cylinder avert the use of rings to close up the cylinder. A hole in the lower portion of the cylinder wall lets in gas and air while the exhaust fumes exit through another hole in the cylinder. As the piston reaches the top of the cylinder,
the fuel is compressed and the spark plug ignites the mixture.
A two-stroke engine typically exerts a lot of power for its dimension since there are twice as many combustion cycles taking place per revolution. However, two stroke engines are rarely used in automobiles because they consume a lot of oil and fuel, which
makes it more polluting and does not meet most countries’ emission standards.
Now that the engine is understood, one can utilize the knowledge gained to take care of their car’s engine since they know how it works. Aside from this, people can also use the information in this and previous articles to produce more power from the engine
without damaging it or putting themselves in jeopardy. In the next article, the specifications and features of engines in racing cars will be discussed.
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