Five different Gasoline Engine Variations.
There are five main gasoline engine configurations today in automobiles. At times people become confused with which one is better, or what they might have in there car. The fact is no better then the other. They each have there weaknesses to the others, or options that fit different people better. If you take some time to think about it, these lay outs of engines are so every important, without them we would be walking to school. .
The V-type is an engine used in most cars today, with six, eight, and ten cylinders. The V engine has two rows of cylinders at usually a ninety degree angle to each other. Its advantages are its short length, the strenth of the block, its heavy crankshaft, and is at a low profile, for a car with a low hood. This V engine lends itself to very high compression ratios without block distortion under load, resistance to most vibration, and a shorter car length without losing passenger room. In 1914, Cadillac was the first company in the United States to use a V-8 engine in its cars.
In-line engines have the cylinders arranged, one after the other, in a straight line. Almost all four cylinder engines are inline engines. There are some five and six cylinder inline engines, which are mainly found in European cars. I once had a jeep with a 4.0 in-line six, it was tuffer then nails. At a time in the 1920's this was one of the only engine configurations known. Some cars ranged up to a inline 10 cylinder.
A horizontal-opposed engine is like a V-type engine that has been flattened until both banks lie in a horizontal style. It is ideal for installations where vertical space is limited, because it has a very low height. Flat engines are usually either four or six cylinders, and have been used by Porsche and Subaru.
The rotary, or Wankel, engine doesn't have piston, it uses rotors instead (usually two). This engine is small, compact and has a curved, oblong inner shape.
