Type Of Car ENgine

Car Engine-Secured under the hood of the car, it usually looks like a gigantic confusing jumble of wires, tubes, and metal. This is the reason why your car is running. After all, this is what turns all the energy into the mechanical form, allowing your car to run. Car engines come in a variety, with different features, but with the same purpose, of course. If you too own a car or thinking of buying one, getting yourself acquainted with different types of car engines is a must.

As different cars come with different engines, let’s explore further how you can actually identify these types of engines as soon as you see them.

Types of Car Engines- The Basics

1. VEE

2. INLINE

3. STRAIGHT

4. VR and W

5. BOXER

Here’s how you can identify the car engine type of your car, just by having a look at the layout of the cylinders.

1. VEE

When looking at the engine from the front side, this arrangement will be like the alphabet ‘V’. Every cylinder will be facing outwards and will be driving a common crankshaft at the base. Expect this sort of engine in all those premium and high-performance cars, as it allows squeezing in more cylinders. Also, the space consumed by the cylinders is quite compact as compared to other engines.

2. INLINE

You will see all the cylinders arranged in a line. They will be facing in the upward direction which is usually perpendicular to the car. This sort of configuration in the engines can be seen in the wide variety of small and hatchback cars. The arrangement of the cylinder is simply straight in these engines.

3. STRAIGHT

Looking at the arrangement of the cylinders in this engine, you will notice that the positioning is done parallel to the car. All those premium cars like BMW use this type of car engines with such cylinder positioning.

4. VR and W

Developed by the Volkswagen group, it uses the exact same principle for all those V engines. VR and W engine’s cylinder has a very narrow space between them. And, space is so narrow that these cylinders are like squished together in one block. It is at the base that W configuration joins two banks of VR engines. Manufacturers rarely use this engine and configuration in any of the modern cars. Cars like Bentley Mulsanne use it though.

5. BOXER

And, then comes the boxer which is even called as Flat. These horizontally opposed engines use the cylinders that are simply laid down on their side in two banks. But, the two cylinders don’t face each other, in fact, they are placed pointing away from each other. Well, this allows the gravity to stay at the low level, which simply adds to the benefit of handling. Want to know which cars are actually using this layout in their cars? Well, brands like Porsche use this sort of arrangement of cylinders in their vehicles.

These are some sorts of cylinder arrangement in the different cars, which can help you in identifying the right engines fitted inside. Yes, they all need different sort of maintenance as well, which you can even discuss with the professional mechanic at your place or nearby.

Besides, cylinders generally come in various configuration, which can range from twin cylinder, three-cylinder, four-cylinder, five-cylinder, and can extend to six to eight and even ten cylinder engines as well. These car engine types are a few common engine types that are used to run the vehicle these days.