koreanhaslanded

hi all,

just got a quick quesetion

wen we talk about engines, we often see x.x liter engine (eg.3.2liter engine).

What does the number and liter mean wen we talk about engines?

PeterUbers

iTrader: (1)

How much volume the cylinders displace, in liters.

drcookie

It measures how much gas will be burnt in those chambers.

koreanhaslanded

so having a high liter isn't necessarily a good thing? since more gas is burnt?

Tracer

Obviously, larger size cylinders will burn more gas... but of course, they don't burn liters worth of fuel each rotation 3.2 liter is about 3/4's of a gallon can you imagine what happens if each rotation (ie: 1 rpm) would burn 3/4's of a gallon of fuel... on a 15 to 20 gallon fuel tank?

Tracer

vperkins2

I believe that the larger the engine's displacement the more horsepower that can be generated.

Someone who knows this for sure should speak up!

V.

hzm82

The Liters measure the displacement in the combustion chamber. As the piston moves up and down, there is a max and min. volume, this is the displacement. So V6 3.2 means that each chambers displaces about .53_ Liters. So in general, displacement usually measure how much power a car would produce i.e. 4.0L engine 2x more powerful then 2.0L engine(you also have to account for fuel compress., # of chambers, etc.) The higher the displacement, the more fuel/air ratio is in there.....so yes higher displacement (Liters) would mean you burn more fuel. but fuel economy depends on many other issues as well and can not be judge just by displacement of an engine.

hzm82

yikes, if you pump 3/4 a gallon into the chambers and then detonate, I doubt the engine would still be in ones piece (heck you and the car won't be in one piece).

Tracer

no sh*t Nice fireworks tho..

I've seen an engine 'explode' in europe during a Ferrari race.. kind of cool.. the guy stopped the car.. jumped out and sprinted away.. followed by a nice bounce of the Ferrari and a lot of smoke what a waste.

Tracer

fsttyms1

not necessarily. the corvette zo6 is a 5.7 liter making 405 hp and it will get 30+ mpg on the hwy. IF the owner isnt using the go pedal alot

mentl

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/engine.htm

The third page has a nice discussion about displacement. Very nice; have at it.