When choosing a car, one must know the parameters its future vehicle should have - engine, transmission, fuel consumption, tire size and many more important details.
Usually, when before purchasing a car, people usually think a lot about the engine they want to have under the bonnet. That is why, engine size is one of the most searched tech data. In different sources, the size is also known as "displacement", or "capacity". It represents the space available for the pistons to do their job.
There are few different ways the engine size (or displacement) is being measured. It's either in cubic centimeters ( cc is the common abbreviation) or in litres. Modern cars usually come with three, four...even twelve cylinders. If you take a closer look at your engine, you will notice that the cylinders are placed in a certain way. Most are arranged in a row (that's what the term "in-line" means in the specs sheets).
However, larger engines' cylinders are often positioned in a V-shaped formation(manufacturers usually mark that with a "V6/V8" badges). Beside those two cylinder's positions, exist the so-called boxer engines - where the cylinders are placed in a V-shape formation, but the position's angle is 180 degrees ( it's wider than the typical cylinder position in the regular V-shape engines).
An engine's power is also defined by metrics like torque and power. The power is typically measured in horsepower or hp, for short. We say typically, because in Great Britain, for instance, the hp is bhp (brake horsepower). The bigger the number of the hp/ bhp, the powerful the engine. Most manufacturers use Newton metres (Nm) to define the torque, but there are cases when you can find it marked with lb ft (pounds feet).
There was a time when bigger engines meant more powerful vehicles. That's been changed now. In order to battle environmental pollution, car manufacturers are forced to come up with other way to produce faster and powerful cars. And they did. Thanks to the turbochargers, now even smaller engines produce more hp, while the CO2 emissions are decreased to the minimum. And yet, knowing the exact purpose of your future vehicle will help you choose the right engine.
Author: Diyana Ilieva
