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The Spark Plugs used in an internal combustion engine have been nearly unchanged since the beginning. The design is very simple – a high-voltage spark jumps a tiny gap and this spark ignites gasoline. Spark plugs are a relatively cheap, reliable way to get the job done. But spark plugs are not perfect, so now [...]
These two photo galleries bring up a great point: Is it really possible to build a cheap, DIY/homebrew supercharger using a leaf blower? – Leaf Blower Supercharger Driving The New Corvette Hack – Wait, Did This Corvette Just Become More Fun? Once you see it, it makes sense. A leaf blower pumps lots of air, [...]
Sometimes, after we have looked at something in a certain way for a really long time, we cannot see it any other way. Then someone with the stuff of genius comes along and reconceptualizes it and we say, “why didn’t I think of that!” Such is the case with the conventional four-stroke internal combustion engine. [...]
We are all familiar with the internal combustion engines that we have in our cars. They are remarkably reliable but not very efficient, turning only 15% to 20% of the gasoline they burn into motion. The rest of the energy in the gasoline is lost as waste heat. Many people have tried many things to [...]
Supercar – The Priapism – Featuring two 450 HP V8 engines
by Marshall Brain | March 2, 2011
What if you can’t get all the horsepower you want from a single v8 engine? One option is to combine two V8s in a single car. That is the design idea behind the Priapism from Sire Custom Performance. You can see the car and hear about its design philosophy here: These videos show the car [...]
You Asked: What’s the difference between a commercial aircraft engine and a fighter aircraft engine? — Ganapati, Bangalore, India Marshall Brain Answers: At a high level, you can understand some of the differences between commercial and fighter aircraft engines by thinking about the differences between commercial and racing automobile engines. Commercial automobile engines tend to [...]
The following video shows a tractor at a “tractor pull” event. It is running a large inline-6 diesel engine with a large supercharger and burning methanol. Unfortunately, it has run afoul of the laws of physics for some reason and pays the price: The driver is very lucky that the block flew forwards rather than [...]
It is well-known that a Formula 1 car is about the fastest car in existence in terms of acceleration, braking, cornering ability, etc. This video shows just how fast an 800 horsepower V-10 F1 car can go. But no “normal person” is ever going to get to drive an F1 car, and certainly not on [...]
Before buying a used car, check the check-engine light
by Marshall Brain | December 28, 2010
Leigh and I have been looking at used cars. There seem to be four options in our area: Late-model used car lots like Carmax (which tend to sell 3 to 5 year old cars, all of which are $10K and up) Used car lots that are attached to a new car dealership (ditto) Less expensive [...]
Last week we talked about gasoline direct injection engines that are starting to appear in cars from every major manufacturer. These engines get better gas mileage by allowing higher compression ratios and leaner mixtures. A reader named Chris wrote in and suggested I check out Evinrude’s E-Tec engines. These use direct injection technology on 2-stroke [...]
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