how do you measure engine displacement...

[hans007]

i was thinking and i didnt even know . i jus tknow higher liters is bigger engine.


like is that how much fuel can fit in it. liek i was thinking 4 liters is over a gallon, so thats burning a lot of fuel. but how does that work, does it burn it all at once.... or what. like i mean if you take the volume of an engine its far more than 4000 cubic centimiters for a 4 L. at least i think so anyways.


i figure displacement is the amount of water the engine would displace if you put it in a tank of water, but that means a 4 L v8 would only push out slightly over a gallon.


i figure someone would know here, since its been a question thats been on my mind.

 

[Shooters]

It's the total volume of all the cylinders when the pistons are pulled out of the cylinders as far as they will go. So, if you have an 8 cylinder engine and each cylinder has a volume of 0.5 liters, then the displacement is 8 x 0.5 = 4 liters. Greater displacement means more air and more air means more fuel. More fuel = more power in most cases.

look here

 

Look closely at the Flash animation

 

[The Dancing Peacock]

Originally posted by: Roger
Look closely at the Flash animation

howstuffworks is a really cool site.