An engine with no crankshaft, where the pistons float on air? It’s not a dream; it’s a free piston engine and it might be the next major advance in car tech. When we think of automotive technology of ...

Heat is a byproduct of combustion. Both air-cooled and water-cooled engines need to dissipate that heat to keep the engine from running too hot. Can piston rings play a role in managing that heat?

One of the many challenges facing engine designers is the need to increase power output while simultaneously retaining or improving efficiency. Although a four-cylinder engine is still an engineering ...

Toyota is hot on hydrogen fuel cells for its next-generation cars, but it’s not going cold on internal combustion just yet. The company’s R&D division has developed a Free Piston Engine Linear ...

Everyone generally knows about piston and rotary engines, with many a flamewar having been waged over the pros and cons of each design. The “correct” answer is thus to combine both into a single ...

Pistons are an engine-building element we like to brag about, but you won't catch many of us boasting about having cast pistons. Cast pistons are for wimps. Many of us like to talk up hypereutectic ...

No experienced engine builder would intentionally bolt a cylinder head to an engine block without installing a gasket between the block and cylinder head. The gasket seals the block-deck surface to ...

Horizontally-opposed engines are often referred to as "boxer" engines because the motion of the pistons sort of resembles a boxer, punching. Really, though, if any engine should be named for a boxer, ...

One of the unique parts about riding an electric motorcycle is the lack of theatrics, as there is very little in the way of noise and vibration. But not every motorcyclist is down with silently ...

The piston skirt and pin account for about 17 percent of the frictional loss in a combustion engine as they are the most difficult to keep lubricated and have the largest contact surfaces. OE ...