Compression: An automotive term used by everybody, forever. Let's get into some detail and maybe develop a better understanding. Pressure, and more pressure: It's a must-have to produce power within ...

starts with the piston at the top of the cylinder (TDC) and the intake valve open to admit air and fuel. At bottom-dead-center (BDC) the inlet valve is closed and the compression stroke (b) starts.

When I went to school for engine repair in the 1980s, we studied the differences between two- and four-stroke engine cycles extensively. If you're not familiar with engine strokes, understanding the ...

With the combustion chamber being the root of all horsepower, it only makes sense that you start spec'ing an engine build there. One of the key variables in engine building is compression ratio, or ...

We might be covering ground that's well trampled for many, but the static compression ratio of an engine is simple to understand: it's all the volume of a cylinder above the compression ring at Bottom ...

You may have heard your car has a four-stroke engine, but you're not sure what that means. Why are there four? And what is a stroke, anyway? A modern gas engine most commonly uses pistons and a ...