One complete cycle of a four cylinder, four stroke engine. The volume displaced is marked in orange.

Engine displacement is defined as the total volume of air/fuel mixture an engine can draw in during one complete engine cycle; it is normally stated in cubic centimetres, litres or cubic inches. The volume of any solid plasma vacuum or theoretical object is how much three- Dimensional space it occupies often quantified numerically An engine is a mechanical device that produces some form of output from a given input A cubic centimetre or cubic centimeter (symbol cm3 —the abbreviation cc, though widely used is deprecated is a commonly used unit of Volume The litre or liter (see spelling differences) is a unit of Volume. A cubic inch (plural cubic inches) is a non- SI unit of Volume, equal to the volume of a Cube with sides of one Inch. In a piston engine, this is the volume that is swept as the pistons are moved from top dead centre to bottom dead centre. A reciprocating engine, also often known as a piston engine, is a Heat engine that uses one or more reciprocating Pistons to convert A piston is a component of Reciprocating engines Pumps and Gas compressors It is located in a cylinder and is made gas-tight by Piston In a Reciprocating engine, the dead center is the position of a piston in which it is farthest from or nearest to the Crankshaft.

Governmental regulations

In many nations levels of taxation on automobiles have been based on engine displacement, rather than on power output. Displacement is easy to identify and difficult to modify whereas power output must be tested. This has encouraged the development of other methods to increase engine power.

There are four major regulatory constraints for automobiles: the European, the British, the Japanese, and the American. The method used in some European countries, and which predates the EU, has a level of taxation for engines over one (1. 0) litre and another at the level of about 100 cubic inches, which is approximated to 1. The litre or liter (see spelling differences) is a unit of Volume. Inches redirects here To see the Les Savy Fav album see Inches. 6 litres. The British system of taxation depends upon vehicle emissions for cars registered after 1 March 2001 but for cars registered before this date it depends on engine size. Cars under 1549 cc qualify for a cheaper rate of tax [1].

The Japanese is similar to the European taxation by classes of displacement, plus a vehicle weight tax. In the American system, which includes Canada, Australia and New Zealand, there is not this sort of taxation per engine displacement. Country to "Dominion of Canada" or "Canadian Federation" or anything else please read the Talk Page For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. New Zealand is an Island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses (the North Island and the South Island In The Netherlands and Sweden, road tax is based on vehicle weight. The Netherlands ( Dutch:, ˈnedərlɑnt is the European part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which consists of the Netherlands the Netherlands "Sverige" redirects here For other uses see Sweden (disambiguation and Sverige (disambiguation.

Displacement is also used to distinguish categories of (heavier) motorbikes with respect to license requirements. In France and some other EU countries, mopeds, usually with a two-stroke engine and less than 50 cm³ displacement can be driven with minimum qualifications (previously, they could be driven by any person over 14). This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. Mopeds are a class of low-powered (typically under 50 cc displacement) motorized vehicle generally two or three wheeled The two-stroke Internal combustion engine differs from the more common Four-stroke engine by completing the same four processes (intake compression combustion exhaust This led to all light motorbikes having a displacement of about 49. 9 cm³. Some people tuned the engine by increasing the cylinder bore, increasing displacement; such mopeds cannot be driven legally on public roads since they do no longer conform to the original specifications and may go faster than 45 km/h. Engine tuning is the adjustment modification or design of Internal combustion engines to yield optimal performance either in terms of power output or economy

Wankel engines, due to the amount of power and emissions they create for their displacement, are generally taxed as 1. The Wankel engine is a type of Internal combustion engine which uses a rotary design to convert pressure into a rotating motion instead of using reciprocating 5 times their actual physical displacement (1. 3 litres becomes 2. 0, 2. 0 becomes 3. 0), although actual power outputs are far greater (the 1. 3 litre 13B can produce power comparable to a 3. 0 V6, and the 2. 0 litre 20B can produce power comparable to a 4. 0L V8). As such, racing regulations actually use a much higher conversion factor.

Increase and decrease of typical engine displacement in the US

Once V8 engines became expected on large American cars in the late 1950s, and continuing to the oil crisis in the 1970s, there was an engine displacement race in the industry. A V8 engine is a V engine with eight cylinders mounted on the Crankcase in two banks of four cylinders in most cases set at a right angle to each other The 1950s Decade refers to the years of 1950 to 1959 inclusive This article is about the Decade 1970-1979 For the Year 1970 see 1970. Firms would put badges on the fenders of cars giving the displacement in cubic inches. This was also a sort of trademark as well. The famous Beach Boys song, "409" refers to any full-size Chevrolet which had an engine displacement (in cubic inches) of that amount, regardless of trim level. The Beach Boys is an American rock band Formed in 1961 the group gained popularity for its close vocal harmonies and lyrics reflecting a California Youth culture This number was not the model number of the car.

In the mid-1960s, Chrysler offered a V8 engine of 426 cubic inches (6981 cm³) on its muscle cars and pony cars. The 1960s decade refers to the years from the beginning of 1960 to the end of 1969 The pony car is a class of Automobile launched and inspired by the Ford Mustang in 1964 Soon Ford came out with one of similar size, which displaced 427 cubic inches (6997 cm³), and hence was named the '427. '

NASCAR had a maximum 7-litre engine limit during this time and most automakers complied by introducing stock engines with the needed displacement. The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing ( NASCAR) is the largest sanctioning body of Stock cars in the United States. 7 litres equates to approximately 429 cubic inches, so every major manufacturer had an engine of around this size.

Engine sizes eventually grew to 440 cubic inches (7210 cm³) in Chryslers, 500 (8193 cm³) in Cadillacs, 454 (7440 cm³) in Chevrolets, and 462 (7570 cm³) in Lincolns. The RB engine is a Big-block V8 engine from Chrysler. It first appeared in 1959 and was a raised-deck (taller version of the Chrysler B engine Chrysler LLC is an American Automobile manufacturer that has been producing Automobiles since 1925 Cadillac was the first Automobile maker to mass produce a V8 engine Cadillac is a Brand of Luxury vehicles owned by General Motors. The Lincoln V8 engine was Ford 's earliest OHV V8 engine was introduced by Lincoln in 1952 Lincoln is an American Luxury car manufacturer operated under the Ford Motor Company.

In the 1970s, American firms started selling cars with smaller engines. The Chevrolet Vega was initially touted as having an engine of 2300 "cc" (cubic centimetres), given in metric rather than the equivalent 140 cubic inches, which would have been considered laughable to declare in the American market. The Chevrolet Vega was a Subcompact car sold from 1971 through 1977 Since this differs from the European convention of two significant digits, American cars are now labeled in the European manner; engines like that of the Vega would now be called 2. 3 (referring to litres).

Conversions

• 1 L ~ 61 cubic inches
• 1 cubic inch ~ 16 cm³

The big engines listed above are mostly 7. 0 liters. The 3. 5 liter engines listed on American cars today as being large are much smaller than the 350 cubic inch (5. 7 L) engines that once were considered medium size.

The 3. 5 liter engine is 213 cubic inches. The 1965 Mustang's smallest Ford V8 engine of 260 cubic inches is 4. 5 liters.

However, modern engines are much more efficient, using such technologies as an ECU, electronic fuel injection, and variable valve timing. An engine control unit (ECU is an Electronic control unit which controls various aspects of an Internal combustion engine 's operation Fuel injection is a system for mixing fuel with air in an Internal combustion engine. Variable valve timing, or VVT, is a generic term for an Automobile Piston engine technology Also, the engines and the total weight of cars they are fitted in are lighter, so the difference in performance is not as great as might otherwise be supposed.

See also

• Active Fuel Management
• compression ratio
• engine tuning
• variable displacement

External links

• Calculate displacement