Engine is the heart of car. The earliest automobile engine was modified from industrial-use internal combustion motor. The first internal combustion engine was invented by Italian Barsanti and Matleucci in 1856, that was a stationary engine powered by coal gas, served in a railway station.
In 1876, Otto made the first 4-stroke coal oil engine, which cut fuel consumption as much as 75% compared with contemporary engine ! His student, Daimler, created his own petrol engine in 1883, within two years he raised the maximum engine rev to 900 rpm, that is, 4 times of Otto's engine.
In 1885, Benz's engine adopted battery, coil and spark plug ignition system.
In 1888, British Butler designed carburetor which was adopted in all cars for 100 years.
In 1890, German Diesel invented diesel engine.
Early engines were all single-cylinder, rotating a big flywheel to avoid misfire. Later multi-cylinder engines were mostly arranged in-line, occasionally there were some horizontally-opposed engines. The introduction of V-shape engine reduced the size of engine bay a lot. In the 30s, Porsche pioneered mid-engined layout in his Auto Union GP racer, thus established the standard for modern sports car.
Since the 30s, power increased as compression ratio raised, this led to the emergence of leaded fuel. However, because of environmental protection, unleaded fuel dominated again since the 90s.
In the 60s, hemispheric combustion chamber and overhead camshaft started to be popular in sports cars, now they are standards in every car.
Turbocharger appeared for the first time in Chevrolet Corvair of the 60s, which enabled 2.2 liters output 150 hp. However, the first one used this technology maturely was Porsche 911 turbo 3.0 of 1975. Saab 9000 further incorporated it in a multi-valve engine, thus successfully applied it to mass production sedans.
4 valves per cylinder technology appeared as early as 1912 in Peugeot GP racer, but until the 70s there were just a few European sports car using it. Toyota learned the technology from Lotus and applied to the mass production Corolla AE86 coupe in 1983. A few years later, 4-valve engine became standard in the mass production Corolla and Honda Civic, then spreaded to other car makers in the next decade.
In 1970, German firm Bosch developed fuel injector, then further developed it into Motronic electronic engine management system, which integrated fuel supply and ignition control, in the 80s.
Besides, Wankel rotary engine was the only non-piston engine. It was invented by German Dr. Felix Wankel and went into production in 1964 by NSU. What a pity reliability and fuel consumption problem led to the result that only Mazda is still producing it in small quantity.
In the 90s, due to the weight increment of cars, superchargers revived again for the benefit of low-end torque. Low-pressure turbocharger also appeared as its competitors. Besides, variable-valve timing and variable intake manifold becomes increasingly popular. All of them optimize the torque spread thus enhance drivability.
In the late 90s, most development budget was spent to emission control and fuel efficiency enhancement - direct injection petrol and common-rail direct injection diesel are the latest highlight.
In 1876, Otto made the first 4-stroke coal oil engine, which cut fuel consumption as much as 75% compared with contemporary engine ! His student, Daimler, created his own petrol engine in 1883, within two years he raised the maximum engine rev to 900 rpm, that is, 4 times of Otto's engine.
In 1885, Benz's engine adopted battery, coil and spark plug ignition system.
In 1888, British Butler designed carburetor which was adopted in all cars for 100 years.
In 1890, German Diesel invented diesel engine.
Early engines were all single-cylinder, rotating a big flywheel to avoid misfire. Later multi-cylinder engines were mostly arranged in-line, occasionally there were some horizontally-opposed engines. The introduction of V-shape engine reduced the size of engine bay a lot. In the 30s, Porsche pioneered mid-engined layout in his Auto Union GP racer, thus established the standard for modern sports car.
Since the 30s, power increased as compression ratio raised, this led to the emergence of leaded fuel. However, because of environmental protection, unleaded fuel dominated again since the 90s.
In the 60s, hemispheric combustion chamber and overhead camshaft started to be popular in sports cars, now they are standards in every car.
Turbocharger appeared for the first time in Chevrolet Corvair of the 60s, which enabled 2.2 liters output 150 hp. However, the first one used this technology maturely was Porsche 911 turbo 3.0 of 1975. Saab 9000 further incorporated it in a multi-valve engine, thus successfully applied it to mass production sedans.
4 valves per cylinder technology appeared as early as 1912 in Peugeot GP racer, but until the 70s there were just a few European sports car using it. Toyota learned the technology from Lotus and applied to the mass production Corolla AE86 coupe in 1983. A few years later, 4-valve engine became standard in the mass production Corolla and Honda Civic, then spreaded to other car makers in the next decade.
In 1970, German firm Bosch developed fuel injector, then further developed it into Motronic electronic engine management system, which integrated fuel supply and ignition control, in the 80s.
Besides, Wankel rotary engine was the only non-piston engine. It was invented by German Dr. Felix Wankel and went into production in 1964 by NSU. What a pity reliability and fuel consumption problem led to the result that only Mazda is still producing it in small quantity.
In the 90s, due to the weight increment of cars, superchargers revived again for the benefit of low-end torque. Low-pressure turbocharger also appeared as its competitors. Besides, variable-valve timing and variable intake manifold becomes increasingly popular. All of them optimize the torque spread thus enhance drivability.
In the late 90s, most development budget was spent to emission control and fuel efficiency enhancement - direct injection petrol and common-rail direct injection diesel are the latest highlight.
