I loves this kind of graphical information. If your more curious, here is a really old video with a really good explanation on differentials: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F40ZBDAG8-o
Do you know of a perhaps new video in our era? thanks though.
How a Car Engine Works
141–150 of 172 posts
Re: How a Car Engine Works
#142Finally I can learn how a car works and become a real man, thanks!
Re: How a Car Engine Works
#143Earlier quoted context omitted.
Actually VW sold a dual clutch DSG transmission in the 2003 R32, years before the GTR hit the market, and for a fraction of the price. All other things the same, a dual clutch is not much faster than a properly-operated manually-clutched gearbox, but in the case of the GTR, we'll never be able to make that comparison.
>All other things the same, a dual clutch is not much faster than a properly-operated manually-clutched gearbox Formula One drivers in the early 90s were the only ones really able to come close, with shift times between 150 and 200ms. The average person is more around 300 - 400ms when shifting aggressively. You can be faster than 300 - 400ms, but not with 100% consistency, especially on downshifts, and especially wit…
I should point out that it doesn't matter how long it takes to downshift as long as you're in the right gear by the time you start turning.
Re: How a Car Engine Works
#144Omg I can't believe they omitted the V-4! This is a fun video about ignition order: http://youtu.be/MwEbwKBic6w (though it's more complicated since there are both 180 and 360 degree-firing V4s).
It also left out the inline-6 (different from the flat-6) and the wankel. Here's a couple more piston configurations: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Piston_engine_configur... http://www.caranddriver.com/features/the-physics-of-engine-c... Another fun subject is harmonic vibration and balance. Certain configurations require things like balance shafts and harmonic balancers (arguably unnecessary fluff) to offset…
other notable omission are: the 2 stroke engine (commonly found in 2 wheel urban vehicle now these days) and the Miller cycle that was used in the Mazda Xedos 9.
Re: How a Car Engine Works
#145Earlier quoted context omitted.
Not to mention superchargers and turbo and supercharger combinations (AKA twinchargers). VW's 1.4TSI is a great twincharged engine: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twincharger
Or Wankel engines: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wankel_engine
I was fascinated by the wankel geometry, and found other even more original shapes, unfortunately I forgot the name but that's close : http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=engine+spherical
The analogical continuity of their surfaces and the discrete states of engines is very inspiring.
Re: How a Car Engine Works
#146I loves this kind of graphical information. If your more curious, here is a really old video with a really good explanation on differentials: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F40ZBDAG8-o
Do you know of a perhaps new video in our era? thanks though.
I never found one that was better. Most of the 30s-50s instructional videos have a very high degree of efficiency in conveying the information.
Re: How a Car Engine Works
#147I always found this one video ( http://youtu.be/K4JhruinbWc ) on differentials enlightening.
Those old Handy organization films are incredible, here is my favorite but GM commissioned a lot of them. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCtJlgtZnBY The US Army also has many very nice ones intended to introduce mechanics as well, there is one about power steering that is very good, but many more as well. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlpvyWAA8a0
Here's another one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkQ2pXkYjRM : gears.
Re: How a Car Engine Works
#148It's worth noting that the engine illustrated is a gasoline direct injection engine, which are fairly common on new cars but historically not so. Until the early 2000s most fuel injected gasoline engines were multi-point injection - the fuel was injected in to the incoming air stream immediately before the cylinder, and before that indirect injection which injected where the carburettor was. Then there are carburetto…
Ah, carburetors - how I hated those things. Simple in theory, yet so complicated and fickle in practice...
I do love old diesel engines with mechanical belt-driven high pressure pumps and mechanical injectors - those things were easy to fix and built to last...
Re: How a Car Engine Works
#149Hi fellow gear-heads... very cool engine graphics! On a related note, I wanted to add that, if you are not familiar with dual-clutch transmissions [1], they are pretty interesting. One example (many manufacturers offer this type of transmission) is the Porsche Doppelkupplungsgetriebe (or simply PDK) [2], developed by Porsche. It is essentially two gearboxes in one complete transmission package, where both gearboxes p…
My parents' car has something like this (DSG). It takes forever between pressing the gas and actually moving forward. After that the car is fast and has power, it's just not fast to get going when you press the gas, you gotta anticipate. It's really very annoying and I much prefer a normal car, I really can't recommend it to anyone, but maybe it just takes getting used to.
Re: How a Car Engine Works
#150Earlier quoted context omitted.
A professor in college once told me that if you can't explain a technology, you might as well assume it's magic.
Cue the Arthur C. Clark quote: “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”
That's Clarke's Third Law. I'm fond of the First Corollary to Clarke's First Law (allegedly first mentioned by Benford):
"Any technology which is distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced."