In a conventional application, there are three rings per piston. The top ring is called the compression ring. Its purpose is to seal the combustion gas pressure, transfer heat from the piston to the ...

In an effort to increase the basic understanding of automobile technology for those new to the hot rod world or those who have been involved for a while but don't have a good foundation of knowledge.

High-output engines live in a world of brutal cylinder pressures, extreme temperatures and razor-thin safety margins, and the humble piston sits at the center of that storm. When power levels climb, ...

The team at Garage 54 replace aluminum pistons inside of an engine with custom-made plastic pistons. The engine, surprisingly, runs for longer than it has any right to run. Garage 54 specializes in ...

Explore how boxer engines really work, why they’re not just “flat” engines, and how Porsche and Subaru kept a 120-year-old design alive in some of today’s quickest cars.

If you are a motorhead, an unusual engine will immediately get your attention. Most vehicles today have either an inline or V-shaped configuration, so anything peculiar will immediately stick out. If ...

The combustion engine has been around since the 19th century, thought up by the brilliant minds of engineers like Nikolaus Otto and Rudolf Diesel. Over the years, advancements in automotive technology ...

Rotary engines (also known as Wankel engines and Wankel rotary engines) are quite different from piston or "reciprocating" engines. One of the distinguishing features is that they don't need valves to ...

The story of how Honda developed an oval-piston race engine that ultimately failed but still made history along the way.