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I. Read the text about different kinds of engines.

Engine

A wide range of energy-conversion systems has been used experimentally and in automotive production. These include electric, steam, solar, turbine, rotary, and a variety of piston-type internal-combustion engines. The most successful for automobiles has been the reciprocating-piston internal-combustion engine, operating on a four-stroke cycle, while diesel engines are widely used for trucks and buses.

The gasoline engine was originally selected for automobiles because it could operate more flexibly over a wide range of speeds, and the power developed for a given weight engine was reasonable; it could be produced by economical mass-production methods; and it used a readily available, moderately priced fuel—gasoline. Reliability, compact size, and range of operation later became important factors. The advent of smaller cars brought a return to smaller engines, four- and six-cylinder designs rated as low as 80 horsepower, compared with the standard-size V-8 of large cylinder bore and relatively short piston stroke with horsepower ratings in the range from 250 to 350.

European automobile engines were of a much wider variety, ranging from 1 to 12 cylinders, with corresponding differences in overall size, weight, piston displacement, and cylinder bores. A majority of the models had four cylinders and horsepower ratings from 19 to 120. Several three-cylinder, two-stroke-cycle models were built. Most engines had straight or in-line cylinders. There were, however, several V-type models and horizontally opposed two- and four-cylinder makes. Overhead camshafts were frequently employed. The smaller engines were commonly air-cooled and located at the rear of the vehicle; compression ratios were relatively low. Increased interest in improved fuel economy during the 1970s and '80s brought a return to smaller V-6 and four-cylinder layouts, with as many as five valves per cylinder to improve efficiency.

<== попередня сторінка	\|	наступна сторінка ==>
Pneumatic tires	\|	Fuel and lubrication

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