Gilbert Smith is an automotive journalist with over five years of specialized research and writing experience. Before joining CarBuzz in 2024, he produced in-depth buyer’s guides and feature articles ...

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 ...

Most of the internal combustion piston engines built for vehicles throughout history have pretty familiar core designs. The majority of fuel-burning vehicles sold today orient their pistons in inline ...

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 ...

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, ...

Pistons are an engine-building element we like to brag about, but you won't catch many of us boasting about having cast pistons. Cast pistons are for wimps. Many of us like to talk up hypereutectic ...

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 ...