Lets talk liters!...

[bowtie_pasta]

Ok, I am always hearing liter this and liter that.  4.3, 5.7, 8.1.  And I know each liter is equal to so many cubic inches (around 62 I think).

 

Could someone explain the relationship (in laymans terms) of liters to cubic inches, to horsepower, to torque, etc?

 

I always hear numbers being thrown around, and I basically know the more liters the more power, I'd just would like to get a better grasp on the concept(s).

 

Thanks for any help!    :sideways:

[ekonk]

Liters and cubic inches are both units of volume.  The exact conversion is 1 Liter = 61.02374 Cubic Inches, but since the displacement of an engine is rounded off there is some error if you use this to convert liters to inches (you wind up within about 3 cubic inches)

 

The reason you get more power from a larger displacement is basically because you have more fuel and air to combust to make the power.  There are a lot of other factors that affect power output, but all other things being equal you get more power by burning more fuel.

 

Power is basically a measure of the rate of delivery of torque.  A dyno measures the amount of torque an engine puts out and calculates power from that and the engine rpm ( the formula is horsepower = torque x rpm / 5252 ).

[bowtie_pasta]

Hey, thanks for the info!  

 

So cubic inches actually refers to the volume of what?

 

:sideways:

[carguru]

volume = combined cylinder displacement for engine.  Bore area x stroke x number of cylinders  

 

For example Chevy 350  Bore=4.00" Stroke=3.48" # of Cyl=8

 

area of circle (pi x bore^2)/4

 

(4.00)^2 pi/4 x 3.48 x 8 = 349.847 cubic inches

 

349.847/61.02374=5.733 liters

 

Hope that helps.

[bowtie_pasta]

Hey, thanks!  I'll be sure to put this in my notes.  

 

This cleared a lot up!