What do liters matter in an engine

Larger engines, which don't have to work as hard to produce high levels of power, were formerly the default among those who make frequent high speed motorway journeys. However, modern technology can make a small engine behave like a much larger one, and even a modestly sized engine might be perfectly at ease on a long motorway journey.

Remember that your driving style will also dictate how much fuel you'll use. Keeping the revs low by changing up to the highest possible gear will help save fuel, as will accelerating and braking gently. Keeping tyres correctly inflated could save you hundreds of pounds each year.

Click here for our tips on saving fuel through frugal driving. Your car's engine size and power will also have an effect on your insurance premium. Cars in low insurance groups i. Petrol and diesel are both derived from oil but the way they are produced and the way they are used inside car engines is different, which is why you should never put the wrong fuel in your car. Diesel is more energy rich than petrol per litre and the differences in how diesel engines work make them more efficient than their petrol counterparts.

A diesel engine of the same size as a petrol engine will invariably be more economical. One is that diesel cars are more expensive, so often you need to be a high-mileage driver in order to see the benefit of the economy versus the higher price.

Another related reason is that diesel cars need regular runs on the motorway to stay in good condition, so if you only want a car for town-driving, a diesel may not be suitable. A third reason is that diesels produce more local pollutants like nitrous oxide, which have more of an impact on air quality. Misfuelling: what to do if you put petrol in your diesel car. Petrol and diesel engines have different characteristics.

Diesel is a good fuel for long-distance, low-rev driving, such as motorway cruising. It also produces lots of power at low engine speeds, making it ideal for towing caravans. Petrol, on the other hand, is often better for smaller cars and is generally more popular in hatchbacks and superminis. In terms of fuel economy, the choice between a diesel and a petrol engine can be tricky — see our 'petrol or diesel' guide here.

While small, turbocharged engines can produce more power than many bigger engines made in the past, it still holds as a general rule that a large engine is capable of producing more power. Buyers that would benefit from a large engine include caravan owners and people intending to travel long distances on motorways, particularly if the car will be full. Cars with large engines can also be fun for those who enjoy driving, as they tend to deliver extra power and noise — an important ingredient for fans of fast cars.

Manufacturers round up numbers so a 2. Busting the myth of running in a new car. The modern approach is to use smaller engine sizes but find ways to boost their power outputs, like through turbocharging. In most cases, smaller turbocharged engines can produce more power than the larger non-turbo engines they have effectively replaced.

To top it off, those smaller turbocharged engines are still more fuel efficient while producing more power and torque. If you have read How Car Engines Work , you know that your engine has pistons , and the pistons move up and down in their cylinders :. When the piston moves from top to bottom, it sucks in a certain amount of air. How much air it can suck in depends on how big around the piston is, and how far it moves when it goes from top to bottom.

Let's say that the piston in your car is 4 inches That means that one piston in your engine can suck in:. A car manufacturer would round that up and say that your car has a 3. This means that the displacement of this particular engine is 3.

If you were to turn the crankshaft of this engine through two complete revolutions, the four pistons would inhale a total of 3. So why should you care, and why is there a sticker on the back of many cars telling you the engine's displacement? The displacement of the engine gives you some estimate of the maximum power that the engine can produce.

When you mix gasoline with air and burn it in an engine, you can only mix in so much gasoline. It is true that modern, large displacement engines with forced induction produce more power than small engines with the same advantages, but this is largely a result a better technology and not of the larger displacement. Lennon Simpson is a graduate of Hendrix College where he received his B.

His articles on politics and current events have appeared in "The Profile. Simpson began his professional writing career in as a poet in Central Arkansas. What Do Liters Mean in an Engine? Can You Get More Displacement. Can You Have Too Much? Are There Replacements for Displacement?