To ensure fuel combustion efficiency, your engine pistons are fitted with piston rings. Held in place by canals or grooves on the piston walls, the piston rings have very important functions that generally keeps your emission cleaner and your engine’s fuel combustion less sloppy.

Pistons usually come with three rings.They can be classified into compression and oil control rings.

Compression ring – Fitted on the first and second grooves from the piston crown, this type of ring is used to lock in or seal the compression in the combustion chamber. It prevents blow-by or combusted gases from getting into the crankcase. Because it comes into contact with the cylinder, it also serves to transfer heat from the piston to the cylinder wall and finally to the water jackets between the cylinders.

Oil control ring – This is usually the third or fourth ring from the top. It scrapes excessive engine oil off the cylinder wall so oil won’t get burned along with fuel in the combustion chamber. Aside from producing darker emission, burning of engine oil produces carbon residue, which may accumulate in the cylinder head and spark plug.

In our last post, we tackled the cold air intake and how it works. Now, we’re going to discuss another variant of it - the ram air intake.

A ram air intake is usually found on high-performance vehicles and it differs from the function of a cold air intake greatly. The cold air intake cools down incoming air into the vehicle, packing more air molecules to deliver more horsepower.

On the other hand, a ram air intake employs the use of a dynamic air pressure to greatly increase the massflow of air that enters the engine. The dynamic air pressure is created by a moving vehicle in its effort to increase static air pressure that enters the intake manifold of an engine.

This aftermarket performance part also works by acting as an intake air velocity reducer. It does this feat by boosting the cross sectional area of the intake ducting. The increased air pressure is then mixed with the fuel. Once this happens, there will be an increased amount of air to be burnt with the fuel and a boost in performance will be achieved.

The ram air intake has been used since the sixties and it seems that more people are using it to increase the performance of their cars. The ram air intake is a significant add-on for any drag racer who’s planning on having the best parts installed on their car.

Previously, we’ve tackled the four steps of an engine’s operation. These are intake, compression, combustion/expansion and exhaust. For this post, we’re going to discuss what combustion means. Put on your thinking caps people because your brains are going to be loaded with your daily dose of engine knowledge!

Before anything else, what does combustion mean? For starters, combustion is basically the fuel/air mixture’s reaction when it is exposed to great amounts of heat. In some cases, car tuners employ the use of nitrous oxide to attain a more powerful combustion result.

For the combustion process to be a reality, the use of fuel should be made possible. As of today, the most common fuel types out there contain hydrocarbons and are produced from fossil fuels. Fuel types such as diesel, gasoline and petroleum gas fall under the fossil fuel category. Don’t mind these fuel types for now. We’re going to discuss them in the future. Let’s move on, shall we?

Now that the fuel aspect of combustion has been covered, there’s another requirement needed for this process to be successful – ignition. This little guy right here is responsible for providing the spark needed to burn the fuel/air mixture and help it detonate. Of course, this ignition process is divided into two types – the gasoline and diesel ignition process.

Let’s tackle first the gasoline ignition process. Basically, gasoline engine ignition systems use a lead-acid battery/induction coil combo. These two guys right here are used to produce a high-voltage electrical spark to ignite the fuel/air mixture and make combustion possible. On the other hand, the diesel ignition process uses only the heat and pressure produced by the engine’s compression step. This compression step acts as the diesel engine’s ignition system and helps complete the combustion process.

That’s all we have about combustion folks. We hope it helped you in any way possible. For our next post, we’re going to talk about how to measure an engine’s performance. Stay tuned and stay safe on the road!