NATURALLY ASPIRATED ENGINE: Describes a conventional internal consumption engine that absorbs air at standard pressure.
NITROUS OXIDE SYSTEM: Describes a performance improvement system during which nitrous oxide is manually injected into the inlet manifold introducing extra energy and a burst of power. On a 6-cylinder or V-8 engines, operating a nitrous oxide system can add up to 250 HP.
NORMALLY ASPIRATED ENGINE: Describes an engine that does not use modified airflow systems that pumps more air into the engine, instead using factory-installed carburettors or fuel injection systems with a standard air filter.
NORTH-SOUTH LAYOUT: Describes an engine layout style where the cylinders lye lengthways, facing from the front (north) to the back (south).
PADDING DISC: Describes an insert in the crankcase area of a two-stroke engine designed to reduce the crankcase's internal volume, thus increasing the pre-compression ratio, helping to improve the output.
PANCAKE ENGINE: Describes a car engine where the cylinders are lined up on a horizontal plane, reducing their overall height in a situation where vertical height is restricted.
PISTON ENGINE: Describes on offshoot of a heat-driven internal combustion engine. Expansion of gas caused by the explosion of a fuel and air mixture a piston inside a cylinder moves and turns the crankshaft.
PUSHROD ENGINE: Describes a type of engine configuration where the camshafts are located lower in the engine. At the same time, connecting rods are used to operate the valves at the top of the cylinder heads.
REAR ENGINE: Describes a type of engine that has been located at the rear of the vehicle although outside the perimeter of its wheelbase.
ROTARY ENGINE: Describes a variation of the internal combustion engine that is not piston-driven and has no actual crankshaft. The rotary engine is driven by a power-take-off shaft that simply spins in place. The central rotor turns in one direction only and yet producing the required intake, compression, firing and exhaust strokes to power the engine. The most common rotary engine is the Wankel pioneered by NSU of West Germany.
SHORT BLOCK: Describes the lower portion of an engine below the cylinder head that includes the crankshaft and piston assemblies but none of the external parts such as the head, sump, oil pump, or fuel pump.
SHORT BLOCK ENGINE: Describes a 4-cylinder in-line engine or a V-8 engine where either engine has a shorter block than a standard six-cylinder in-line engine.
SHORT ENGINE: Describes a fully reconditioned engine lacking external parts such as head, oil pan, oil pump, or fuel pump.
SHORT STROKE ENGINE: Describes an engine where the length of the stroke is shorter than the cylinder bore's diameter, providing improved high-end revving ability although with less power at low-end torque.
SIDE-VALVE ENGINE (SV): Describes an engine that has valves positioned to the side of the cylinders
SPARK IGNITION ENGINE: Describes a form of internal combustion engine of the reciprocating type in which an air/fuel mixture is compressed and then ignited by an electric spark.
SIX-CYLINDER ENGINE: Describes an internal combustion engine fitted with six cylinders that can be either in-line (a straight-six) or in a V-layout (a V-6)
SIXTEEN VALVE ENGINE (16V): Describes an internal combustion engine fitted with four cylinders with four valves to each cylinder. A sixteen-valve engine permits increased air and fuel levels to enter the cylinder and exhaust out of it.
SLANT ENGINE: Describes an in-line engine permutation where the cylinder block has been tilted from its vertical plane.
SQUARE ENGINE: Describes a category of engine where the bore diameter and the stroke length identical.
STRAIGHT EIGHT: Describes an in-line engine fitted with eight cylinders.
STRAIGHT SIX: Describes an in-line engine fitted with six cylinders.
SUPERCHARGE: Describes the procedure of increasing intake pressure in an internal combustion engine fitted with a supercharger.
SUPERCHARGED ENGINE: Describes a type of internal combustion engine similar to a turbocharged engine that utilises a series of belts from the crankshaft to turn the turbines forcing the air/fuel mixture into the cylinder heads under pressure, creating a larger explosion thus generating more power.