Automobile Powertrain Components

Indianapolis, Indiana is a city known for its racing heritage. The international racing event known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race or the Indy 500 is annually held in the city. Given the city’s inclination to automobiles, it’s likely to see various car models on the city’s streets. Many car owners in Indianapolis have customized vehicles, too.

Despite these vehicles’ diversity in terms of appearance, these machines operate on the same principles. All these cars are equipped with internal combustion engines, either gasoline or diesel. The engine is the heart of a car’s powertrain, which is the group of parts responsible for moving the car through the energy produced by the fuel combustion process.

To produce torque, the internal combustion engine goes through a four-cycle stroke. On the intake stroke, a mixture of air and fuel is fed into the engine’s cylinders. The mixture pressurizes the mixture on the compression stroke. On the third stroke, the power stroke, the mixture is ignited through the spark plugs and a great amount of power is produced. The fourth stroke, the exhaust stroke, allows byproducts of the fuel combustion process to be evacuated from the cylinders.

Many older car models use carburetors to mix air and fuel to form the combustion mixture. Some dealerships of auto sales Indianapolis is home to sell these types of cars. More recently manufactured cars have electronic fuel injection systems, or EFI systems. EFI systems use fuel injectors to atomize fuel and spray the vaporized fuel into the engine’s cylinders.

Some car aficionados suggest that fuel injectors are more ideal because they can more effectively control fuel distribution to the cylinders. Some auto experts also say that EFI systems are capable of producing fewer emissions, while other auto enthusiasts argue that a carburetor is relatively cheaper to tune or modify. No matter which system is better, a car dealer Indianapolis is home to offer cars that have EFI systems and cars that are carburetor-equipped.

Aside from the engine and the fuel delivery system, another important part of the powertrain is the driveshaft. The driveshaft transfers torque from the engine’s pistons to the car’s wheels. The design of the driveshaft typically varies among front-wheel, rear-wheel, and four-wheel drive vehicles. Car buyers in Indianapolis can count on any car dealer Indianapolis offers to provide cars that have functional powertrains.