Hi guys, in this article we are going to be going over to the DARK SIDE! Aka nitro!
We covered in the last article how electric brushless power and performance really has moved on past anything nitro can really offer - but secretly between me and you I still have a soft spot for nitro cars. There is something really fun about having an actual little engine in your R/C car.
So let's have a look at these little engines and their parts.
Here is a basic breakdown of the components of a typical nitro engine.
External View
- Cylinder Head - Cools engine and locates glow plug inside.
- Inner head plate - located glow plug and separates head from piston liner.
- Head gasket - seals head and sets pressure inside cylinder.
- Cylinder and Piston Assembly - responsible for containing piston while it drives the engine via internal combustion.
- Carburetor - sets the exact fuel and air mixture entering the engine. This can be manually adjusted by the user using the needles (tuning).
- Carburetor retainer - screwed together to keep the carburetor firmly attached to the engine.
- Output bearing - ensures the smoothness of operation of the engine at all revolution speeds.
- Crank Case - contains all the major parts of the engine and is essentially the ‘body’ of the nitro engine.
- Crankshaft bearing - works alongside the output bearing to ensure the crankshaft and output shaft stay perfectly flush and free.
- Crankshaft - connects to the connecting rod and uses the internal combustion cycle to drive the engine.
- Cover Gasket - seals the gap around the edge of the back plate cover (also where the roto start or pull start would be located on other engines.
- Cover Plate - Seals the back side of the engine.
Nitro engine in my R/C car vs petrol engine in my real car
What are the differences between them? The biggest major difference is that a real car engine is a 4 stroke. This means it has 4 stages of operation. They are.
- Fuel injection - the fuel enters the cylinder.
- Ignition - fuel in the chamber is ignited.
- Expansion - the explosion drives the piston, turning the crankshaft.
- Exhaust - the exhaust gases escape ready for the cycle to start over.
A nitro engine is far simpler in its operation - it is only 2 stroke meaning:
- The engine cycle is completed in one up/down movement of the piston instead of two up/downs on a 4 stroke engine.
- The two phases are ignition, and exhaust/induction.
- 2 stroke engines will generally rev a lot higher and gain revs much more quickly than a 4 stroke due to having less phases - but they have less torque than their 4 stroke counterparts.
