Technical Treasure Troves
For some reading on the more esoteric aspects of cars and what makes them go, check out the following links, all of which I’ve learned from and greatly enjoyed:
- The Autozine Technical School. Covers a huge array of topics and seems to be kept fairly current. I’m particularly fond of their discussion of engine balance and the differences between engine configurations (I4, V6, H6, V8, etc) with respect to engine smoothness.
- AnimatedEngines.com. Features cheeky little animations of various types of engines, and not just internal combustion ones at that. In fact, I’d say the non-IC engines are the more fascinating for their complexity and ingenuity.
- RotaryEngineIllustrated.com. Co-founded by the late Blake Qualley, something of a hero in the rotary community, this site’s animations are pretty polished, and showcase the operation of the Wankel engine from many different perspectives.
Hope you enjoy and benefit from the sites as much as I have. From that last one, click on the jump below to view a particularly noteworthy animation of the recently-axed RX-8’s RENESIS rotary engine: