What is InLine Engine – Types and Applications Explained

Engines are a crucial part of a vehicle that imparts them the driving force to operate. There are several types of engines available in the market. When manufacturing a car, a manufacturer must carefully select the perfectly suitable engine for its expected performance. Also, the engine must be cost-effective both in terms of manufacturing and maintenance.

An inline engine is a type of engine with a simple design which is one of the most popular choices of manufacture for luxury cars. Read on to find out what is an inline engine along with some of its advantages and drawbacks.

What Is Inline Engine of a Car?

An inline engine, also known as a ‘Straight line engine’, is a conventional engine type with all cylinders placed in a straight line. The number of cylinders varies as 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 or 8. An inline engine has a simple design and is often denoted as an ‘I’ engine.

How Do Inline Engines Work?

Since the most common type of inline engine is an Inline – 4, let’s discuss how these engines work.

The working of Inline-4 engines is quite simple. There is usually a single cylinder head for this engine. It has two inner pistons in its cylinder that move in pairs. Additionally, there are two outer pistons that too movein a paired manner. The four pistons fire together at the same time to generate power. This reduces vibrations considerably and allows the engine to perform smoothly. The alternate movement of the pistons occur at regular intervals to properly balance out the forces when the engine is operating.

What Are the Types of Inline Engine?

Different types of inline engines are as follows:

Parallel twin, also known as straight – 2.
Straight – 4, which is one of the popularly used engines.
Straight – 3, also known as Inline Triple.
Straight – 5, popularly used in Audi, Ford, Volkswagen etc.
Straight – 8, having a simple design and are comparatively cheaper.
Straight – 6, which has a simple design and provides enhanced performance.
Straight – 12, where all the 12 cylinders are along the crankcase in a straight line
Straight – 10, where all the 10 cylinders are along the crankcase in a straight line
Straight – 14, where all the 14 cylinders are along the crankcase in a straight line

What Are the Applications of Inline Engine?

An inline cylinder engine has the following applications:

Commonly used in motor vehicles.
Used in different luxury cars such as BMW and Jaguar.
This type of engine is also present in aeroplanes.

What Are the Components of Inline Engine?

An inline type of engine consists of the following components:

Housing: It is an external covering enclosing the components of an inline engine.
Piston: These are present inside the combustion chamber to generate power from the fuel mixtures.
Crankshaft: It is essential to transform the reciprocating movement of a piston into rotatory motion. This, in turn, rotates the flywheel helping the wheels to move forward.
Cylinders: This contains fuel which generates power for a vehicle to move forward.
Camshaft: This converts rotatory motion back to reciprocating motion.
Connecting rods: These connectthe crankshaft to pistons.

What Are the Advantages and Disadvantages of Inline Engine?

There are several advantages of an inline cylinder engine. These are:

Operating them is comparatively easier.
They have a simple design and hence are easy to construct.
There is an even distribution of weight; hence they maintain an optimum balance.
These are smaller in size and hence require relatively small space.
An inline type engine is comparatively cheaper.
These engines are lightweight due to their compact design.
They comprise of a single exhaust manifold and cylinder head.
These engines are cost-effective due to their low maintenance and manufacturing cost.

On the other hand, there are also some disadvantages of inline engines. These include:

An inline cylinder enginelacks rigidity like V8 and V6 engines.
There is an issue of overheating associated with these types of cylinders.
Generally, has a higher centre of gravity when compared to other types.
Generates a loud noise when they come across bumpers on roads.

Now that you know what is an inline engine, you must have got a clear idea of them being a common choice. However, you must service the engine of your car at regular intervals for optimal performance.

Frequently Asked Questions

✓ What Are the Advantages of Inline-4 Engines?

The advantages of Inline-4 engines are as follows:

It is comparatively lightweight due to its compact design.
It is easier as well as safer to work with.
They have a lower manufacturing cost.
They offer a balanced force due to the alternating movement of pistons in opposite directions.

✓ What Are the Disadvantages of Straight-6 Engines?

Although Straight-6 engines too are very popular, there have several disadvantages such as:

Its extended length poses a hurdle to efficient packaging.
It has a comparatively high centre of gravity.
They are not as rigid as V6 engines.
They are not an ideal choice for FWDs.

✓ Why Engines With Horizontally Opposite Cylinders Are An Attractive Choice?

Horizontally Opposite Cylinders are an attractive choice because of their excellent performance. Additionally, they also offer several advantages such as:

They balance the primary and secondary forces well, offering smooth performance.
Offers better handling due to a low centre of gravity.
Loses less power to overcome inertia.