Editor’s Note: This article previously appeared in a different format as part of The Atlantic’s Notes section, retired in 2021. In response to the item immediately below, which kicked off this Thread, ...

Every new internal combustion car and truck sold in America today is equipped with a four-stroke engine, as are the vast majority of motorcycles. Today, if you hear the loud, ringing song of a ...

Conventional wisdom suggests that our faithful internal combustion (IC) engines are heading the way of the buggy whip. The lithium-ion battery has arrived, emissions standards are tightening, and ...

The defining characteristic of a two-stroke engine is to fire (combust) every time the piston is at top dead center. This makes them highly power dense, but also notoriously makes two-stroke engines ...

Anyone who appreciates simplicity of design and efficiency of operation has to like small two-stroke-cycle engines that power construction tools such as cut-off saws, rammers and breakers. Producing ...

We love ourselves a good oddball engine, and tiny, scrappy Mazda certainly must be responsible for more such engine concept patents per market-capitalization dollar than any other. We just discovered ...

Two-stroke engines have steadily fallen out of favor over the last 50 years or so. While they sport great power-to-weight ratios and are often much simpler mechanically than their four-stroke ...

Dim’s fascination with cars began when he was just six. Born into a family of car enthusiasts and racing drivers, he started learning basic mechanics and driving from an early age. While he loves ...