How Does a Corvette Engine Work?

Introduction

Most Corvettes have a 350 cubic inch displacement motor containing 16 valves and 8 cylinders. Every Corvette uses a four-stroke system, which extracts energy from the mixing of air and fuel. The four-stroke system consists of the intake, compression, power and exhaust strokes. During the internal combustion process a fire is ignited inside the engine, which causes the gas to expand and force the piston down. The piston is attached to a device that transfers the motion to the engine's rotating crankshaft, and it goes through the gears and clutches to the wheels of the Corvette, giving it the power to move.

Intake Stroke

During the intake stroke, the mixture of the air and fuel flows into the cylinder, and there is a rotation of the crankshaft at 180 degrees. As the crankshaft rotates it forces the piston downward and a vacuum is created. At the same time, a rotating camshaft opens the intake valve, and the air and fuel mixture begins to flow inside. When the piston hits the bottom of the cylinder, the intake valve is closed and the next portion of the cycle starts.

Compression Stroke

The crankshaft keeps rotating at 180 degrees, and the piston heads back to the top of the cylinder. This causes the air and fuel mixture to be even more compressed in a smaller space. This increases the amount of energy that is available in the engine.

Power Stroke

While the piston is at the top of the cylinder, the ignition system sends thousands of volts of power to the spark plug. When this happens, it ignites the air and fuel mixture, which expands the gas moving the piston back down and rotates the crankshaft 180 degrees.

Exhaust Stroke

The piston is pushed to the bottom of the cylinder, and the exhaust valve is opened. When the crankshaft rotates another 180 degree, all the gasses are forced out of the cylinder and into the exhaust manifold. Then it goes to the catalytic converter, onto the muffler and finally, into the atmosphere.