Common Uses for Air-cooled Engines
The air-cooled engine has had a long and
well-loved history. At least, depending on whom you talk to. In the 1960s and
1970s some car makers used air-cooled engines to power their vehicles. The 1964
Porsche 911 may be one of the fastest air-cooled engines, but the Volkswagen
air-cooled engine may be one of the most beloved. It was used in the original
Beetle.
You'd be hard-pressed to find an air-cooled
engine rolling of the auto assembly line these days, but that doesn't
necessarily mean they're anywhere near dead.
If you hop on a motorcycle, all-terrain
vehicle, or even a common riding mower then you're probably experiencing an
air-cooled engine (although some motorcycles are liquid-cooled). But it's
aircraft that have had the longest running air-cooled track record because many
helicopters and small planes have remained air-cooled right from the beginning.
Aircraft have had the
longest running air-cooled track record because many helicopters and small
planes have remained air-cooled right from the start.
Benefits and Limitations of Air-cooled
Engines
So an air-cooled engine has no need for a
radiator, a water pump, coolant, hoses or any other associated parts a
liquid-cooled engine has. But is this actually a good thing?
The short answer: Sometimes.
Obviously, and air-cooled engine doesn't have
coolant leakage problems and won't ever require things like the water pump or radiator to be
replaced, which can be a great thing. Typically, they're lighter than
liquid-cooled engines, too, because they have fewer parts.
Air-cooled engines also warm up a lot faster
than liquid-cooled engines and don't have any risk of the coolant freezing, which
is beneficial if you're operating the vehicle in extremely cold temperatures.
But there are some considerable drawbacks,
too. For starters, air-cooled engines are more likely to overheat. Yeah, that's
a bummer. They can also be more expensive to build and the large fans used to
cool the engine can take away a lot of power.
This doesn't mean that air-cooled engines are
bad or ineffective. In fact, for motorcycles, recreational vehicles and certain
aircraft the air-cooled engine works extremely well. But on cars, the common
consensus is that the drawbacks outweigh the benefits.
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