5 ms·

I stand corrected, and I think I've figured it out. Even without burning fuel, in a frictionless system, the decelerating piston would be putting its energy bac

I stand corrected, and I think I've figured it out. Even without burning fuel, in a frictionless system, the decelerating piston would be putting its energy back into the crankshaft? So it draws energy then puts it back every 180 degrees? Takes energy on the acceleration, puts it back on the deceleration? I suppose the friction is the main loss source then?

aunty_helen 11y ago
Conversion of linear motion to rotational motion is the loss you're looking for. To your point about effectively gas turbine/electric drive trains from your OP, the problem is efficency in burning the fuel. This comes from the lack of achievable compression ratio in a turbine system. 6:1 is good for a jet, 13:1 is good for a N/A piston engine (not sure what race engines run exactly). Higher compression ratio = better fuel efficency.