Miniature engines may not be practical from an auto enthusiast’s standpoint, but they’re definitely nice conversation starters nonetheless. Here are five of the most incredible examples of miniature engines.
Quarter 4-Cylinder Engine
Built by George Luhrs, the “Quarter 4-Cylinder Engine” is touted as the smallest of its kind. It took him approximately 600-hours to complete and no details were spared during the build, as you can see from the images above. Hopefully, we’ll get to see this installed in a mini vehicle sooner than later.
Paper V8 Engine
This fully-functional V8 Engine was made entirely from paper by Yeesjob, with the exception of its internals. It sports many moving parts, including a compound crankshaft, a rapid cooling fan, and a complex compound gearbox etc. The engine is powered by 2 x 1.5V D batteries and weighs 6.6-pounds.
Air-Cooled 4-Stroke Mini V12 Engine
Despite it being designed for R/C models, this 4-stroke V12 engine is touted as the worlds smallest. Featuring a 21mm bore, 87cc displacement, air cooling, and two camshafts.
LEGO V8 Engine
Yes, an auto enthusiast has built a working V8 engine using just LEGO parts. This tiny engine peaks at a maximum of 1780 revolutions per minute, which was made possible by adding timing gears in the rear to prevent torsion in the crank and cam. Currently, it’s running in a double cam setup.
World’s Smallest V12 Engine
Sure, you can’t stick this tiny V12 engine in a car, but it’s fully capable of running when powered up. In addition to the inspiring movie music in the video preview, you’ll see that it’s “constructed with a combination of stainless steel, bronze and aluminum; the finished product runs off of compressed air and has a displacement of 12 cubic centimeters.”
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