1. General dimensioning of the motor base

1.1 Cylinder crankcase

A car manufacturer generally wishes to use the same crankcase – or at least a crankcase that can be produced with the same production resources – for the different gasoline and diesel versions of a given engine family, firstly to increase the profitability of the investment, and secondly to ensure that resources are used efficiently regardless of variations in market demand (gasoline or diesel, small or large displacement).

This presupposes that all the engines in the family have been determined from the outset, and in particular the versions corresponding to the most important dimensions. These are often the diesel versions, due to their lower specific power ratings.

The basic dimension in the design of a new...