3 CYLINDER INLINE
What engine is the 3 cylinder inline: it is a inline, four-stroke three-cylinder piston engine where cylinders are assembled in a line along a common crankshaft.
What is the 3 cylinder inline displacement: it is in a range between 599 cc and 1618 cc in recent model line up powertrain.
How much is the power of the 3 cylinders inline: the power of the 3 cylinders is in a range from 31 bhp to 304 bhp.
Which cars use 3 cylinder inline engine: standard and premium brands are using 3 cylinders in line ranging from city car like Smart to ready for track vehicle as Toyota Yaris Gr and Corolla Gr. 3 Cylinder in line is also used in hybrid cars for his light weight and compact size as in Bmw I8.
As the engine fires once every 240 degrees crankshaft angle (720 degrees / 3 = 240 degrees). Firing order is 1-3-2.
End-to-end vibration
Starting from left fire 1: piston 1 is at the top and is going downward, thus generates an upward force to the left end of the crankshaft. Piston 2 is also going downward, thus generates an upward force to the middle of the crankshaft. Piston 3 is going upward, thus generates a downward force to the right end of crankshaft. As the engine’s center of gravity locates at cylinder 2, forces from piston 1 push the left end of the engine upward while forces from piston 3 push the right end of the engine downward; After 180 degrees rotation, the situation is completely reversed downward force at left and upward force at the right. This is an end-to-end vibration with respect to the engine center at cylinder 2.
To reduce end-to-end vibration most inline-3 engines are equipped with a balancer shaft. The crankshaft-driven balancer shaft has a weight at each of its end. The weights move in direction opposite to the direction of the end pistons. When the piston goes up, the weight goes down. When the piston goes down, the weight goes up. As a result, the end-to-end vibration can be cancelled by the balancer shaft which is driven at the same speed as the crankshaft.
