What is the stroke of a general gasoline engine?

A general gasoline engine typically operates on a four-stroke cycle, which consists of four distinct phases: intake, compression, power, and exhaust. In this process, the engine completes one cycle for every two revolutions of the crankshaft.

The four-stroke design is widely utilized in most gasoline-powered vehicles because it provides a good balance of power output, fuel efficiency, and emissions control. Each of the four strokes plays a critical role in ensuring that the engine operates efficiently, with the intake stroke allowing fuel and air to enter the cylinder, the compression stroke increasing pressure, the power stroke igniting the fuel to produce energy, and the exhaust stroke expelling used gases.

In contrast, two-stroke engines simplify the cycle by combining some of these phases, resulting in a power stroke every revolution of the crankshaft, which can lead to increased power but often at the cost of efficiency and higher emissions. The six-stroke engine is a variation designed to improve efficiency by adding two additional strokes, while rotary engines have a completely different mechanism of operation, utilizing a rotor instead of pistons. Therefore, the four-stroke engine represents the standard design for most general gasoline engines.