Manufacturers like to use a lot of acronyms on their cars. Variable valve lift (VVL) and variable valve timing (VVT) are two of the most popular ones. These systems sound pretty similar, but what do ...

Valve overlap—that crucial interval when both the intake and exhaust valves are open, expressed in degrees of crankshaft rotation—is typically a fixed parameter and always a compromise. For example, ...

The first production car engine with variable valve timing (VVT) came from Alfa Romeo in 1980. It was installed in the fuel-injected Alfa Romeo Spider. Before this, a few experimental systems existed, ...

The hunt for efficient engine valve technology can be a never-ending journey into cam timing, various combustion cycles, and lift and duration adjustments. For that reason, some companies believe ...

The language of import performance can be strange. Sometimes it's a verbal stew of numbers and letters--RX-8, NSX, and MR2, for example--that seem randomly tossed together. At other times it adopts ...

At its most basic level, an engine is an air pump. Internal combustion engines breathe fresh air and expel wasted exhaust gases to make power. Something has to tell those intake and exhaust valves ...

Michal studies Automotive Journalism at Coventry University in the UK, and has been writing for CarBuzz since March 2025. He was nominated for student culture piece of the year recently and has been ...

I was visiting Ford's Vehicle Operations (Pilot Plant) in 2002 with a Ford engineering buddy of mine when he decided to show me Ford's all-new F-150, which was scheduled to debut for 2004. There were ...