How do cars with a four cylinder engine go faster than a V8 engine?

Question

Like a Ford Crown Victoria vs a Honda Civic.

In: Engineering

Answer 1

Having more cylinders does not necessarily mean more power. For example Cameros from the 90’s only had 160 HP. Some 4 cylinder engines are capable of high horsepower such as a Subaru STI which could have up to 300 HP.

Weight is also a major factor . V8 engines are quite heavy. And the cars they power are generally larger.
Where as a car with a 4 cylinder engine is *usually lighter which helps improve speed and acceleration.