An inline cylinder configuration places the cylinders in a single row either completely vertical or slanted. Due to this arrangement, an inline cylinder configuration makes the engine longer and, although it works well in four cylinder engines, performace suffers in larger engines due to the difficulty in evenly distributing the air-fuel mixture over the length of the engine.

The wheel hub is the mounting point for the wheel and tire assembly. The wheel hub can rotate while being held stable by the steering knuckle which applies the motion of the control arms to the wheels.

During the compression stroke, both intake and exhaust valves are closed as the piston begins moving back up from the bottom of the cylinder (bottom dead center or BDC). This compresses the air-fuel mixture in the combustion chamber which also makes it hotter.

The engine (or cylinder) block is the large casing that contains the cylinders and many of the internal components of the engine.

In V-type engines the numbering sequence varies by manufacturer.