1. Howstuffworks.com

2.  More displacement means more power because you can burn more gas during each revolution of the engine  This can be accomplished by making cylinders bigger or by adding more cylinders

3.  Higher compression ratios produce more power, up to a point.  The more you compress the air/fuel mixture, however, the more likely it is to spontaneously burst into flame (before the spark plug ignites it).  Higher-octane gasolines prevent this sort of early combustion Higher-octane

4.  more air (and therefore fuel) into a cylinder  the same way that you would by increasing the size of the cylinder  Turbochargers and superchargers  See How Turbochargers Work for detailsHow Turbochargers Work

5.  Compressing air raises its temperature  you would like to have the coolest air possible  the hotter the air is, the less it will expand when combustion takes place  intercooler is a special radiator through which the compressed air passes to cool it off before it enters the cylinder  How Car Cooling Systems Work for details How Car Cooling Systems Work

6.  Air resistance can be lessened dramatically by putting two intake valves in each cylinder  Some newer cars are also using polished intake manifolds to eliminate air resistance there  Bigger air filters can also improve air flow.

7.  Air resistance can be lessened by adding a second exhaust valve to each cylinder  If the exhaust pipe is too small or the muffler has a lot of air resistance  High-performance exhaust systems use headers, big tail pipes and free-flowing mufflers to eliminate back-pressure in the exhaust system

8.  Lightweight parts help the engine perform better

9.  Fuel injection allows very precise metering of fuel to each cylinder  improves performance and fuel economy  See How Fuel Injection Systems Work for detailsHow Fuel Injection Systems Work

10.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUse1VU UEsA http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUse1VU UEsA  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDRI8lbu ftg http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDRI8lbu ftg