re: #184 thedopefishlives

A modern oil-burning ship runs a two- or four-stroke diesel engine that runs in the low hundreds of RPM and can have cylinder bores up to 3 feet across. Think of this car as the predecessor to a Navy cruiser - literally, the world’s first “boat” car.

A big old stroke at slow speed is all about torque…needed to drive those big old screws to drive the ship.

One of the reasons I’ve always liked German car engines. They tend to go for a taller cylinder, longer stroke and lower RPM for the power band.