Can someone explain what the significance of a 32 Valve system is, or what the significance of a 16 valve engine is on my GF's CRX? I know how valves work but just trying to find out why more seems to = better here... Thanks

 

Alrighty so on the CRX my gf has, they also come with 8 valve motores then.
Why not just make the existing valves 2x as big rather than having a 16 valve solution? Just trying to get a deeper understanding... because to me it doesnt make sense to go to at 16 valve on 4cyl engine if you cna just make the original 8 valves bigger. 16 would mean more things to go wrong wouldnt it? (2x as complex as an 8 valve engine)....

 

Because with a cylindrical cylinder and a round chamber there is a limit to how large of a valve you can fit. Fitting four valves instead of two is a huge increase in valve area.

Having said all that, its usually only an advantage at higher RPMs. That's not to say 2 valve per cylinder engines cannot perform just as well though...just look at the LS6, it does just fine with 2 valves per.

It just boils down to another method/technique to increase airflow potential into the cylinder. Like everything else its not a magic bullet.