ABSTRACT
For a large part of the twentieth century the majority of light vehicles used petrol engines that were equipped with a carburettor. Early carburettors were very simple devices but, as the demand for improved performance grew, carburettors became quite complicated. From about 1970 onwards, concerns about fuel reserves and atmospheric pollution grew and fuel injection was seen to offer partial solutions to some of the problems and the use of carburettors declined. However, because many vehicles that are still in use in 2010 are fitted with a carburettor it is thought to be sensible to include a section on carburation.
