If the idea of building a functional miniature internal combustion engine, or merely outfitting your RC hot rod with one is intriguing to you, we have some good news and some bad news. First for the good news, which is that Cison engines are currently available for purchase to any human being who wants one, and they are being shipped from China to all parts of the globe thanks to the company’s partnerships with online retailers like EngineDIY and StirlingKit. In more good news, Cison guarantees that its engines will work as advertised, ensuring you can invest in its miniatures with a certain degree of confidence.
Now for the bad news, which is that Cison’s miniature engines are not exactly cheap. In fact, one of the company’s precision-tooled model V8 engines can set you back as much as $2,000 or more, and that isn’t far from what you might pay for a full-size second-hand V8 for your car or truck. Cison’s V8 miniatures are, of course, the priciest of its engine lineup, with the company offering various other models with differing power outputs at prices in the $600 to $1,000 range.
Most of those engines are built to power RC cars, boats, planes, and motorcycles, and can be ordered fully assembled or in build-it-yourself packages. If you’d prefer to pick up a working miniature engine to jazz up your desktop or display in your home office, you can even pick up a model for as little as $449 that’s fit with a wooden base and an on-off toggle switch.
