The guys at Muscle Car Review show you how to check engine compression with the latest tools. Check it out only at hotrod.com or the October 2011 issue of Muscle Car Review Magazine.

Late-model engine designs have come a long way in the engineering of pistons and cylinder heads to improve combustion efficiency, allowing higher-compression engines to run on regular gas.

But without verifying the combustion chamber volume on the cylinder heads, it's impossible to be sure of the engine's true compression.

Compression test kits do just what they say: measure the ability of each cylinder of your engine to combust the fuel/air mixture without losing any of the resulting energy.

We walk you through a compression test, a great way to determine the condition of your valves and piston rings.

An engine's compression ratio is actually a theoretical number. This ratio compares the cylinder volume of the piston at bottom dead center (BDC) versus top dead center (TDC).

Is your engine underperforming? Our expert shares how a diesel engine compression test could provide the diagnosis.

CHECK OUT: Audi looks back at 40 years of 5-cylinder engines When you want power, the compression ratio drops and the turbocharger makes use of more boost.