Oil Pan

The oil is used to lubricate the engine's moving parts and it pools in a reservoir, known as a sump, at the bottom of the engine. Use of a sump requires the engine to be mounted slightly higher to make space for it. Oil in the sump can surge during hard cornering, starving the oil pump; for these reasons, race engines are "dry sumped" using scavenge pumps and a swirl tank to separate oil from air which is also sucked up by the pumps.