Volkswagen aircooled parts of an engine rely on air circulating over them to cool them. Today, most engines are cooled by liquid coolant that runs through the engine, where the coolant absorbs heat. As opposed to aircooled parts, a radiator or heat exchanger is found in watercooled engines. This is where the coolant releases heat into the air. Even though in the end, the engine is cooled by air, this is not an example of Volkswagen aircooled parts. This would be watercooled, because of the liquid coolant being used. Heat generated by the aircooled parts is released directly into the air.

Some of the main Volkswagen aircooled parts are the metal fins that cover the cylinders on the outside. These increase the surface area that the air can act on.

Some of the models that you would need Volkswagen aircooled parts for are the Beetle, the Bus, the Type 3, the Type 4, the Vanagon, and the Karmann Ghia. The newer models are the ones that would need watercooled parts. These models include the Cabrio, the Cabriolet, the Dasher, the Corrado, Eurovan, Golf, Fox, Jetta, the Passat, the Quantum, Scirocco, and the New Beetle.

Volkswagen aircooled parts make up some of the most versatile internal combustion engines ever produced. Volkswagen has experimented with several versions of the engine from the 1930s to the present. The first vehicle with Volkswagen aircooled parts was the VW bus. The Beetle is probably the most well known of the aircooled engines. All of the Type I Volkswagen Beetles and Buses started out with a 36 horsepower engine, and then a few years later, the Volkswagen aircooled parts came together to give them a 40 horsepower engine on the Type 2 Beetles and Buses.

The history of the cars with these types of engines is a long one; pretty much every car today depends on the watercooled parts to run, not the aircooled ones anymore. However, owners and fanatics of the Beetle still cherish their classic cars, taking care of the car, the equipment, and the aircooled parts, still today.