Here's the link on squish/quench.
The Old One - Energy Dynamics : Articles - The SoftHead 1999
An additional thought, something I heard, don't know the details. One of the very early Honda cars, they passed the emissions requirements of the time, without a catalyctic converter; It was a 4 cylinder engine, and they ran the exhaust from 3 of the cylinders into the 4th.
What I don't know is whether they added some fuel/air to the exhaust, or whether there was enough unburned fuel in the exhaust from 3 cylinders, to power the 4th without any augmentation. Makes ya think, though.
That means a 6 cylinder is 'wasting' enough gas to power 2 additional cylinders.So, in a sense, a 6 cylinder is using enough gas to power an 8, if you could eliminate the waste.