Free-piston engines are under investigation by a number of research groups due to potential fuel efficiency and exhaust emissions advantages over conventional technology. The main challenge with such engines is the control of the piston motion, and this has not yet been fully resolved for all types of free-piston engines. This paper builds on the fundamental investigations presented in the accompanying paper and investigates the dynamics of the engine and the feasibility of classical control approaches. The response of the engine to rapid load changes are investigated using decentralised PID, PDF and disturbance feedforward. It is found that the engine is sensitive to rapid load changes but that in constant power applications standard control techniques provide satisfactory performance. The influence of cycle-to-cycle variations in the combustion process are investigated, but not found to be critical for engine operation. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved