Question about Engines

[Dudek]

Ok I know there are three different types of engines, V, Inline and Flat. What I want to know is what type of cars would have what type of engine in them?

Correct me if I am wrong but my guess is that the V engines are in more powerful cars, ones with alot of hp or trucks and vans. The Inline engines my guess is for average cars that arent that powerful, I guess no more then 120-140hp. And finally I believe that the flat engines are ment for really small, light cars.

Anyways those are my guess's please correct me if I am wrong I really want to know how I could tell the differences, thanks appreciate any feed back :).

[QuasarCav]

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^^^^^

20ft pole, not going to touch it.

[SaabKraft]

v engines consist of 2 banks of cylinders- usually from 6-12

inline usually refers to a longitudal 4-6
flat revers to a transverse 4-6 in the same way

inline turbocharged 4 cylinders can reach 300 + hp
the porsche flat 6 produces up to 400 bhp
old v8's can produce from 210-600 + hp.

configuration has nothing to do with power, that's up to displacement, flow, induction methods and compression.

[FiveFreshFish]

There is also the rotary engine you forgot to mention.

[statick]

inline engines can take more of a beating i heard, someone come correct me on this.

[habsfan]

ya type of engine really doesnt have much to do with the power or cars they are found in. most 4 cylinders are inline, and off the top of my head, i think bmw is the only manufacturer in north america to still be using inline 6's, someone correct me here if i'm missing something.

the only flat engines are found in porsches and subarus nowadays.

most manufacturers are using V engines for engines 6 cylinders and up.

the only reason an inline engine could "take more of a beating" would be because the pistins are traveling straight up and down rather than on an angle, but any engine built well can take a beating. i'd rather be ripping on an LS1 than a B16

hopefully this helped a bit

[iceburns288]

motorcycles and F1 cars have V-engines, and since both can go to a bazillion revs I would say they are most likely more hardy and more effecient.:dunno:

Power has nothing to do with configuration, but usually space, cost, etc.

http://www.technolab.org/Bilder/pic-hako/Hako104.JPG

That's what a flat engine looks like from the front, it's essentially a 180-degree V engine.

[GTS Jeff]

engine config for most cars is usually chosen based on space constraints, reliability, and manufacturing costs. it does influence power output, but there are a million other factors, so it doesnt really matter.

for example, i6s are known for their smoothness, but most manufacturers dont use em cuz they are a space waster, v6s are more space efficient. i4s are cheaper to produce than v6s cuz u only need one bank of camshafts as opposed to two. boxer engines can be located lower for better cg but make it tougher for people to service them...etc etc

[s dime]

i think that jeep still uses an inline six as well

[cp1]

Originally posted by iceburns288
motorcycles and F1 cars have V-engines, and since both can go to a bazillion revs I would say they are most likely more hardy and more effecient.



Revs have very little to do with configuration... revs have to do with rotating mass... meaning the overall weight and balance of object to be spun!

Formula one cars and motorcycles can rev high because the rotating mass is very little...

This is going to be the start of a very basic lesson because i dont want to start teaching about the differences between a 450 million dollar F1 engine and a v twin!

the less mass you have rotating the faster it is able to rotate... heres an idea: put a tire on a wheel hub and spin it freely... spins pretty good eh? now say that tire was made out of lead then give er a spin! it will still spin but takes a lot more energy to move it as well takes more to slow it down and to keep it going... you just learned Momentum... This is also friction! so with the heavier object is greater so we have more resistance right? right! thats resistance!

Now lets apply this to compare engines!

A big ol 8 litre v8 vs a 600c 2cylinder sport bike engine!

heres where it gets fun! at 8 litres of displacement you get 1 litre per cylinder... but since not all cylinders fire at the same time but maybe... lets say two fire at the same time, cylinders 1 and 5... those two cylinders are rotating the entire weight of the crank assembly meaning carrying the load of them selves plus 6 other pistons that are not contributing... that a lot of resistance for just two cylinders!

Now lets imagine that 2 cylinder sport bike engine has the same engine config as the big one meaning lets assume its a four stroke! at 300cc per cylinder each detonation has to "carry" only one other piston, rod, and a really small crank that weighs very little so its far easier for the little engine to rotate... thus its free to rotate faster becuase of less strain...

Hence people dont put motorbike engines in cars... a lot more weight to move and it simply doesnt have the torque or the ability to continue rotating when under stress!

f1 carts are all 3.5 L V10s meaning each cylinder has only 350cc of volume but most of that is dependant upon the bore (width of piston)and the stroke is kept quite small as well the components of the engine have been made as light as possible... this is where the highend horsepower of a f1 cart comes in... should they compromise the size of bore for the length of stroke or use iron instead of aluminum you would find that they would decrease in horsepower but gain torque!
And in a f1 race the emphasis is not on torque but HP!

Again this is NOT the long version but a laymans terms version so as to grasp how cars rev higher...

Rotory engines on the other hand are about as perfect as you can get for balancing and rotation... and there are some rotary engines that can rev easily up to 26 - 35,000 RPM! far greater than that of their F1 or motorbike Counterparts!

As for F1 engines being hardy that is simply not the case at all...
You would definately not want to put an F1 engine into your car because you probably wouldnt make it through the week! the engine itself is designed to only last at most about 400 kms about one Race sure its fast but it nowhere near hardy... as Ferdinand Porsche once said "The perfect race car would cross the finish line first then immediatly fall to pieces" what the hell does that mean you ask? well hes simply saying that a race engine is made to be pushed to 100% of its capability and its limits and by the end of a race it should have been so therefore the only thing left for it to do is break down!

[cp1]

As for dudeks original question...

Configuration is a compromise of a number of factors... any engine can be made to take a "beating" however some configs do have certain qualities to them...

For example lets go through a few different engines keeping stock in mind!

I4
An inline four is naturally an economic engine, good fuel economy easy to manufacture and generally small in size and weight!
it also lacks big torque (ie: honda civics 160 hp and 110 trq) you have smaller components and less of them so on average they can rev to say 5500 to 9000

I-6
A bit heavier mainly because of that longer crank and two extra pistons so it tends to be a bit more torquey (in comparison to horsepower) from a factory than most engines lets say it can rev anywhere from 4500-7500rpm

F6
Qualitys of a v6 however usually made to sit lower so as to lower the centre of gravity in a car which contributes to handling ability! Porsche's are a good example!

V6
A good compromise your getting the crankshaft pushed from two different directions in a Vconfig so the tend to be good all round performance engines less weight and smaller than inline 6 and usually a little more power as well... so revs anywhere from 5000-9000

V8
Good torque these things can move pretty much anything! Lots more power than a v6 at only a little bit more weight! you dont see any dumptrucks with less than this! these engines torque is readily available and usually higher than its horsepower! Not to mention a heck of a lot smaller than those old inline 8's !!! (old caddilac had them a lot) however V8s are slow to rev (again usually and espescially older ones) so lets say anywhere from 3500- 6000RPM

V10
more displacement naturally allows more power so much more powerful than a v8 but now theyre getting pricey! so lets give them 2500(diesel)-6000Rpm

V12
tho most v12 are made with speed in mind they most often have lower displacements than V8s up to 5 or 6 litres in most cases! so they are capable of vast amounts of power in both toque and HP but they are extremely expensive to manufacture, tune and maintain! and usually very heavy!!! however these can rev anywhere from truck spec (2500rpm) to race car (12,000rpm)

In the end it all comes down to Technology, Displacement, manufacturing process, rotating mass and affordability! again i cant stress enough that there is no such thing as a "best engine" its sometimes better to work on what you have because it takes the pressure out of deciding on a project! and car companies weigh these choices out accodingly...

Otherwise you could see a civic with a v12 but for sale for $100,000 No one would buy except of course some crazy people here on beyond!

and lamborghini with a inline 4? if your spending $350,000 on a car the company makes sure that you think your getting your moneys worth...

Hope that helped!

[5.9 R/T]

The I6 and V12 are theoretically the only perfect configurations in terms of engine design. The 60 degree V6 and the 90 degree V8 are next in line. The inline and boxer 4 configs are way down on the list due to their naturally unbalanced nature.

[FiveFreshFish]

There are also two relatively new configurations: W8 and W12.

http://a332.g.akamai.net/f/332/936/12h/www.edmunds.com/media/2001/genevaautoshow/02.vw.w8.eng.350.jpg

http://www.audiworld.com/news/00/a8_12/header.jpg

[cp1]

the W configuration was developed to shorten a longer 8 or 12 cylinder engine by staggering the piston for space constraints... Front mounted V12's usually have huge hoods and front ends take the jaguars for example! where as a W12 has the same amount of everything but much shorter (a tad longer than a comparable V8!) and a W8 in size can be compared to a V6!