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Straight-6



 
 
The straight-6 or inline-6 engine (often abbreviated I6 or L6) is a six cylinder internal combustion engine
Internal combustion engine

The internal combustion engine is an engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs in a combustion chamber inside and integral to the engine. In an internal combustion engine it is always the expansion of the high temperature and pressure gases that are produced by the combustion which apply force to the movable component of the engine, such as...
 with all six cylinders
Cylinder (engine)

A cylinder is the central working part of a reciprocating engine, the space in which a piston travels. Multiple cylinders are commonly arranged side by side in a bank, or engine block, which is typically casting from aluminum or cast iron before precision features are machined into it....
 mounted in a straight line along the crankcase
Crankcase

:For the Transformers characters see Crankcase .In an internal combustion engine, the crankcase is the housing for the crankshaft. The enclosure forms the largest cavity in the engine and is located below the cylinder block....
. The single bank of cylinders may be oriented in either a vertical or an inclined plane with all the piston
Piston

A piston is a component of reciprocating engines, pumps and gas compressors. It is located in a Cylinder and is made gas-tight by piston rings....
s driving a common crankshaft
Crankshaft

The crankshaft, sometimes casually abbreviated to crank , is the part of an engine which translates reciprocation linear piston motion into rotation....
. Where it is inclined, it is sometimes called a slant-6. The straight-6 layout is the simplest engine layout that possesses both primary and secondary mechanical engine balance
Engine balance

Engine balance is the design, construction and tuning of an engine to run smoothly. Engine balance reduces vibration and other Stress , and may improve the performance, efficiency, cost of ownership and reliability of the engine, as well as reducing the stress on other machinery and people near the engine....
, resulting in relatively low manufacturing cost combined with much less vibration than engines with fewer cylinders.

lly, the straight-6 design is used for engine displacement
Engine displacement

Engine displacement is the volume swept by the all pistons of an engine in a single movement from top dead center to bottom dead center....
s ranging from approximately in automobile
Automobile

An automobile or motor car is a wheeled motor vehicle for transportation passengers, which also carries its own car engine or motor. Most definitions of the term specify that automobiles are designed to run primarily on roads, to have seating for one to eight people, to typically have four wheels, and to be constructed principally f...
s.






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The straight-6 or inline-6 engine (often abbreviated I6 or L6) is a six cylinder internal combustion engine
Internal combustion engine

The internal combustion engine is an engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs in a combustion chamber inside and integral to the engine. In an internal combustion engine it is always the expansion of the high temperature and pressure gases that are produced by the combustion which apply force to the movable component of the engine, such as...
 with all six cylinders
Cylinder (engine)

A cylinder is the central working part of a reciprocating engine, the space in which a piston travels. Multiple cylinders are commonly arranged side by side in a bank, or engine block, which is typically casting from aluminum or cast iron before precision features are machined into it....
 mounted in a straight line along the crankcase
Crankcase

:For the Transformers characters see Crankcase .In an internal combustion engine, the crankcase is the housing for the crankshaft. The enclosure forms the largest cavity in the engine and is located below the cylinder block....
. The single bank of cylinders may be oriented in either a vertical or an inclined plane with all the piston
Piston

A piston is a component of reciprocating engines, pumps and gas compressors. It is located in a Cylinder and is made gas-tight by piston rings....
s driving a common crankshaft
Crankshaft

The crankshaft, sometimes casually abbreviated to crank , is the part of an engine which translates reciprocation linear piston motion into rotation....
. Where it is inclined, it is sometimes called a slant-6. The straight-6 layout is the simplest engine layout that possesses both primary and secondary mechanical engine balance
Engine balance

Engine balance is the design, construction and tuning of an engine to run smoothly. Engine balance reduces vibration and other Stress , and may improve the performance, efficiency, cost of ownership and reliability of the engine, as well as reducing the stress on other machinery and people near the engine....
, resulting in relatively low manufacturing cost combined with much less vibration than engines with fewer cylinders.

Displacement range

Usually, the straight-6 design is used for engine displacement
Engine displacement

Engine displacement is the volume swept by the all pistons of an engine in a single movement from top dead center to bottom dead center....
s ranging from approximately in automobile
Automobile

An automobile or motor car is a wheeled motor vehicle for transportation passengers, which also carries its own car engine or motor. Most definitions of the term specify that automobiles are designed to run primarily on roads, to have seating for one to eight people, to typically have four wheels, and to be constructed principally f...
s. It is also sometimes used for smaller engines but these, although very smooth running, tend to be rather expensive to manufacture and are inevitably physically longer than alternative layouts. The smallest production straight-6 was found in the Benelli 750 Sei
Benelli 750 Sei

The Benelli 750 Sei is a motorcycle that was produced by Italian manufacturer Benelli from 1972–1978. It was the first production motorcycle with a 6-cylinder engine....
 motorcycle, displacing (0.75 L). However, because it is a fully balanced configuration, the straight-6 can be scaled up to very large sizes for industrial and marine
Marine engine

A Marine engine is a machine that propels a ship or boat. Types of marine engine include:* Steam engine* Petrol engine or gasoline engine* Diesel engine...
 use, such as the Volvo diesel engine used in heavy vehicles. The largest are used to power ship
Ship

A ship is a large watercraft that floats on water. Ships are generally distinguished from boats based on size. Ships may be found on lakes, seas, and rivers and they allow for a variety of activities, such as the ferry or cargo ships, fishing, cruise ship, Coast guard, and warship....
s. They use diesel fuel and have displacements as high as per cylinder.

Modern trends

Historically, straight-6 engines were introduced much earlier than V6
V6 engine

A V6 engine is a V engine with six cylinder s mounted on the crankcase in two banks of three cylinders, usually set at either a right angle or an acute angle to each other, with all six pistons driving a common crankshaft....
s, and while the first straight-6 was manufactured in 1904, it was 1950 before a production V6 was introduced. V6s (unlike crossplane
Crossplane

The crossplane or cross-plane is a crankshaft design for V8 engines with a 90? angle between the cylinder banks.The crossplane crankshaft has four crankpins, each offset at 90? from the adjacent crankpins....
 V8
V8 engine

A V8 engine is a V engine with eight cylinder s mounted on the crankcase in two banks of four cylinders, in most cases set at a right angle to each other but sometimes at a narrower angle, with all eight pistons driving a common crankshaft....
s) had intrinsic vibration problems that were difficult to eliminate without modern computer aided design techniques. The length of the straight-6 was not a major concern in the older front-engine/rear-wheel drive vehicles, but the modern move to the more space-efficient front-engine/front-wheel drive
FF layout

In automotive design, a FF, or Front-engine design, Front-wheel drive layout places both the Internal combustion engine and driven wheels at the front of the vehicle....
 and transverse engine
Transverse engine

A transverse engine is an engine in which the crankshaft is oriented side-to-side relative to the length of the vehicle. This is also sometimes called an east-west engine....
 ("east-west") configurations in smaller cars caused the much shorter length of the V6 to become a major advantage. As a result, in recent decades automobile manufacturers have replaced most of their straight-6 engines (and many of their V8s) with V6 engines.

Exceptions to the shift to V6 engines include BMW
BMW

, is an independent German automotive industry founded in 1916. It also produces BMW Motorrad, is the owner of the MINI brand and is the parent company of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars....
, which specializes in high-performance straight-6s, Volvo
Volvo

The Volvo Group is a Sweden supplier of commercial vehicles such as trucks, buses and construction equipment, drive systems for marine and industrial applications, aerospace components and financial services....
, which designed a compact straight-6 engine/transmission package to fit transversely in its larger cars, and the Australian Ford Falcon, which still uses a straight-6 configuration. Straight-6s also continue to be commonly used in medium to large trucks, and sport utility vehicle
Sport utility vehicle

A sport utility vehicle is a generic marketing description for a vehicle similar to a station wagon but built on a light-truck chassis. Usually equipped with four-wheel drive for on or off-road ability, some SUVs include the towing capacity of a pickup truck with the passenger-carrying space of a minivan....
s, where engine length is less of a concern. In 2002 General Motors
General Motors

General Motors Corporation , founded in 1908, is the world's second-largest automaker after Toyota, ranked by 2008 global unit sales. GM was the global sales leader for 77 consecutive calendar years from 1931 to 2008....
 introduced the Vortec 4200
GM Vortec engine

Vortec is a trademarked name for a line of piston engines for General Motors Corporation trucks. The name first appeared in 1986 on a 4.3 L V6 but is now used on a wide range of different engines....
 as part of the modular straight-4, straight-5 and straight-6 GM Atlas engine
GM Atlas engine

Atlas is a name for a family of modern straight engine piston engines for trucks from General Motors Corporation. The series debuted in 2002 with the Oldsmobile Bravada, and is also used in the Chevrolet TrailBlazer and Chevrolet Colorado and their GMC twins, the GMC Envoy and GMC Canyon....
 line.

Balance and smoothness

An inline six engine is in perfect primary and secondary mechanical balance
Engine balance

Engine balance is the design, construction and tuning of an engine to run smoothly. Engine balance reduces vibration and other Stress , and may improve the performance, efficiency, cost of ownership and reliability of the engine, as well as reducing the stress on other machinery and people near the engine....
, which can be achieved without using a balance shaft
Balance shaft

In piston engine engineering, a balance shaft is an Eccentric weighted shaft which offsets vibrations in engine designs that are not inherently balanced ....
. The engine is in primary balance because the front and rear trio of cylinders are mirror images and the pistons move in pairs. That is, piston #1 balances #6, #2 balances #5, and #3 balances #4, largely eliminating the polar rocking motion that would otherwise result. Secondary imbalance is avoided because an inline six cylinder crankshaft has six crank throws arranged in three planes displaced at 120 degrees. The result is that differences in piston speed at any given point in rotation are effectively canceled.

An inline four cylinder or V6 engine without a balance shaft will experience secondary dynamic imbalance, resulting in engine vibration. As a general rule, the forces arising from any dynamic imbalance increase as the square of the engine speed—that is, if the speed doubles, vibration will increase by a factor of four. In contrast, inline six engines have no primary or secondary imbalances, and with carefully designed crankshaft vibration dampers to absorb torsional vibration
Torsional vibration

Torsional vibration is angular vibration of an object?commonly a shaft along its axis of rotation. Torsional vibration is often a concern in power transmission systems using rotating shafts or couplings where it can cause failures if not controlled....
, will run more smoothly at the same crankshaft speed (RPM). This characteristic has made the inline six popular in some European sports-luxury cars, where smooth high-speed performance and good fuel economy are desirable. As engine reciprocating forces increase with the cube of piston mass, inline six is a preferred configuration for large truck engines.

Crankshaft design

Crankshafts on 6 cylinder engines generally have either 4 main bearings or 7 main bearings. Larger engines and diesels tend to use the latter because of high loadings and to avoid crankshaft flex. Because of the 6 cylinder engine's smooth characteristic, there is a tendency for a driver to load the engine at low rpm. This can produce crankshaft flex in 4 main bearing designs where the crank spans the distance of 2 cylinders between main bearings. This distance is longer than the distance between two adjacent main bearings on a V6 with 4 mains because the V6 has cylinder bores on opposite banks which overlap significantly. In addition, modern high-compression engines subject the crankshaft to greater bending loads from higher peak gas pressures, requiring the crankthrows to have greater support from adjacent bearings, so it is now customary to design straight-6s with 7 main bearings.

However many of the more sporty high performance engines use the 4 bearing design because of better torsional stiffness (eg BMW small straight 6's, Ford's Zephyr 6). In a 7 main bearing design the crank has two throws between each cylinder. The accumulated length of main bearing journals and 12 crank throws, gives a relatively torsionally flexible crankshaft. The 4 main bearing design has only 6 crank throws and 4 main journals so is much stiffer in the torsional domain. At high rpm the lack of torsional stiffness can make the 7 main bearing design susceptible to torsional flex and potential breakage. Note that a V12 engine can be made with the same number of crank throws as the 7 main bearing straight 6. Another factor affecting large straight 6 engines is the front mounted timing chain which connects the camshaft(s) to the crank. The camshafts are also quite long and subject to torsional flex as they in turn operate valves alternately near the front of the engine and near the rear. At high rpm the camshaft(s) can flex torsionally while the crank is doing likewise. This results in valve timing for the rear most cylinders becoming inaccurate and erratic, losing power and in extreme cases resulting in mechanical interference between valve and piston with catastrophic results. Some designers have experimented with installing the timing chain/gears in the middle of the engine (between cylinders 3 and 4) or adding a second timing chain at the rear of the engine. Either method can solve the problem.

Another factor affecting the ability of the large 6 cylinder engines to achieve high rpm is the simple geometric reality of a relatively long stroke (undersquare) design. A straight 6 is a long engine and the designer is usually encouraged to make it as short as possible while height is not usually a problem. Hence the tendency to use a longer stroke and smaller bore than in a V engine to achieve a given capacity. By contrast, a long-stroke V engine tends to become too wide, which encourages increasing the bore rather than the stroke to increase displacement. The typically longer stroke of the straight-6 increases crank throw and piston speed and so tends to reduce the rpm rating of the engine.

History of the straight-6

The first inline six was produced by Napier & Son
Napier & Son

D. Napier & Son Limited was a Great Britain engine and brass era automobile manufacturer and one of the most important aircraft engine manufacturers in the early- to mid-20th Century....
 in 1904, at the urging of S.F. Edge
Selwyn Edge

Selwyn Francis Edge was an Australian businessman and race car driver. He was born in Concord, New South Wales township, near Sydney, on 29th March 1868....
. By 1909, there were some eighty manufacturers using it, 62 in Britain alone, including Darracq
Darracq

Automobiles Darracq S.A. was a French motor vehicle manufacturing company founded in 1896 by Alexandre Darracq.Using part of the substantial profit he had made from selling his Gladiator bicycle factory, Alexandre Darracq began operating from a plant in the Parisian suburb of Suresnes....
, Delaunay-Bellville, Vertex
Vertex

Vertex may refer to:...
, MMC
MMC

MMC may stand for:In automobiles:*Mitsubishi Motors Corporation, a Japanese automobile company*Morris Motor Company, a former British car manufacturing company...
, White and Poppe
White and Poppe

White and Poppe were Coventry based proprietary engine and gearbox manufacturers. Prior to WWI they served the booming motor industry but in 1919 during the post WWI recession they were bought by Dennis Brothers of Guildford and became a subsidiary....
, Mutel, and Ford.

Straight-6 engines in Europe

BMW
BMW

, is an independent German automotive industry founded in 1916. It also produces BMW Motorrad, is the owner of the MINI brand and is the parent company of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars....
 introduced its first straight 6-cylinder engine in 1933. It developed I6 engines for the post-World War II
World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a Participants in World War II, including all of the great powers, organised into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War II and the Axis powers....
 era by adding two cylinders to its M10
BMW M10

The BMW M10/M12 was an Straight-4 piston engine produced from 1961 to 1987. Displacement ranged from 1499 cm3 to 1990 cm3....
 four-cylinder design. In 1968 it introduced a M30
BMW M30

The BMW M30 is an inline-6 cylinder engine built by BMW and was used in many different models since 1968. It was originally developed in the late 1960s as an extended 2.5 liter version of the robust inline four cylinder BMW M10 first used in the 'Neue Klasse' BMW 1500, with which it shares a number of design features, including a 30-degree c...
 straight-6 design with the same 30-degree slant, overhead camshaft layout, and 100 mm bore spacing as the four. It originally intended to follow up with a V8 engine line in the early 1970s, but when the 1973 oil crisis
1973 oil crisis

The 1973 oil crisis started on October 15, 1973, when the members of Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries or the OAPEC proclaimed an oil embargo "in response to the U.S....
 hit, BMW canceled its V8 plans and concentrated on refining and enlarging its straight-6 lineup. These included a smaller straight-6 in 2.0 L and 2.3 L displacements (the BMW M20
BMW M20

The M20 is an inline-6 piston engine of BMW.The 12-valve, belt driven SOHC design was introduced in the 1977 BMW 520/6 and 320/6. With displacements ranging from 2.0 to 2.7 liters, it was the "little brother" to the larger BMW M30 engine....
), versions of the larger BMW M30
BMW M30

The BMW M30 is an inline-6 cylinder engine built by BMW and was used in many different models since 1968. It was originally developed in the late 1960s as an extended 2.5 liter version of the robust inline four cylinder BMW M10 first used in the 'Neue Klasse' BMW 1500, with which it shares a number of design features, including a 30-degree c...
 up to 3.8 L (the S38B38
BMW M88

The BMW M88/3 is an Straight-6 piston engine. It was based on the M88/1 that was used in the BMW M1's street version, with DOHC and multivalve per cylinder....
); and beginning in 1983 a series of M21
BMW M21

The BMW M21 was a 2.4 L diesel straight-6 engine.It was introduced in 1983 with the BMW M20 design as its basis. It was available with a turbocharger....
 straight-6 diesels. In 1986 BMW introduced the M70
BMW M70

The BMW M70 is a V12 piston engine and featured heavily in the BMW 7-Series and BMW 8-Series BMW of the late 80's and early 1990s. Models included:...
 V12 which was essentially two 2.5 L straight-6s on the same crankshaft. Currently, a straight-six is offered in the BMW 1 Series
BMW 1 Series

The BMW 1 Series is a small sports car produced by the German automaker BMW since 2004. The 1 Series is the only vehicle in its class featuring rear-wheel drive and a Longitudinal engine engine....
, BMW 3 Series
BMW 3 Series

The BMW 3 Series is an entry-level luxury car/compact executive car manufactured by the German automaker BMW since May 1975. Successor to the BMW New Class, it has been produced in five different generations and in no less than five different car body styles....
, BMW 5 Series
BMW 5 Series

The BMW 5 Series is a mid-size car / executive car manufactured by BMW since 1972. The car, now in its fifth generation, is sold in sedan and station wagon body styles....
, BMW 6 Series
BMW 6 Series

BMW 6 Series refers to two generations of automobile from BMW, both being based on their contemporary BMW 5 Series sedans. The first was the BMW E24, launched in 1976 to replace the BMW E9 ....
, BMW 7 Series
BMW 7 Series

The BMW 7 Series is a line of full-size luxury vehicles produced by the Germany automaker BMW. Introduced in 1977, it is BMW's flagship car and is only available as a sedan ....
(Euro models), BMW X3, BMW X5, BMW X6, and BMW Z4.

Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz

Mercedes-Benz is a German manufacturer of automobiles, buses, coach es, and trucks. It is currently a division of the parent company, Daimler AG , after previously being owned by Daimler-Benz....
 has used straight-6 engines in its cars for around 100 years, starting in the 1900s with a monstrous 10 L engine producing . Before and after the merger of Daimler
Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft

Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft was a Germany engine and later automobile manufacturer, in operation from 1890 until 1926. Founded by Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach, it was based first in Cannstatt ....
 and Benz in 1926, the combined company produced a variety of powerful straight-6 engines, culminating in a 7 L supercharged unit producing up to . Mercedes-Benz began the post-war era by producing straight-4s, but resumed making straight-6s in 1951 with the M130
Mercedes-Benz M130 engine

The Mercedes Benz M130 Engine was the last and largest of the ?mid-sized? Single Over Head Camshaft straight-6 cylinder engines produced by Mercedes Benz....
, which were the beginning of the modern era of MB straight-6s. Following that introduction, the company produced two lines of gasoline (petrol) straight-6s at any one time, a small six and a larger six, in addition to its straight-4s, straight-5
Straight-5

The straight-5 or inline-5 is an internal combustion engine with five Cylinder aligned in one row, sharing a single engine block and crankcase....
s, and later V8s. Although the company has used diesel engine
Diesel engine

A diesel engine is an internal combustion engine which operates using the diesel cycle . Diesel engines have the highest thermal efficiency compared to any internal combustion or external combustion engine....
s in its cars since 1934, it introduced its first straight-6 OM603
Mercedes-Benz OM603

The OM60x engine family was a straight engine Diesel automobile engine from Mercedes-Benz used from 1984 through 1999. The 603 saw limited use in the Mercedes-Benz W124, Mercedes-Benz W126 and Mercedes-Benz W140 model vehicles....
 a 3.0 L diesel in 1985. In 1996 the company replaced its gasoline straight-6s with a series of 90-degree M112
Mercedes-Benz M112 engine

The Mercedes-Benz M112 engine is a V6 automobile piston engine family used in the 2000?2009. Introduced in 1998, it was the first V6 engine ever built by Mercedes....
 V6 engines, although it continued to produce diesel straight-6s.

Volvo
Volvo

The Volvo Group is a Sweden supplier of commercial vehicles such as trucks, buses and construction equipment, drive systems for marine and industrial applications, aerospace components and financial services....
 produced straight-6s, the Volvo B30 engine
Volvo B30 engine

This B30 was a straight-6 automobile engine produced by Volvo Cars starting in 1969, and used in the company's Volvo 164 sedan from 1969 through 1975....
 (1969-1975) also the B6304 and the B6254 engines during late 90's. As Volvo developed front-wheel drive models, they mounted their inline-6 engine transversely by using a short transaxle
Transaxle

A transaxle, in the automotive field, is a major mechanical component which combines the functionality of the transmission , the differential and associated components of the driven axle into one integrated assembly....
 package and relocated engine-driven accessories. The 3.2 L straight-6 introduced in 2006 was only slightly longer than its straight-5, achieved by moving the camshaft drive to the back of the engine and sharing the same gear train with ancillaries mounted in otherwise unused space over top of the transmission. It was short for a straight-6 and also very narrow. Volvo claims a transversely mounted inline engine leaves more crush space to protect against frontal impacts than a (shorter) transverse V6 or a longitudinally mounted inline-6.

Opel
Opel

Adam Opel Gesellschaft mit beschr?nkter Haftung is a Germany automaker, part of General Motors.The company was founded on 21 January, 1863, and began making automobiles in 1899....
 has also used a straight-6 engine since 1930s until the early 1990s, ranging between 2.5 and 4.0 L (153–242 cu in). They powered Opel's top of the line models, including the Admiral
Opel Admiral

The Opel Admiral was a luxury vehicle made by the Germany car manufacturer Opel from 1937 to 1939 and again from 1964 to 1977....
, Kapitän
Opel Kapitän

The Opel Kapit?n was a automobile made in several different generations by the Germany car manufacturer Opel from 1938 to 1970....
, Monza, Senator
Opel Senator

The Opel Senator was a large automobile, two generations of which were sold in Europe by the Germany General Motors subsidiary, Opel, from 1978 until 1994....
, Omega
Opel Omega

The Opel Omega was an executive car produced by the Germany automaker Opel between 1986 and 2003. Replacing the Opel Rekord, it was voted European Car of the Year for 1987....
, and Commodore
Opel Commodore

The Opel Commodore was an executive car produced by General Motors Germany subsidiary Opel. It is the six-cylinder variant of the Opel Rekord with styling differences....
.

In 1959, Saab
Saab Automobile

Saab Automobile AB, better known as Saab, is a Swedish automaker and currently a wholly-owned subsidiary of General Motors. It is the exclusive automobile royal warrant holder as appointed by Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden....
 had an experimental car with two transverse straight-3
Straight-3

A straight-3 or inline-3 is an internal combustion engine with three cylinder s arranged in a straight line side by side.Most straight-3 engines employ a crank angle of 120? and are thus rotationally balanced; however, since the three cylinders are offset from each other, the firing of the end cylinders induces a rocking motion from e...
 engines bolted together — the Saab Monster
Saab Monster

The Saab Monster was an experimental car made by Saab Automobile in 1959. This project was part of Saab's flirtation with motorsport and the need to derive more power from their two-stroke powerplant....
.

Alfa Romeo
Alfa Romeo

Alfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A. is an Italian automaker founded on 24 June 1910 in Milan. Alfa Romeo has been a part of the Fiat Group since 1986....
 used straight-6 engine in G1 and G2
Alfa Romeo G1

Alfa Romeo G1 was the first all-new design Alfa Romeo after A.L.F.A. brand. Giuseppe Merosi, while into a legal action against Nicola Romeo about the takeover conditions, designed at home the drawings for both the update of the prewar 24HP into the revised 20/30ES and the new luxury G1....
 models (1921-1923), RL
Alfa Romeo RL

The Alfa Romeo RL was produced between 1922-1927. It was Alfa's first sport model after World War I. The car was designed in 1921 by Giuseppe Merosi....
 model (1922–1927) and between 1925–1954 in Alfa Romeo 6C
Alfa Romeo 6C

The Alfa Romeo 6C name was used on road, race and sports cars made between 1925?1954 by Alfa Romeo. 6C refers to a straight 6 engine. Bodies to these cars were made by coachbuilders such as James Young , Zagato, Carrozzeria Touring, Carrozzeria Castagna, and Pininfarina....
 series road and racing cars, the 1500 version had one of the smallest straight-6 engines (1487 cc). The last Alfa Romeo model using straight-6 was Alfa Romeo 2600
Alfa Romeo 2600

The Alfa Romeo 2600 was Alfa Romeo?s six-cylinder flagship produced from 1961 to 1968. It was the successor to the Alfa Romeo 2000. It has become historically significant as the last Alfa Romeo to have been fitted with an inline six-cylinder engine having twin overhead camshafts....
 (1961–1969).

Straight-6 engines in Britain

The straight-6 was the archetypal British engine for sports and luxury cars for many years. Rolls-Royce used straight-6 engines until changes in their design made the shorter V8
V8 engine

A V8 engine is a V engine with eight cylinder s mounted on the crankcase in two banks of four cylinders, in most cases set at a right angle to each other but sometimes at a narrower angle, with all eight pistons driving a common crankshaft....
 layout more suitable. Jaguar
Jaguar (car)

Jaguar Cars, Ltd. is an Automotive_industry of luxury and executive cars operating under the Jaguar marque. The company's headquarters are in Coventry, England, where it was founded by William_Lyons in 1922....
 and other manufacturers built straight-6 engines from 1935 until the 1990s.

The most prominent of these was the Jaguar XK6 engine
Jaguar XK6 engine

The famed Jaguar XK engine was introduced in 1949 and produced until 1993. It was a DOHC inline-6 engine. The 4.2 variant was also used in some military vehicles with very few modifications....
, which reportedly was developed during long nights during World War II
World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a Participants in World War II, including all of the great powers, organised into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War II and the Axis powers....
 when Jaguar founder William Lyons
William Lyons

Sir William Lyons, better known as "Mr. Jaguar" was, with fellow motorcycle enthusiast William Walmsley, the co-founder in 1922 of the Swallow Sidecar Company, maker of motorcycle sidecars, and which became Jaguar Cars Limited after the Second World War....
 and his staff were on fire watch duty in the Jaguar factory in Coventry
Coventry

Coventry is a City status in the United Kingdom and metropolitan borough in the county of West Midlands in England. With a population of 303,475 at the United Kingdom Census 2001 , Coventry is the 9th largest city in England and the 11th largest in the United Kingdom....
 and had nothing better to do than design a new engine. The result was displayed in the Jaguar XK120
Jaguar XK120

The Jaguar XK120 was a sports car manufactured by Jaguar Cars between 1948 and 1954. Jaguar's first post-war sports car, it succeeded the Jaguar SS100, which ceased production in 1940....
 at the London Motor Show in 1948. The 3.4 L twin overhead camshaft XK6 engine engine was highly advanced compared to previous British engines. The Jaguar XK120 and the XK-powered Jaguar C-Type
Jaguar C-Type

The Jaguar C-Type is a racing car built by Jaguar Cars and sold from 1951 to 1953. Its aerodynamic body was designed by Malcolm Sayer, its lightweight, multi-tubular, triangulated frame designed by Bob Knight....
 and Jaguar D-type
Jaguar D-type

The Jaguar D-Type, like its predecessor the Jaguar C-Type, was a factory-built race car. Although it shared the basic straight-6 Jaguar XK6 engine engine design with the C-Type, the majority of the car was radically different....
, went on to score victories in races and rallies in the UK, Europe and North America. They dominated the 24 Hours of Le Mans
24 Hours of Le Mans

The 24 Hours of Le Mans is a sports car racing endurance racing held annually since near the town of Le Mans, Sarthe, France. Commonly known as the Grand Prix of Endurance, it is organised by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest and runs on a Circuit de la Sarthe containing closed public roads that are meant not only to test a car and dr...
 during the 1950s, where Jaguar C-Types won in 1951 and 1953, and the D-Types had three more wins in 1955, 1956 and 1957. Subsequently, fitted to Lister_Cars
Lister Cars

Lister Cars is a United Kingdom sports car automaker....
 Lister-Jaguar, the D-type engine contributed to their success in international sportscar-racing in the late-1950s. The engine design, enlarged to 3.8 L, reached its apogee in the Jaguar E-type
Jaguar E-type

The Jaguar E-Type or XK-E is a British automobile, manufactured by Jaguar Cars between 1961 and 1974. Its combination of good looks, high performance, and competitive pricing resulted in a great success for Jaguar, with more than 70,000 E-Types being sold over its lifespan, and became an icon of 1960s motoring....
 introduced in 1961, which was capable of . In 1964, the XK engine was again enlarged to 4.2 L, which was considered the most powerful and refined of the series. The last XK-engined Jaguar went out of production in 1986, but some XK engined cars such as the Daimler DS420
Daimler DS420

OriginsThe Daimler DS420, popularly known as the Daimler Limousine, began production in 1968, replacing the DR450 which had been based on the Daimler Majestic Major....
 limousine were still available into 1990s. A variant of the 4.2L engine powered some Scorpion light tanks. The XK6 engine was followed by the AJ6 and AJ16 engines
Jaguar AJ6 engine

The AJ6 , and the similar AJ16, was an inline-6 piston engine used by Jaguar in the 1980s and 1990s. It was designed to replace the much-loved Jaguar XK6 engine, and was introduced in 1984....
. After Jaguar was acquired by Ford, these engines were replaced with the Ford Duratec-derived Jaguar AJ-V6 engine
Jaguar AJ-V6 engine

The Jaguar AJ-V6 piston engine is a specialized version of Ford Motor Company's Ford Duratec engine#6 Cylinder V6. One notable addition is the use of variable valve timing, a feature also shared with Mazda's version of the engine....
.

Aston Martin
Aston Martin

Aston Martin Lagonda Limited is a British manufacturer of luxury sports cars, based in Gaydon, Warwickshire. The company name is derived from the name of one of the company's founders, Lionel Martin, and from the Aston Hill hillclimbing near Aston Clinton in Buckinghamshire...
 used a straight-6 for many years, as did Austin-Healey
Austin-Healey

Austin-Healey is a defunct United Kingdom sports car maker. The marque was established through a joint venture arrangement, set up in 1952 between Leonard Lord of the Austin Motor Company division of the British Motor Corporation and Donald Healey, a renowned automotive engineer and designer....
 in their Austin-Healey 3000
Austin-Healey 3000

The Austin-Healey 3000 was a sports car built from 1959 to 1967, by Jensen Motors for the Austin-Healey marque, and is the best known of the 'big' Healey models....
. The latter used an engine originally built for the Austin_Motor_Company
Austin Motor Company

The Austin Motor Company was a United Kingdom manufacturer of automobiles that rose to be a major motorcar brand, the dominant partner after merger with Morris in 1952 but declining after absorption into the British Leyland Motor Corporation, and its subsequent troubles....
 A105 sedan. MG
MG (car)

MG is a United Kingdom sports car brand founded in 1924.MG is best known for two-seat open sports cars, but MG also produced Sedan and coup?s....
 also used a straight-6 in some pre-WW2 cars (examples: MG K-type
MG K-Type

The MG K-type Magnette was produced by the MG Car company from October 1932 to 1934.Launched at the 1932 London Motor Show, the K-Type replaced the MG F-type but having at first a slightly smaller capacity engine it took the name Magnette....
 and MG N-type
MG N-Type

The MG N-type Magnette was produced by the MG Car company from October 1934 to 1936. The car was developed from the MG K-type and MG L-type but had a new chassis that broke away in design from the simple ladder type used on the earlier cars of the 1930s being wider at the rear than the front and with the body fitted to outriggers off the mai...
) and more recently in the MGC
MG MGB

The MGB was a sports car launched by MG Cars in May 1962 to replace the MG MGA and manufactured until 22 October 1980 — originally by the British Motor Corporation and later by its successors....
.

Bristol
Bristol Cars

Bristol Cars is a manufacturer of hand-built luxury cars, based at Filton, near Bristol, England. Bristol Cars has no distributors nor dealers and deals directly with customers; they have a showroom in Kensington in London....
 produced a straight-6 until 1961, based on a BMW design, that was also used by many small automakers. Prior to WW2, Riley_(car) built a number of models fitted with straight-6 engines, including the Kestrel 12/6 sedan and the MPH roadster.

The compact Triumph
Triumph Motor Company

The Triumph Motor Company had its origins in 1885 when Siegfried Bettmann and Moritz Schulte from Germany founded Bettmann & Co and started selling Triumph bicycles, from premises in London and from 1889 started making his own machines in Coventry, England....
 straight-6 powered their high-end saloon and sports cars from the mid-1950s to the mid-1970s. It was available in 1.6, 2.0, and 2.5 L capacities. Triumph claimed that their TR5
Triumph TR5

The Triumph TR5 was built for a 13 month period between August 1967 and September 1968 by the Triumph Motor Company in Coventry, United Kingdom....
 model was the first car in the UK to come with fuel injection as standard; the TR5 has a 2.5 L Triumph straight-6. The TR6 fitted with fuel injection straight-6 (inline six) engines only had a limited production due to financial problems by which then Triumph sadly went bust. Other Triumph vehicles that use the Triumph straight-6 are:
  • GT6
    Triumph GT6

    The GT6 was a 6-cylinder sports coup? built by Standard-Triumph and based on their popular Triumph Spitfire convertible. Production ran from 1966 to 1973....
     1966-73
  • Vitesse
    Triumph Vitesse

    The Triumph Vitesse is a compact six cylinder car built by Triumph Motor Company from 1962 to 1971. The car was styled by Michelotti, and was available in saloon and convertible variants....
     1962–71
  • The 2000 Range
    Triumph 2000

    The Triumph 2000 was a mid-sized automobile produced in Coventry by the Triumph Motor Company between 1963 and 1977.Using the six cylinder engine first seen in the Standard Vanguard in 1961 and 4 speed manual gearbox , the monocoque body had independent suspension all round using coil springs....
     1963-77
  • TR6
    Triumph TR6

    The Triumph TR6 was a United Kingdom Straight-6 sports car and the best-seller of the Triumph TR built by Triumph Motor Company when production ended in July 1976....
     1969-76


The Rover SD1 saloon used a Triumph designed straight-6 of 2.3 and 2.6 L capacities. The SD1 saloon was then given the GM based V8 engine Rover used. Its capacities came in 3.5, 3.9, 4.0, 4.5 and 5.0 it was 3.5 commonly found in the SD1.

British sports car company TVR
TVR

TVR is an independent United Kingdom manufacturer of sports cars based in the England town of Blackpool, Lancashire. The company manufactures lightweight sports cars with powerful engines and is the third-largest specialised sports car manufacturer in the world, offering a diverse range of coup?s and convertibles....
 designed its own straight-6, known as the Speed Six, which was also used in the Sagaris, with its capacity of 4 liters. Land Rover
Land Rover

Land Rover is an all-terrain vehicle and Multi Purpose Vehicle manufacturer, based in Solihull, West Midlands , England, now operated as part of the Jaguar Land Rover business owned by Tata Motors of India....
 used a 2.6 L, straight-6 from 1967 in certain series Land Rover models.

Ford UK produced a straight 6 engine for the Zephyr and Zodiac range of passenger cars from the Mk 1 of 1951 (2262 cc) through the Mk 2 (2553 cc) and Mk 3 until 1966. The straight-6 was a 4 main bearing 12 overhead valve design with a short stroke. Rated output grew from just in the Mk 1 to in the Mk 3 Zodaic.

Straight-6 engines in the United States

Engines of this type were popular before World War II
World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a Participants in World War II, including all of the great powers, organised into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War II and the Axis powers....
 in mid-range cars. Most manufacturers started building straight-6 engines when cars grew too large for the straight-4
Straight-4

The straight-4 or inline-4 engine is a four cylinder internal combustion engine with all four cylinder mounted in a straight line along the crankcase....
.

After World War II
World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a Participants in World War II, including all of the great powers, organised into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War II and the Axis powers....
, larger cars required larger engines, and buyers of larger cars tended to prefer V8s; performance sixes such as the Hudson Hornet
Hudson Hornet

The Hudson Hornet is an automobile that was produced by the Hudson Motor Car Company of Detroit, Michigan between 1951 and 1954. The Hornet was also built by American Motors Corporation in Kenosha, Wisconsin and marketed under the Hudson brand between 1955 and 1957....
  engine were exceptions to the rule, and were not often top sellers although it became one of the hottest cars on the road and dominated stock car racing (NASCAR
NASCAR

The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing is the largest sanctioning body of stock cars in the United States. The three largest racing series sanctioned by NASCAR are the Sprint Cup Series, the Nationwide Series and the Camping World Truck Series....
) in the early Fifties..

After Chevrolet
Chevrolet

Chevrolet is a brand of automobile, produced by General Motors . It is the top selling GM marque, with "Chevrolet" or "Chevy" being at times synonymous with GM....
 introduced its V8 in 1955, the straight-6 became almost exclusively a base engine model pitched to economy-minded customers. Trucks (both light and heavy duty) also incorporated the straight-6 until the mid-1950s, and they are still used in light trucks available today. The new wave of compact car
Compact car

A compact , small family or c-segment car is a car classification of automobile which are larger than a supermini car and smaller than a large family car....
s that started in the late 1950s provided a suitable home for straight-6 designs.

The Chrysler Corporation had noteworthy slant-6 engines
Chrysler Slant 6 engine

The Slant-6, known within Chrysler as the G-engine, is one of Chrysler's two best known automobile engines, along with the Chrysler Hemi engine V8....
, used in the Plymouth Valiant
Plymouth Valiant

The Plymouth Valiant is an automobile manufactured by the Plymouth automobile division of Chrysler Corporation in the United States from 1960 to 1976....
 and Dodge Dart
Dodge Dart

The Dodge Dart was an automobile built by the Dodge division of the Chrysler Corporation from 1960 to 1976. The Dart was introduced as a lower-priced, shorter wheelbase, full-size Dodge in 1960 and 1961, became a mid-size car for 1962, and finally was a compact car between 1963 and 1976....
 A-body
Chrysler A platform

Chrysler's A platform was the basis for smaller rear wheel drive cars in the 1960s. These cars are sometimes referred to as A-body cars....
 models of the 1960s and 1970s. This engine was reliable and achieved some success in racing after engineers discovered that the 30-degree slant of the engine allowed them to use very long intake runners to boost horsepower by tuning the intake system. Part of the reason for its reliability was that it was originally designed to be built of aluminum, but after Chrysler had problems with manufacturing the engines in aluminum, the rest were built in cast iron without changing the design to compensate for the stronger metal. Although it only had four crankshaft main bearings instead of the seven used by its competitors, they were the same size as those on the Hemi V8
Chrysler Hemi engine

A Chrysler Hemi engine, known by the trademark Hemi, is an internal combustion engine built by Chrysler that utilizes a Sphere combustion chamber....
. After 30 years of production, it was discontinued in favor of V6 engines because it was too long to mount transversely in front wheel drive cars.

Another noteworthy straight-6 engine family was introduced by American Motors
American Motors

American Motors Corporation was an United States automobile company formed on January 14, 1954 by the merger of the Nash-Kelvinator Corporation and the Hudson Motor Car Company....
 (AMC) in 1964. These engines
AMC Straight-6 engine

The American Motors Corporation straight-6 family of engines was used by a number of AMC and Jeep vehicles from 1964 through 2006.* For an outline of all engines used by AMC see ...
 were used in a variety of AMC passenger and Jeep utility vehicles. AMC also sold their straight-6's to International Harvester to be used in International's "Light Line" vehicles: Scouts, pickups, and Travelalls. These engines were also assembled and marketed internationally. Some markets (such as Mexico - by VAM
Vehículos Automotores Mexicanos

Vehiculos Automotores Mexicanos S.A. was an automaker in Mexico. It was established in 1963 after the Mexican Government passed a law to control the government-owned SOMEX , the parent company of Willys Mexicana S.A....
) built their own specialized versions. This engine is considered to be one of the best ever made and it received modifications and upgrades as engine control technology improved. It is noteworthy that this "modern era" I-6
AMC Straight-6 engine

The American Motors Corporation straight-6 family of engines was used by a number of AMC and Jeep vehicles from 1964 through 2006.* For an outline of all engines used by AMC see ...
 was produced continuously for 42 years (even after Chrysler's buyout of AMC in 1987) all the way through 2006. It featured a durable design with a cast iron block and cylinder head, hydraulic lifters (with non-adjustable rockers), and seven main bearings. Since the cars were designed to take the weight of an optional V8, AMC was able to make their straight-sixes much stronger and heavier than they needed to be. As a result, the engine blocks were so sturdy that some were used in race cars in the Indianapolis 500
Indianapolis 500

The Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, often shortened to Indianapolis 500 or Indy 500 or commonly known simply as The 500, is an USA automobile auto racing, held annually over the Memorial Day weekend at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana....
. In the 1978 race, an AMC engine produced at 8,500 RPM
Revolutions per minute

Revolutions per minute is a units of measurement of frequency: the number of Turn completed in one minute around a rotation around a fixed axis....
 with of manifold pressure.

A significant step was taken by Kaiser Jeep
Kaiser Jeep

Kaiser Jeep was the result of the merger between the Kaiser-Frazer Corporation, an independent automaker based in Willow Run, Michigan, and the Toledo, Ohio-based Willys-Overland Company....
 with the 1963 Tornado straight-6
Jeep Tornado engine

The Jeep 6-230 Tornado engine was the first U.S. designed mass-produced overhead cam automobile engine. It was introduced in mid-year 1962 and replaced the Flathead engine 6-226 Super Hurricane, which had been in use since 1954....
, the first U.S. designed mass-produced overhead cam (OHC) automobile engine. However, it was complex (by 1960s standards) for civilian vehicles in the U.S., but continued to be installed in military Jeeps and was also produced through 1982 by IKA
Industrias Kaiser Argentina

Industrias Kaiser Argentina S.A. or IKA was an Argentina motor company established in 1956 in C?rdoba Province as a joint venture with Kaiser Motors of the United States....
 in Argentina.

Ford and General Motors
General Motors

General Motors Corporation , founded in 1908, is the world's second-largest automaker after Toyota, ranked by 2008 global unit sales. GM was the global sales leader for 77 consecutive calendar years from 1931 to 2008....
 straight-6s of the 1960s and 1970s were generally nondescript, except for the overhead cam Pontiac
Pontiac

Pontiac is a brand of automobiles, produced by General Motors Corporation that has been sold in the United States, Canada and Mexico since 1926....
 six of the late-1960s. Although the Pontiac six was one of the few straight-6s of its era to be advertised as exceeding , it wooed few performance buyers away from V8s in the muscle car
Muscle car

Muscle car is a term used to refer to a variety of high performance automobiles. At its most widely accepted the term refers to American 2-door rear wheel drive mid-size cars of the late 1960s and early 1970s equipped with large, powerful V8 engines and sold at an affordable price for street use and automobile racing, formally and informal...
 era and was eventually discontinued in favor of a less costly design.

American automakers found it more profitable to sell slow-speed straight-6s as "economy" engines and V8s as "performance" engines regardless of their horsepower potential, since big, unsophisticated, overhead valve engines were relatively cheap to manufacture, and fuel economy was not a concern prior to the 1973 oil crisis
1973 oil crisis

The 1973 oil crisis started on October 15, 1973, when the members of Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries or the OAPEC proclaimed an oil embargo "in response to the U.S....
.

The trend after the fuel crises in the 1970s was towards smaller cars with better fuel economy. Despite this, straight-6 engines became rare in American cars although they continued to be used in trucks and vans. The decline of the straight-6 was in response to the more compact size of the V6 layout. The straight-6 required a longer engine compartment that was more appropriate to a larger car. The shorter V6 could be used in a shorter engine compartment and therefore fit better in a more compact car. It was also relatively easy to cut two cylinders off a V8 design to produce a V6 that could be manufactured on the same assembly line as the V8, which was convenient for American manufacturers.

Jeep
Jeep

Jeep is an automobile marque of Chrysler. It is the oldest off-road vehicle brand, with Land Rover coming in second. The original vehicle which first appeared as the prototype Bantam GP became the primary light 4-wheel-drive vehicle of the US Army and allies during the World War II and postwar period....
s were an exception to the trend to V6s, and began offering AMC's , known as "High Torque," straight-6s as a common engine option in 1972. These engines continued to receive upgrades with an advanced for its time, high-performance 4.0 L (242 CID)
AMC Straight-6 engine

The American Motors Corporation straight-6 family of engines was used by a number of AMC and Jeep vehicles from 1964 through 2006.* For an outline of all engines used by AMC see ...
 option in 1987. Usage of the AMC 4.0 declined in Jeep vehicles after the Jeep Cherokee
Jeep Cherokee

Jeep Cherokee may refer to:* Jeep Cherokee * Jeep Cherokee * Jeep Grand Cherokee , , and * Jeep Liberty, a.k.a. Jeep Cherokee ...
 (in North America) was replaced by the Liberty
Jeep Liberty

The Jeep Liberty , or Jeep Cherokee outside North America, is a compact SUV produced by the Jeep marque of Chrysler. It was introduced for 2002 with styling inspired by the Dakar and Jeepster concept cars....
 in 2002, which featured Chrysler's 3.7 L (226 CID) V6 instead. It declined further after the 2005 introduction of the third generation Jeep Grand Cherokee
Jeep Grand Cherokee

The Jeep Grand Cherokee is a mid-size monocoque sport utility vehicle produced by the Jeep division of Chrysler. European Grand Cherokees are manufactured in Austria by Magna Steyr....
, which also used the 3.7 L V6. The last application of the 4.0 was in the 2006 Jeep Wrangler
Jeep Wrangler

The Wrangler is an SUV produced by United States automaker Chrysler under its Jeep marque. It is a successor to the famous Willys MB vehicle by way of the Willys civilian Jeep in the 1950s, later produced by Kaiser-Jeep and by American Motors ....
; for 2007 the engine has been replaced with a 3.8 L (231 CID) V6.

Ford used a straight-6 in baseline Mustangs and in its other models for many decades. They were also found in F150 pickups (most notably the inline six) until 1997 when they were replaced with a V6.

In 1989 Chrysler introduced the 5.9 L Cummins B Series engine
Cummins B Series engine

The Cummins B Series is a family of straight-4 and straight-6 diesel truck and industrial piston engines. The B Series is known for displacing "one liter per cylinder" because of the popular 3.9 L straight-4 and 5.9 L straight-6....
 as an option on its pickup trucks. Displacing nearly 1 litre per cylinder, this straight-6 turbocharged diesel engine was an attractive alternative to the big gasoline V8s normally used on full-sized pickups because its better fuel economy and nearly twice as much low-speed torque. The usual marketing cachet of competing V8s from GM and Ford was offset by the "real" truck origin of the Cummins engine because earlier diesel V8s derived from gasoline engines had reliability problems.

In 2001 General Motors introduced a new family of straight engines, the Atlas
GM Atlas engine

Atlas is a name for a family of modern straight engine piston engines for trucks from General Motors Corporation. The series debuted in 2002 with the Oldsmobile Bravada, and is also used in the Chevrolet TrailBlazer and Chevrolet Colorado and their GMC twins, the GMC Envoy and GMC Canyon....
, for use in the Chevrolet TrailBlazer
Chevrolet TrailBlazer

The Chevrolet TrailBlazer is a mid-size Sport utility vehicle produced by the Chevrolet division of United States automaker General Motors. It was introduced in 1999 as an upscale trim line of the Chevrolet S-10 Blazer....
/GMC Envoy
GMC Envoy

The GMC Envoy is an SUV from the GMC marque of General Motors. It was introduced as a luxury version of the GMC Jimmy for the 1998 model year, the same year the Jimmy was restyled....
. The straight-6 was chosen for development because of the desirable operating characteristics of its self-balanced design.

Straight-6 engines in Asia

The Japanese automakers have used the straight-6 since the 1960s in a wide range of vehicles. More recently, Nissan
Nissan Motors

, shortened to Nissan is a multinational corporation automaker headquartered in Japan. It was formerly a core member of the Nissan Group, but has become more independent after its restructuring under Carlos Ghosn ....
 and Toyota have changed to V6s because the straight-6s were too long for the engine compartments in their newer vehicles. The R34 Nissan Skyline GT-R
Nissan Skyline GT-R

The Nissan Skyline GT-R is a Japanese sports car based on the Nissan Skyline range.The first GT-Rs were produced from 1969-1977. After a 16 year hiatus since the KPGC110 in 1972, the GT-R name was revived in 1989 with the Skyline R32....
 also used this layout and so had a long hood.

Toyota started with their F
Toyota F engine

The Toyota F series gasoline engine was first introduced in 1955. They have become known for their high amount of torque at low RPM and their massive cast iron blocks and heads....
-series engine and later the M
Toyota M engine

Toyota Motor Corporation's M family of engines were a longitudinally mounted straight-6 engine design. They were used from the 1960s through the 1990s....
, FZ, G
Toyota G engine

The Toyota Motor Corporation G-family engine is a family of straight-6 piston engines produced from 1979 to present. It is notable in that only a single displacement, 2.0 L , was produced in this series....
, and JZ
Toyota JZ engine

The Toyota JZ engine family is a series of inline-6 automobile engines. A replacement for the M-series inline-6 engines, the JZ engines were multi-valve DOHC engines....
 engines, and Nissan started with their H-series and later the L of the early Fairlady Zs as well as the RB
Nissan RB engine

The RB engine is a 2.0?3.0 L straight-6 Four-stroke cycle petrol/gasoline engine from Nissan.Both SOHC and DOHC versions have an aluminum head....
 series engines (in the R31-R34 Skyline
Nissan Skyline

The Nissan Skyline is a mid-size car originally produced by the Japanese automaker Prince Motor Company starting in 1957 and later by Nissan Motors after the two companies merged in 1966....
). Honda built the Honda CBX 1000 motorcycle from 1978 to 1981. In the 1990s Toyota offered straight-6s in all their lines: the G in the Altezza (and others); the M
Toyota M engine

Toyota Motor Corporation's M family of engines were a longitudinally mounted straight-6 engine design. They were used from the 1960s through the 1990s....
 and its replacement, the JZ, in the Toyota Supra
Toyota Supra

The Toyota Supra is a sports car/grand tourer that was produced by Toyota from 1979 to 2002. The styling of the Toyota Supra was derived from the Toyota Celica, but it was both longer and wider....
 (and others); and the F and its replacement, the FZ, in the Land Cruiser
Toyota Land Cruiser

The Toyota Land Cruiser is a series of four-wheel drive vehicles produced by the Japanese car maker Toyota. Design of the Land Cruiser began in 1951 as Toyota's version of a Jeep-like vehicle and production began in 1954....
. In the 2000s, Toyota still offers the FZ-series, G-series, and the JZ-series engines.

In Korea, GM Daewoo's FWD Magnus
Daewoo Magnus

The Daewoo Magnus is a mid-size sedan developed and manufactured by Daewoo Motors until its purchase by General Motors, and now built for GM Daewoo by Daewoo Incheon Motor Company at its Bupyeong facility in South Korea....
 (sold abroad as the Chevrolet Evanda, Chevrolet Epica, Holden Epica or Suzuki Verona) comes with a Daewoo-designed straight-6. The Daewoo engine is one of the few straight-6s designed to be installed transversely in front wheel drive cars and it is an extremely short engine in its configuration.

Straight-6 engines in Australia

Historically, all major manufacturers in Australia used straight-6s.

BMC developed a straight six cylinder engine based on the B-series engine in the late 1950s. It appeared in the Austin Freeway and Wolseley 24/80. Although successful in Australia and tried successfully in the prototype MGC the cost of retooling meant that the engine remained indigenous to Australia. In the early 1970s a six-cylinder engine derived from the E-series was used in the Australian market for the P76 and Marina.

Chrysler had built the Slant 6
Chrysler Slant 6 engine

The Slant-6, known within Chrysler as the G-engine, is one of Chrysler's two best known automobile engines, along with the Chrysler Hemi engine V8....
 in Australia and the unique to Australia Hemi straight-6
Chrysler Australian engine

The Chrysler Hemi-6 engine is a family of Straight-6 petrol engines produced by Chrysler Australia in three Engine displacement and multiple configurations....
. These engines, made in 215, 245, and 265 CID capacity, were used in the Chrysler Valiant
Chrysler Valiant

The Chrysler Valiant was a passenger car introduced by Chrysler Australia in 1962 with production ceasing in 1981. Initially a rebadged import of the Plymouth Valiant from the United States where production ceased in 1976, the Valiant range was sold throughout Australia and New Zealand, as well as South Africa....
 and the Valiant Charger
Valiant Charger

The Chrysler Valiant Charger is an automobile produced by Chrysler Australia from 1971 to 1978. It was a short wheelbase two door coupe based on the Australian Chrysler Valiant sedan....
 producing up to . Chrysler no longer owns any factories in Australia.

Holden up until 1986 built their own straight-6s, adapted from a Chevrolet
Chevrolet

Chevrolet is a brand of automobile, produced by General Motors . It is the top selling GM marque, with "Chevrolet" or "Chevy" being at times synonymous with GM....
 design. A '132.5' cubic inch, 2.171 L unit (known as the 'grey' motor) was used until 1963, with a minor increase in displacement in 1960 to '138' cubic inch, 2.261 L, when it was replaced by a newer Chevrolet based design (known as the 'red' engine) which was offered in different capacities. Holden engine sizes included the '138' 2.261 L '149' 2.441 L '161' 2.638 L '173' (2.85 L - 1971-1984), '186' (3.0 L - 1968-1971) and '202' (3.3 L - 1971-1986) - the largest and most popular of the series. This motor was firstly replaced by an imported RB20/30Nissan straight-6, offered in 2.0L (in New Zealand
New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses , and numerous Islands of New Zealand, most notably Stewart Island/Rakiura and the Chatham Islands....
) and 3.0L forms, until Holden's Buick designed 3.8L V6 replaced it outright in 1988. Holden now make and use the new global HFV6 in their local and export passenger cars.

Ford Australia has been producing straight-6s
Ford Straight-6 engine

Ford Motor Company's first straight-6 engine was introduced in 1906 in the Ford Model K. Production ended in 1907. Henry Ford did not like this car, which had a habit of tearing its transmission up....
 since 1960 and is the only manufacturer in Australia to still build straight sixes. Ford has built 144, 170, 188, 200, 221, 240 and 250 cu in engines, with the 240 being called the 3.9 L or 4.0 L and the 200 being called the 3.3 L. They have been used since 1960 in the Falcon, 1972-1981 in the Cortina
Ford Cortina

The Ford Cortina is a mid-sized family car built by Ford of Britain in various guises from 1962 to 1982.The Cortina was Ford's mass-market mid-sized car and sold in enormous numbers, making it common on British roads....
 and from 2004 in the Ford Territory
Ford Territory

The Ford Territory is a crossover SUV built by Ford Australia and based on the EA169 platform of the Ford BA Falcon. It was released in April 2004....
. The current straight-6 engines in the Falcon and Territory are called the Barra
Ford Barra engine

The Barra engines are a family of Ford Straight-6 engine and V8s assembled by Ford Australia since 2002. The V8s are built in the USA by the Ford Motor Company and are shipped un-assembled to Australia, for assembly at the FPV Factory....
 and have a 4.0 L displacement.

The high-performance division of Ford Australia, Ford Performance Vehicles
Ford Performance Vehicles

Ford Performance Vehicles is the Melbourne-based official performance car division of Ford Australia, founded in 2002....
, produce vehicles equipped with the 4.0 L DOHC 24-valve turbocharged straight-6 with variable cam timing, which produces at 5250 rpm and at 2000 - 4250 rpm — the highest level of torque in any Australian production car to date (along with the HSV
Holden Special Vehicles

Holden Special Vehicles, abbreviated HSV is the officially designated performance vehicle division of Australian motor automobile manufacturer Holden....
 E Series).

Motorcycle use

Honda raced a number of straight-6 motors in the Honda RC series
Honda RC series

Although there is, strictly speaking, no Honda RC Series, the RC name has had a long and storied connection with both production and racing Honda motorcycles....
 bikes, starting with the 249cc 3RC164 in 1964. Bore x stroke were 39 mm x 34.8 mm. This became the RC165 in 1965. For 1966, bore and stroke became 41 mm x 31 mm in the RC166, continuing with the RC167 in 1967. Also in 1967, Honda raced the straight-6 297 cc RC174 in the 350 class, with bore and stroke of 41 mm x 37.5 mm.

For road use, Honda introduced the Honda CBX 1000 in 1978. Kawasaki introduced the 1300 cc Kz1300 in 1979. Benelli introduced the 750 Sei
Benelli 750 Sei

The Benelli 750 Sei is a motorcycle that was produced by Italian manufacturer Benelli from 1972–1978. It was the first production motorcycle with a 6-cylinder engine....
 in 1976, which was later enlarged to 900 cc to become the 900 Sei.

Diesel straight-6 engines

The straight-6 in diesel
Diesel engine

A diesel engine is an internal combustion engine which operates using the diesel cycle . Diesel engines have the highest thermal efficiency compared to any internal combustion or external combustion engine....
 form with a much larger displacement is commonly used for industrial applications. These include various types of heavy equipment, power generation, as well as transit bus
Transit bus

A transit bus is a bus used for short-distance public transport purposes. The roles and specifications of transit buses are not clear cut, and vary with operator and region....
es or coaches
Coach (vehicle)

In British English and Australian English, the term coach is used to refer to a large motor vehicle for conveying passengers. To differentiate from other types of bus, a coach has a luggage hold separate from the passenger cabin....
. Virtually every medium-duty to large over-the-road truck employs an inline six diesel engine. Its virtues are superior low-end torque, very long service life, smooth operation and dependability. On-highway vehicle operators look for straight-6 diesels, which are smooth-operating and quiet. Off-highway applications such as tractors, marine engines, and electric generators need a motor that is rugged and powerful. In these applications, compactness is not as big a factor as in passenger cars, and reliability and maintainability are much more important concerns.

As with everyday passenger vehicles, the smooth running characteristics of the straight-6 engine are what make it desirable for industrial use. The fact that the straight-6 is the simplest engine that is in both primary and secondary balance means it can be scaled up to very large sizes without causing excessive vibration, and the fact that most of the engine components and accessories can be conveniently located along both sides, rather than on top of or underneath the cylinder banks, means that access and maintenance is easier than on a V-type engine in a truck or industrial configuration. In addition, a straight-6 engine is mechanically simpler than a V6 or V8 since it has only one cylinder head
Cylinder head

In an internal combustion engine, the cylinder head sits above the Cylinder and consists of a platform containing part of the combustion chamber and the location of the poppet valves and spark plugs....
 and in the overhead camshaft
Overhead camshaft

Overhead camshaft, commonly abbreviated to OHC, valvetrain configurations place the engine camshaft within the cylinder heads, above the combustion chambers, and drive the poppet valve or tappets in a more direct manner compared to overhead valves and pushrods....
 configuration has only half as many camshafts.

Notable versions include the 5.9 and 6.7 liter I-6 Cummins
Cummins

Cummins Inc. is a corporation of complementary business units that design, manufacture, distribute and service diesel engines and natural gas engines and related technologies, including fuel systems, controls, air handling, filtration, emission solutions and electrical power generation systems....
 found in the Dodge Ram
Dodge Ram

The Dodge Ram is a full-size pickup truck from Chrysler LLC's Dodge brand. The name was first used in 1981 on the redesigned Ram and Power Ram, though it came from the hood ornament used on 1930s and '40s Dodge vehicles....
 and the "DT" series Navistar DT Engine
Navistar DT engine

The Navistar International DT engine family is a line of mid-range inline-6 diesel engines. Withhorsepower ratings ranging from 210 to , the Navistar DT engines are used primarily in medium-duty truck and bus...
 of inline 6-cylinder medium-duty diesel engines by International Truck and Engine Corporation, which are widely held as the gold standard engines for the medium-duty market.

Diesel straight-6's are also found in passenger cars, most notably those made by BMW. The twin turbo M57
BMW M57

The BMW M57 is a straight-6 diesel engine produced from 1998. It won the "2.5–3 L" category of the International Engine of the Year award for 1999 through 2002....
 produces up to from its 3 litre capacity, and has won numerous International Engine of the Year
International Engine of the Year

The International Engine of the Year is an annual competition judged by a panel of automobile journalists from around the world and organized by the United Kingdom's largest technical motoring publication company....
 awards. Another notable diesel is the 3.2 liter straight-6 used in the Mercedes-Benz E320 CDI sold in America from 2004 through 2006.

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