V engine

V Engine

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V engine

A V engine is a common configuration

Engine configuration

Engine configuration is an engineering term for the layout of the major components of an internal combustion engine. These components include cylinder s, pistons, crankshaft and camshaft....
for an 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...
. The cylinders and 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 are aligned, in two separate planes, so that they appear to be in a "V" when viewed along the axis of the crankshaft

Crankshaft

The crankshaft, sometimes casually abbreviated to crank , is the part of an engine which translates reciprocation linear piston motion into rotation....
. The V configuration generally reduces the overall engine length, height and weight compared to an equivalent inline

Straight engine

Usually found in 4- and 6-cylinder configurations, the straight engine is an internal-combustion engine with all cylinders aligned in one row, with no or only minimal offset....
configuration.

In 1896, Karl Benz

Karl Benz

Karl Friedrich Benz, sometimes spelled as Carl, was a Germany engine designer and automobile engineer, generally regarded as the inventor of the gasoline-powered automobile and pioneering founder of the automobile manufacturer, Mercedes-Benz....
patent

Patent

A patent is a set of exclusive rights granted by a state to an inventor or his assignee for a term of patent in exchange for a disclosure of an invention....
ed his design for the first internal combustion engine with horizontally opposed pistons.

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Encyclopedia

A V engine is a common configuration

Engine configuration

Internal combustion engine

Piston

Crankshaft

Straight engine

Karl Benz

Patent

Crank pin

In a reciprocating engine, the crankpins, also known as crank journals are the Bearing journal bearing of the big end bearings, at the ends of the connecting rods opposite to the pistons....
on the crankshaft, either by master/slave rods or by two ordinary rods side by side. Some authorities even regard this as a distinguishing feature of a true V engine, and for example divide flat engine

Flat engine

A flat engine is an internal combustion engine with pistons that are all relatively horizontal. A straight engine canted 90 degrees from straight up is a flat engine, as is one in which the cylinder s are arranged in two banks on either side of a single crankshaft....
s into boxer engines which do not share crank pins in this way, and 180° engines which do. On the other hand, some important V-twin engine designs have two-pin cranks. However, in German, these engines are all identified as boxermotors.

Various angles of V are used in different engines; depending on the number of cylinders, there may be angles that work better than others for stability. Very narrow angles of V combine some of the advantages of the V engine and the straight engine

Straight engine

Lancia

Lancia Automobiles S.p.A. is an Italy automobile manufacturer founded in 1906 by Vincenzo Lancia and which became part of the Fiat in 1969. The company has a long history of producing distinctive cars and also has a strong rally heritage....
, but recently reworked by Volkswagen

Volkswagen

Volkswagen Passenger Cars, also known as VW, is an automobile manufacturer based in Wolfsburg, Germany and is the original as well as the largest brand by sales volume within the Volkswagen Group....
.

Some V configurations are well-balanced

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....
and smooth, while others are less smoothly running than their equivalent straight counterparts. With an optimal angle V16s have even firing and exceptional balance. The 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 can be balanced with counterweights on the crankshaft. V12s, being in effect two Straight 6 engines married together, always have even firing and exceptional balance regardless of angle. Others, such as the V2, V4, V6, flatplane V8, and V10, show increased vibration and generally require 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 ....
s.

Certain types of V engine have been built as inverted engines, most commonly for aircraft. Advantages include better visibility in a single-engined airplane, and lower centre of gravity. Examples include World War II German engines produced by Daimler-Benz

Daimler-Benz

Daimler-Benz AG was a German manufacturer of automobiles, motor vehicles, and engines which was founded in 1926. An Agreement of Mutual Interest?which was valid until year 2000?was signed on May 1 1924 between Karl Benz's Benz & Cie....
and Jumo.

It is common for V engines to be described with V# notation, where # is how many cylinders it has:

V-twin
V-twin

A V-twin is a two cylinder internal combustion engine where the cylinders are arranged in a V engine configuration....
V4
V4 engine

File:Saab Sonett III Ford V4 engine.jpgA V4 engine is a V engine with four cylinder s....
V5
V5 engine

The V5 engine is a V engine with five Cylinder .Volkswagen introduced the first V5 engine, though this engine is not a true twin-bank V engine, but rather a VR5, or staggered bank straight five engine, and therefore not a true V5....
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....
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....
V10
V10 engine

A V10 engine is a V engine with 10 cylinder s in two banks of five with a distinct exhaust note....
V12
V12 engine

A V12 engine is a V engine with 12 cylinder s mounted on the crankcase in two banks of six cylinders, usually at a 60? angle to each other, but in some cases at a wider or narrower angle, with all 12 pistons driving a common crankshaft....
V16
V16 engine

A V16 engine is a v engine with 16 cylinder s. Engines of this number of cylinders are uncommon in automotive use.A V16 engine is perfectly balanced regardless of the V angle without requiring counter-rotating balance shaft which are necessary on large Straight-4 or counterweighted crankshaft like the 90? V8....
V18
V20
V20 engine

A V20 engine is a V engine with 20 cylinder s.Engines of this number of cylinders are not common, but this configuration was used in some large diesel engines....
V24
V24 engine

A V24 engine is a V engine with 24 cylinder s, suitable only for very large trucks or locomotives.A very large V24, the AS.6, engine was built by FIAT in the early 1930s as a powerplant for the competition aeroplane Macchi M.C.72....

V engine

See also