4 pot v V6 v V8

[tor_ake]

Emissions and fuel efficiency has narrowed down the limits the recent years, you need a certain avg pressure in the cylinder for efficient combustion of air and petrol/diesel. As you might have noticed the 1,0 litre engines and below are now three pot (two, even!) from several manufacturers.

Racing engines fortunately don't have to care much about emissions and fuel efficiency

Making it even easier for you to choose is sticking to Mercedes, they don't produce overlapping configurations (any more). Below 200hp - four pot, 200-300 - six, above that - eight.

 

[Ted]

Your question was answered fully in post two.

Forget the posts about balance, harmonics, etc, and as Howard says just try one, you will be forever smitten.

Was it Clarkson who said that you're not a true car enthusiast until you've had an Alfa?
WRONG!!!!
Was it LJK (Gods rest his smarmy know-it-all soul) who espoused the benefits of six cylinders over all other layouts?
WRONG AGAIN!!!

A V8 is the only way to go. If it is American and from the fifties/sixties so much the better, but if you can afford to buy and run one, then it is one to tick off your bucket list.


You asked the question. Go on, you know you want to........

 

[jupiter2step]

Your question was answered fully in post two.

You asked the question. Go on, you know you want to........

Sounds so tempting - I have never driven anything other than a four pot. But her indoors would send me packing if I went for anything returning less than 40mpg on a run!!

 

[markjay]

...Was it Clarkson who said that you're not a true car enthusiast until you've had an Alfa?
WRONG!!!!...

I had two...

 

[Troon]

her indoors would send me packing if I went for anything returning less than 40mpg on a run!!

Start using litres/100km for a few months. Once she's used to those numbers, then get the E63 and watch her smile as you get an amazing 15 litres / 100km, much better than the old car...

 

[Ted]

Start using litres/100km for a few months. Once she's used to those numbers, then get the E63 and watch her smile as you get an amazing 15 litres / 100km, much better than the old car...

Brilliant!! I love it

 

[Dryce]

To keep life interesting, there are always counterexamples:

Ferrari 206 Dino ..... sigh ..... droool ...... shwing

 

[Ted]

Ferrari 206 Dino ..... sigh ..... droool ...... shwing

Ahhhhhh. One of the pretties cars of all time.

 

[markjay]

Emissions and fuel efficiency has narrowed down the limits the recent years, you need a certain avg pressure in the cylinder for efficient combustion of air and petrol/diesel. As you might have noticed the 1,0 litre engines and below are now three pot (two, even!) from several manufacturers.

Racing engines fortunately don't have to care much about emissions and fuel efficiency

Making it even easier for you to choose is sticking to Mercedes, they don't produce overlapping configurations (any more). Below 200hp - four pot, 200-300 - six, above that - eight.

My post falls into the category of Trivia - the obsessive collectiom of useless information for the sole purpose of (not) impressing your friends

 

[Deleted member 65149]

Making it even easier for you to choose is sticking to Mercedes, they don't produce overlapping configurations (any more). Below 200hp - four pot, 200-300 - six, above that - eight.

Almost, but not quite. My V6 produces 306hp.

 

[Deleted member 65149]

I had two [Alfas]...

They must have lasted nearly six months in total!

 

[Howard]

Almost, but not quite. My V6 produces 306hp.

And my V8 produces 280 !

 

[markjay]

They must have lasted nearly six months in total!

Since you asked....

Alfasud 1.3ti, 1980-1981 (written off in a crash)

Alfetta 1.8, 1982-1987 (crashed twice but never written-off - sold for cash)

Lovely lovely cars with some very uncommon mechanical features. Brilliant Italian design and engineering, very poor Italian choice of materials (rusting body panels and porous allow cylinder block and head).

 

[walsi]

Nowt wrong with Alfa's, they build proper cars

Martrin

 

[millo777]

The way I look at it, a 4 banger needs to rotate the crank 90 degress every time a cylinder fires, vs a v12 which needs to rotate the crank 30 degress every time a cylinder fires and will therefore be smoother running.

Inline engines have the cylinders on a single plane of movement so will be smoother than V configures engines of the same number of cylinders. Boxer engiens are horrizontally opposed and sound plain wierd imho, and W configured engines and just plain odd and who the feck knows what VW were thinking and how many balancer shafts are required to keep those things from jumping out of the car.

A V6 will normally be shorter and and flatter than a inline 6 so is easier to position in the engine bay to minimise any weight forward of the front wheels and will also help lower the centre of gravity.

4 bangers do tend to be freer revving than 6s/8s though and can be quite good fun in smaller cars. A Fiat 500 twin air sounds like a mental wasp when revved hard and is suprisingly entertaining without having to break the speed limit.

 

[219]

Don't forget the straight six. The best balanced engine of them all, both primary and secondary harmonics.

Quite ............. and nothing else will be any better until you get to a V12 .

Speaking as someone who has a straight five , two straight sixes and a V8 .

 

[219]

We have some preserved appliances which run Rolls-Royce 4 litre straight six petrol engines , and they sound very nice too .

You can see one of them in the recently opened Fire Service Museum in Greenock ( in the basement level of the town hall ) .

 

[219]

Piston engines (for automobile use) have a practical limit on pot size, about 300-600cc, that is why you seldom see a six below 2 litres or a four pot larger than 2,3. Likewise sixes seldom go over 3,5 litres, above that it's 8 or more.

Off the top of my head

Triumph Vitesse 1600 six cylinder

Rolls Royce 4 litre six cylinder

 

[219]

Making it even easier for you to choose is sticking to Mercedes, they don't produce overlapping configurations (any more). Below 200hp - four pot, 200-300 - six, above that - eight.

My 219 ( straight six , M180 2195 cc ) produces a heady 85 bhp , with the M110 in the 280SE bettering it by 101 bhp , albeit still a six .

The M117 in the 500SEL ( V8 ) does quite well with around 265 bhp , and you needed to go to the range topping 560 before you got to 300 !