I was just wondering what the smallest v6 engine is
Is there a lower limit to a V6 design, would a 1.0L V6 actually work or are there too many losses to overcome ?
Edited by Pugugly on 03/09/2009 at 15:39
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UPDATE
Sorry, I should be clearer.
What is the smallest V6 engine in production or has been in production.
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I haven't heard of a V6 smaller than about 2 litres.
But my first car was a 1930s Fiat with a straight six of 1.5 litres.
My all-time dream runabout is a fifties Ferrari Barchetta with a carburetted 1.5 litre V12. A superlight thing with solid rear axle, drum brakes and about 160 bhp. These rough little jewels are worth millions unfortunately.
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Didn't Mitsubishi have a 1.6L V6 some years back?
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Didn't the Mazda MX3 have a 1.8 V6? If I recall, it was quite well thought of. 0-60 in about 8.5seconds
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Didn't the Mazda MX3 have a 1.8 V6?
www.honestjohn.co.uk/carbycar/index.htm?md=219
'very sweet'
'Check the complex V6 engine carefully.'
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Moto Guzzi made a 500cc V8 engine way back in 1955 for bike racing.
"The engine and the bike were without precedent: a water-cooled, 500 cc (31 cu in) V-8 motorcycle -- with dual overhead cams and a separate carburetor for each of the eight cylinders. Weighing only 45 kg (99 lb) (overall bike weight 148 kg (330 lb)), its miniaturized components tightly packaged, the engine produced an unprecedented 78 hp (58 kW) at 12000 rpm. The motorcycle proved capable of achieving 172 mph (280 km/h) -- 20 years before the speed was reached again in Grand Prix motorcycle racing."
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moto_Guzzi_V8
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Ford (Germany) made a 1,8 V6. Six cylinder version of their 1,2 V4.
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250cc 120 degree quad cam v6 model engine.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLWOcibAiyw
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That's interesting.
I thought the smaller (CC) the engine was, the bigger the losses incurred.
I suspected that a V6 wouldn't work at 500cc but I am proved wrong.
I wonder how much torque a 1.0L V6 engine would have compared to a 4 pot of the same size ?
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Ferrari's first car in 1947 had a 1.5litre 12-cyl engine.
More cylinders generally can produce more power for a given displacement, as they can have better air/fuel flow than larger cylinders, but are less fuel efficient as there is a greater area of bearing surfaces than a lesser cylinder engine of the same size.
I think diesels have a thermodynamic advantage by having larger cylinders (to a point) but I'm too busy to go googling just now!
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If you don't mind me expanding on the thread topic, how about the largest 4 cylinder?
I know Porsche went up to 3.0 in the 944, but I thought I read somewhere (Guiness Car records book?) that the largest ever car engine was a 4 pot, and that it was 28 litres. Anyone else remember this?
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The 1908 Itala had a 12.7 litre four pot.
Must be one of the largest "normal" engined road cars.
www.chichesterweb.co.uk/goodwood/speed08/fos408.htm
Another pic ( car 1) and many others to feast on.
www.pekingparis.com/pp2007/galleryb.html
Edited by henry k on 02/09/2009 at 18:58
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Found it - Guiness Book of Car Facts & Feats 3rd Ed. (1980).
'The largest engine ever built for a road-racing car in the "Age of Giants" was a 4-cylinder unit of 26,400 cc in the Dufaux entry for the Gordon Bennet Trophy Race of 1905 (but it did not appear for the race at the Auvergne circuit).'
So that's over 6 litres per cylinder...
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Also:
'The largest engine ever raced in a Grand Prix was the 19,891 cc V-4 of Walter Christie's 1907 car, and this was run close by the 1906 Panhards (18,279 cc) and Lorraine-Dietrichs (18,146 cc).'
The sound made by a GP car in those days must have been somewhat different to that of today's machines :-)
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....So that's over 6 litres per cylinder...
It would depend on the stroke, but I wonder what size each piston was to displace six litres.
At a guess, five or six inches in diameter.
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Can't find much more info unfortunately - some here:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dufaux_automobile
Wonder what its max revs were? How much did it shake at idle?
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The Land Speed Record cars of the 1920s used some massive aero engines such as the 27 Litre Liberty engine in the ill fated Babs driven by Parry Thomas.
www.bluebird-electric.net/parry_thomas.htm
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The Land Speed Record cars of the 1920s used some massive aero engines such as the 27 Litre Liberty engine
Indeed, but at least those had a decent number of cylinders (V12s?)
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The Liberty engine in Babs was apparently an L12, so no shortage of cylinders!
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberty_engine
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A bit of thread creep again but if we are talking small engines then this is amazing. You may remember Jeremy Clarkson doing this piece in one of his engineering programs.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncsaUNEzaTw
Amazing work !
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I saw a 13 litre, pre World War 1 Vauxhall in action at SeeRed Donnington last summer. It was almost like a large, unsilenced diesel to listen to, as it had a very low rev limit. A complete contrast to the 'Silver Arrow' Mercedes racer, which sounder almost otherworldly to me.
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Honda 5 cylinder 125cc was pretty small in the bore/stroke dimensions. Never heard one in action, but the dohc 4 valve 50cc twin was much the same in cylinder size. Rather loud at 21,000 rpm:) Here's a link. www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMVNAYqnRT0
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The legendarily unreliable first generation BRM grand prix car was a 1.5 litre twin supercharged V16.
If you ever heard one running you wouldn't ever forget the incredible noise it made.
Maybe it's on YouTube?
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The Honda GP racers of the mid-60s are fabulous things to see and even better to hear.
The 250cc and 297cc sixes make a noise which is simultaneously glorious and terrifying.
According to the GP riders of the time, the 125-5 cylinder was notoriously tricky to set up, there were several different lengths of inlet tract available to alter the power characteristics to suit the track.
Edited by Dynamic Dave on 03/09/2009 at 11:17
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Don't you mean what is the diddiest?
;-)
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The diddiest? I think you'll find Ken Dodd had the diddiest.
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I did a quick search and the Mitsubishi 1.6 was indeed claimed as the smallest production V6. The early Triumph Vitesses had a 1.6 litre straight-6.
The Ferrari 125 of about 1948 had a V12 engine of 1500cc, so presumably a 700cc V6 would be workable, perhaps on a superbike (maybe such a thing exists).
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Laverda liquid cooled 1000cc V6, built for endurance racing 1977/78.
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There is also the Benelli 750 Sei which was a straight six produced in the 1970s. More details on this thread in Biker's Caff
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?f=10&t=7...3
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