Engine Types: V-engines

To make an engine more powerful and compact, a v-shaped engine was born. Earlier used in aircrafts, a V-engine has two cylinders connected to the same crank shaft in a V-shape. This layout runs in an even number configuration having two (V-Twin), four (V4), six (V6) cylinders and so on.

A V-engine has the advantages of an inline engine layout and some of its own as well. The engine has a better acceleration since, the exhaust stroke in one cylinder puts the second cylinder in the compression stroke, thereby reducing lag and giving a better output. In some cases, the acceleration figures have doubled.

In most of the rear engined cars, the engine was longitudinally mounted and in front engined vehicles, the mill is mounted in a transverse layout. However, some of the cars follow different patterns depending on the design dynamics and space in the hood.

The main issues that came with a V-engine were the vibration and weight balance of the engine. Counterweights to the crank were added to tackle both the problems, but, at high speed, these were not totally reliable. A number of other designs were also conceived, like the narrow V-engine or the VR-engine, the W engine where three cylinders were joined by a single crank. Nevertheless, the Vees took the brunt of its time and proved to be a milestone in the world of engine layouts. It is used in most of mid and large sized production cars across the world. (Read: Inline Engines)