2007-03-13 01:51:34 · 9 answers · asked by Andrew G 1 in Cars & Transportation ➔ Other - Cars & Transportation
To the guy who said that BMW make 5 cylinder engines - Wake up.
BMW have NEVER made a 5 cylinder engine. They make a few 4 cylinder engines for cars under 2 litres. Most BMW engines are straight 6s. They do a few V8s, a V10 (M5 & M6) and the odd V12, but NO 5 cylinder!
Audi used to make loads of in-line 5 engines, and passed the technology on to Volvo. Audi stopped using them a while ago (mid 90s), but Volvo have continued, hence the T5 cars you see.
Ford own Volvo, so "borrowed" and engine from them to put in their "hot" Focus. It is the only Ford to have a 5 cylinder engine.
6 cylinders give a smoother ride than 4 cylinders without having to increase the capacity by much. Mazda had a 2 litre V6 engine at one point.
In the V6 configuration, you get a nice compact engine with a wide range of capacities available offering loads of different power outputs. So you can use the same engine bay configuration for all the cars in your range, as they all take the same sized engine. It means that one car body can be manufactured for the entire range. Hence keeping costs down.
BMW do a similar thing, but with a straight 6 engine. It means the car has a longer nose as the engine is longer, but thats what gives then a slightly more "sportier" look.
4 cylinder engines do not cover a wide enough range to fit the bill. V8s are too high end to fit the bill.
6 cylinder engines fit nicely in the middle.
2007-03-13 21:42:25 · answer #1 · answered by wally_zebon 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Rover (pre BLMC) had a prototype 5-cyl unit by 1965, but got the rights to an aluminium V8 from GM and decided to use that instead.
VW had no patent on the straight-5 and no design rights were sold to Volvo.
VW have since produced a V5 engine with one bank of 3 cylinders and one bank of 2.
They also do a W12 (four banks of 3) on their largest cars.
I'm waiting for them to come up with a Deltic 9 or 18 cylinder design. The Napier Lion was obviously the inspiration for the W12, so the Deltic is an obvious next step ;-)
2007-03-14 07:47:03 · answer #2 · answered by Stephen Allcroft 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Six cylinders give the optimum configuration for a very smooth engine with good performance. However, as more four cylinder engines are produced world wide than 6 cylinder i would say that the four cylinder engine is actually the choice of most manufactures.
2007-03-13 08:56:58 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
In a 4 stroke 6 cylinders is the minimum for complete balance without needing extra balancer shafts. You could try 3 but then you would have to accept uneven firing sequence or out of balance vibration. Of course a 2 stroke can work with only 3 cylinders 4 cylinders can be nearly balanced and the addition of a balancer shaft completes the job
2007-03-14 05:11:28 · answer #4 · answered by The original Peter G 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
To be honest with you car manufactures that know the score. e.g Volvo BMW.Audi make a lot of 5 cylinder engines. They are a lot smoother.Look at the new Ford focus-st it has a 5 cylinder 2.5 litre engine.
2007-03-13 08:57:59 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The six cylinder is inherently an unbalanced design. It is a matter of weight and horsepower. The Ford 300 Straight Six is one of the highest torque per pound motors made.
They are all rather bad design, 22% of output for every ounce of fuel burned is just not efficient.Get off the oil and go Lithium, electric is 89% or more efficient.
2007-03-13 09:04:48 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Only in the US. In the UK and Europe most (not all) vehicles come with 4-cylinder engines.
2007-03-13 08:54:10 · answer #7 · answered by mark 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Faster acceleration.
2007-03-13 09:00:19 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
because it's fast and everyone is impressed by fast cars.
2007-03-13 08:53:29 · answer #9 · answered by PinkPotions 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋