Fictional engine configurations

[reb]

What's an engine configuration you wish existed?

We've had a few good ones over the years that didn't stand the test of time, my favourite being the I5. What about the ones that have never existed? Which would have the most distinctive sound do you think? Which might have been a winner if only someone had tried it?

[PrinceRupert]

What about an X configuration. According to Wiki, Honda once experimented with an X-32 for their Formula One cars ... 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X_engine

[wuvvum]

I've always wondered what a V7 would sound like.  Would presumably need a fairly massive balancer shaft mind.

[Patent]

Packaging aside, is there anything that would stop a radial 6 working in a car?

[Spurious]

19 minutes ago, Patent said:

Packaging aside, is there anything that would stop a radial 6 working in a car?

Aren't radials generally air cooled? They can struggle to keep themselves cool in aircraft sometimes let alone in a car.... 

[Conan]

For anyone interested in this topic I'd suggest giving a YT channel called William Moser a watch.

This guy simulate combustion firing noise along with visualisation in form of light bulb and the result actually sounds a lot like real engine would. There's A LOT of theoretical firing order shown and also a lot that does exist but not in high rev application like in typical passenger cars.

I'll provide an example starting with 1.

 

[JimH]

I like the idea of double acting IC engines. Aside from that it would be nice if someone built a dinky Delta engine. That would sound nice. 

[sierraman]

A W8 engine in a Passat, what a crazy idea that would be... hang on...

[reb]

21 minutes ago, Conan said:

For anyone interested in this topic I'd suggest giving a YT channel called William Moser a watch.

This guy simulate combustion firing noise along with visualisation in form of light bulb and the result actually sounds a lot like real engine would. There's A LOT of theoretical firing order shown and also a lot that does exist but not in high rev application like in typical passenger cars.

I'll provide an example starting with 1.

 

I was leading up to this:

https://youtu.be/RKT-sKtR970

It's an insane level of detail just to simulate the noise of an arbitrary combustion engine. I'm going to have a play around with it today, I was looking for ideas!

[chaseracer]

This is too good not to be on the main board!

[chaseracer]

59 minutes ago, Patent said:

Packaging aside, is there anything that would stop a radial 6 working in a car?

Hmmm... radial 14, mebbe?

🧐

[JimH]

Going back to V twin two-stokes in bikes would be nice, too.

[Rocket88]

Madness 😂😀😀😀

[chaseracer]

His understair cupboard must have been the size of a small house!

[Asimo]

1 hour ago, Patent said:

Packaging aside, is there anything that would stop a radial 6 working in a car?

Well it would have to be two stroke, four stroke radials have to have an odd number of cylinders.

 

[big_al_granvia]

the flat 4 as per vw and subaru is great in theory but all the valve gear makes it, well wide... what about a flat 8 with 2 crankshafts geared together but 2 stroke..... or a smoller version of the napier deltic for automotive

[Honey Badger]

I'd like a miniature Napier Sabre H 24, about 5 litres fitted into a 90s Lexus SC body.

I'd also like a discount card for spark plugs.

 

[Asimo]

I'd like a 120° V6.  Short and stiff 3 throw crankshaft and even firing intervals. Relatively low centre of mass and although balance is not perfect like an inline 6, much easier to package than a flat 6, not to mention cheaper to make.

Porsche: 120° V6 is what your base 718 needs, not that dreary "Impreza" engine. Air-cooled of course!

A few racing engines have used this configuration but as far as I know the most numerous is the Diesel engine used in many Soviet-era military applications, thousands of which have been destroyed since February 24th.

 

[Supernaut]

2 hours ago, wuvvum said:

I've always wondered what a V7 would sound like.  Would presumably need a fairly massive balancer shaft mind.

I've never considered a V7 but an inline 7 would be interesting...

[83C]

17 minutes ago, big_al_granvia said:

or a smoller version of the napier deltic for automotive

The nearest thing to the Napier Deltic in automotive use was the Commer TS3 which was a 3 cylinder opposed piston design - interestingly it used a single crankshaft with rockers and extra conrods. Fitting a smaller Deltic engine into smaller automotive applications might be tricky for packaging reasons but it’d make an epic engine for a Heavy Haul tractor unit.

[Asimo]

33 minutes ago, big_al_granvia said:

or a smoller version of the napier deltic for automotive

https://marcusglenn.com/rolls-royce-k60-engine

[ProgRocker]

666cc whirlygig? I think that was from the old Jalopy magazine. 

2.0 3 cylinder? 

[chaseracer]

2 hours ago, ProgRocker said:

2.0 3 cylinder? 

2.3 do you? 😎

https://www.triumphmotorcycles.co.uk/motorcycles/rocket-3/rocket-3

[inconsistant]

Not fictional but I’d happily put up with a V16

 

 

[Richard_FM]

I remember years ago wondering if a W-9 has ever been made, with 3 banks of 3.  It would need a fair bit of balancing.

BRM considered a W-12 for the 3 litre rules, but went with an H-16 which ended up being too complex.

[stuboy]

that ford had supercharged the v6..

[Datsuncog]

Stranger than fiction...

The DAWB 6 - featuring an air-cooled inline transverse 6 cylinder engine with a dry sump, displacing 1.4 litres and with three twin-choke Weber carbs fitted.

The entire car was built from scratch from the mid 1950s to the early 1960s, with an engine configuration that I've never heard of - but then quietly pushed into the corner of its birthplace in a Belfast machine works once complete and almost never driven by its creator, Davy Woods.

Weird, and very wonderful.

[SH1TE]

V8 bike engine of blackbird or busa super supercharged

[vulgalour]

Vertically opposed (like a Junker) sixteen cylinder but the pistons are in pairs connected to the crankshafts (like a Trojan, but there's two crankshafts instead of one) and it's rear mounted and air cooled (like a Tatra) and there's a supercharger somehow (like a Bentley) and it has mechanical fuel injection (like a Mercedes Benz).

I literally cannot imagine what that would sound like.

[sierraman]

The Rover V8 but as a diesel