Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Well, off the top of my head the little Suzuki cars were built with 3-cylinder engines. Audi made an inline 5 for a while.
Inline 6 is not really an oddball, a *lot* of manufacturers have built them over the years. Matter of fact I can't think of any manufacturer who has not built an inline 6.
Inline 8's were popular back in the day, they tend to be physically long and with a long flexible crankshaft, and are relatively hard to get good mixture distribution on all 8 cylinders with a single carburator.
V-3 and V-5 engines are pretty oddball, I am not aware of any V-3 engines commercially produced. I vaguely recall a SAAB or Volvo V-5 but maybe not.
You missed the VR-6 "semi-V" layout like VW has used - a very narrow angle V-6 with a single head.
There were Saab V4 engines a long time ago. Inline fives are still around, the standard Golf and New Beetle have them standard and GM has one optional in the Colorado/Canyon and was standard in the mechanically similar Hummer H3. Triples are still available in Europe and Asia. VW has also used a W8 in nicer models as well, a few Passats had them, Phaetons, I think the Touareg as well. My friend the VW repairman told me once what a maintenance nightmare those VWs were...nine quarts Mobil 1, eight or nine oxygen sensors, don't remember which...
The geometry of a an odd numbered V configuration is nonsensical and would be a balancing predicament. I-3 is around, off the top of my head I can think of the 1.0L in a geo metro.
As Mitch pointed out the longer block configurations to accommodate a row of 8 cylinders is heavily limited by the strength and rigidity of the crankshaft. IIRC Cadillac overcame this issue with their V-16 by simply using a split crankshaft (two separate ones connected within the block). This is not always exactly the case since the size of the cylinders can be very small and a W-16 or a V-12 could be the size of a big V-8.
Well, off the top of my head the little Suzuki cars were built with 3-cylinder engines. Audi made an inline 5 for a while.
Audi/VW still does make an inline 5; think base Golf and Audi TTRS. Volkswagen in general has and still does make some oddball configurations, such as the W12 still used in some cars such as the Bentley line (turbocharged) and the top-end A8 (N/A), the W16 used in the Bugatti, a brief appearance of the W8 in Passats, and the most goofy of them all, the narrow-angle VR5.
Anyway, 3-cylinder engines aren't all that odd. I believe BMW is reviving the 3-cylinder for future use in the Mini and also a FWD A-segment. You still see them in motorcycles every so often as well, particularly on a number of Triumph models.
Flat engines seem a novelty anymore, relegated to use by Subaru who have used nothing but flat 4's and 6's for a couple of decades now, and by Porsche in the 911/Boxster/Cayman. I suppose BMW still uses a flat twin for some of its motorcycles too.
As said already the I-6 is not odd at all and never was. BMW's 6 cylinder engines are all I6.
Volvo still offers an I5 engine.
I don't think "flat" engines are particularly unusual. They are often inline engines turned on their side. Nothing unusual in the crankshaft, etc.
Flat "boxer" engines are distinct because the pistons are opposed. Subaru uses boxer engines in a flat position. Some BMW motorcyles use a 2 cylinder boxer. The Honda Goldwing uses a boxer 6. Porsche uses boxer engines. And Ferrari had a boxer 12 cylinder.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.