Ferdinand Piech thought of the idea of a 5-cylinder in-line when he was the head of R&D of Audi. During his years with Porsche, he designed the flat turbocharged 12 engine for the 917 race car, and he also though of a 16cylinder engine which never came to existence; however, latter the creations of three unique W layout engines came: the Volks Wagon W12, Bently’s W16, and Bugatti’s W18. Maybe Piech’s enthusiasm of such unique engines created these “unnecessary engines” as some call it.
So much cylinders don’t make sense to automakers, especially when cost is a issue. V12 is the smoothest, and is capable of producing mighty power; Ferrari for one uses them for years, and years to come. W-engines have advantages in packaging, but the designe is said to cause quite a bit of friction, and therefore less power. Cooling is also more difficult, maybe this is why they are never used in motor-races. A V12 is still quite lighter, and the W16/W18 engines are to overweight for supercars; they are reserved for Bugatti and Bentley only.
One of the engines that catches me the most is the V5 (also known as VR5). Yes, a five cylinder in a Vee angle. The V5 is as smooth as any V6 (not the early prototypes though), yet the engineering is unknown; at least I can’t find it. How does it work? Volks Wagon seams to not give out any information on the internal mechanics inside.
Very interesting V5 engines, and crazy multi-cylinder engines. They will, or have, stoped production on the W12, and the V5 never made it to production standards. Anyone have more info?
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Originally Posted by illusionest
