INLINE 6 vs. V6 - How it Works | SCIENCE GARAGE

- Six cylinders in line, V6, six in line? Tilt-Six? Six cylinder engines! (short, quirky jingle) – Thanks for tuning in. Before we talk about these Donegal movers, hit the subscribe button! It means a lot and that's what helps us keep trying to make new shows! Alright. Today we will talk about the 6-cylinder

inline

engines and the V6 engine. Is one superior to the other? The answer is the same as if you ask me what type of underwear I prefer, boxers or briefs. And I'll just tell you, it depends. (Laughs) First of all, there is the

inline

six-cylinder engine.

Dutch manufacturer Spiker built the first one for its 60-horsepower all-wheel-drive Spyker racing car in 1903. We sometimes call them straight-sixes. Or when referring to older Chryslers, they are known as Slant-Sixes because they are installed at a 30-degree angle. Today, the Nissan RB (acceleration engine), Toyota 2JZ (acceleration engine) and BMW S54 (acceleration engine) engines are the best-known inline six-cylinder engines in existence. But why are they so important? - Yeah! - Wait and I'll get to work. For one thing, having all the cylinders in a row makes an inline-six engine inherently balanced. In a piston engine there are many moving parts.

We know this. Pistons move up and down and have inertia. And every time they change direction they exert what are called primary forces. This translates into engine vibration. Primary means that these forces occur only once per revolution of the crankshaft. Secondary forces are also related to the up and down movement of the pistons. But they are a little different because of where they are practiced. If the piston starts at top dead center, then in the first 90 degrees of crankshaft rotation the piston travels a little more than half of its full stroke. This is due to the way the connecting rod attaches the piston to the crank.

From 90 to 270 degrees of crank rotation, the piston doesn't travel as far. Then from 270 to 360 degrees, go a little further again. Since each part of the motion occurs in the same amount of time, that means the piston travels slightly faster in the upper half of its stroke than in the lower half. These different speeds are the secondary forces that cause an engine imbalance, which means more vibration. Well, an inline six

works

like two inline three cylinder engines placed side by side. The pistons move like mirror pieces. With one and six, two and five, and three and four always moving in tandem.

When one pair is at top dead center, a second pair moves down and the third pair moves up. That nullifies the primary forces. Then each of the turns of the crank is 120 degrees apart, canceling out the secondary forces. The result is that the engine runs naturally without problems. Oh, and it sounds pretty good too. (car engine revving) Another advantage of an inline six-cylinder engine is that putting all the cylinders in line is a really simple design. You only need a basic engine block, cylinder head, valve cover, and a set of valvetrain components. Since it is naturally balanced, there is no need to add balance shafts or anything additional to smooth it out.

That makes it a little cheaper to produce and much easier to work with. Straight-Sixes are long, tall engines that can be both good and bad. A car will need a fairly long nose to accommodate the engine. Not a bad thing if you're building a pretty cool sports car. Or if you're singing Humpty's dance. ♪ The Humpty Dance is your chance to hump ♪ This shape also leaves plenty of extra room along the sides of the engine bay for performance boosters like turbos and exhaust manifolds. On the other hand, the long upright shape of an inline-six means it has a slightly higher center of gravity than a V-shaped engine and a larger, longer crankshaft, and the camshafts will try to flex more than longer ones. shorts.

But there have been so many advances in modern engine technology that those things don't matter much anymore. That length also means it's nearly impossible to use a straight-six engine in a front-wheel drive car. (high speed engine) When an inline six-cylinder engine is turned on its side, there is almost no room left to engage the transmission on the front axle. That's why most front-wheel drive cars have more compact inline-four or V6 engines. On top of that, most manufacturers are dedicated to maximizing their profits, thus saving costs, such as sharing engines across multiple platforms. The engineering effort required to adapt a straight-six engine to an existing chassis or develop something completely new just for a particularly cool engine?

It doesn't fit that old bottom line. The fact that the inline-six is ​​as smooth as silk and is a less common engine makes it even more attractive. (engine revs) (tire screech) Okay, next let's talk about the most common V6 engine. A V design is more complex than an inline engine. And a V6 didn't really appear in mass production until the Lancia Aurelia in 1950. A V6 is basically two inline three-cylinder engines that share a crankshaft and are positioned at an angle to each other. Generally 60 or 90 degrees. In this configuration, the primary and secondary forces causing engine vibrations do not cancel each other out.

Therefore, V-shaped engines tend to run a little rougher. For a V6 to run smoothly, counterweights are needed to balance unwanted inertia and reduce vibration. Weight is added to the crankshaft to counteract primary forces, and sometimes balance shafts are needed to counteract secondary forces. Also, the larger the engine displacement, the more counterweight you will need. This adds more complexity to the development and production of V6 engines. Because the two banks of cylinders are not placed next to each other, a V-shaped engine can be much shorter than an inline one. Heck, a V6 can be shorter than an inline-four.

That makes it easy to pack into almost any car. And it

works

well for the front-wheel drive transverse platforms that are so popular in modern cars. It also means it won't cost manufacturers much extra money to offer a more powerful V6 option in addition to the typically lower-powered but similar-length four engines. Here in the United States, where people proclaim the phrase "There is no replacement for displacement," V-shaped engines really gained popularity because additional cylinders could be introduced generating additional displacement and taking up much less longitudinal space. . However, the wider V shape of the engine leaves less room on the sides for turbos and such.

But that doesn't stop manufacturers from doing it. The Nissan GTR and the new Acura NSX are notable examples of sweet turbocharged V6s. But they are tighter deep in the engine compartment. And that makes working on them even more of a headache. Oh, and another thing that makes maintenance a bigger headache on a V-shaped engine is that there has to be a set of items for two banks of cylinders, instead of just one. There are two sets of camshafts, two cam sprockets, two valve covers, two cylinder heads and two exhaust manifolds. You also need a much longer timing belt or chain.

So there are more things to make and more things to deal with in terms of maintenance. Still, the V's shorter length makes it much easier to transplant it to multiple car platforms while maximizing interior space, making it by far the most popular six-cylinder option today. However, that doesn't mean inline-six is ​​dead. In fact, Mercedes is replacing its V6 engines with a new three-liter turbocharged inline-six engine. As efficient inline-fours begin to become the base engine of choice, moving to a closely related inline-six makes sense from a production standpoint. So, just like my favorite movie, The Longest Yard, every engine has pros and cons.

Ultimately it comes down to preference and what you plan to do with the damn thing! Click the subscribe button. That's what helps us keep trying to make new programs. Thanks to honey for sponsoring this video. (closing music) Honey is a browser extension that automatically scans internal networks for coupon codes to make sure you're getting the best deal possible. You know, you always get to the checkout and say, "Do you have a discount code?" And you say, "Huh, right?" Well, say no, no more! - Yeah! - It is very easy to install. It's literally two clicks. And it's free.

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