So, we were talking in auto class today about the benefits of inline vs. v engines and the consensus was that inline engines have more torque than v engines, but no one really had a good reason why. Does anyone know a good reason why the inline engines inherently have more torque than V?

Or if you disagree, throw that out there too.

 

i disagree, displacement cam profile and head design have more to do with torque. the benifits of inline versus the v are more for weight distribution and fitting a certain amount of cylinders into a set space

 

i thought it would be the opposite... but now that i think about it most high tq diesel motors are inline.

 

Yea, Tq is not really a function of the cylinders being inline or in a v shape. Its just another way of designing things and as rawr mentioned above, the reasons for it. Just like with subaru boxer engines, they produce more power then lets say a 4 cyl turbo saab, but its not the reason they use a boxer engine, its for a lower center of gravity and thus better handling.

 

i thought it was because of the air flow patern. like in a v6 you have so split the air over to smaller head right? but a i6 it just goes straight across the flat head. i dunno if this has anything to do with it but thats what i was thinkin. smoother air travle = more tq? dunno but makes sence in my head

 

actualy, a better flow pattern will net you less torque. Wich is the reason for things like butterfly valves on h22's and other cars. the engine will be able to pull in to much air killing the velocity at wich air is travling into the cylinder.

 

well you need to maintain velocity to get max torque. Too much flow and you'll lose torque.

 

It's all about volumetric efficiency

 

i guess i can chime in with what it thinks.

as someone stated, inline engines with their up and down piston motion tend to be smooth. and there is not as much force against the cylinder walls rotating.

a blanked statement saying inline engines have more torque than v engines is wrong i would say. its definatly a matter of what the engine was built for.

i also think inline engines due to their up and down design run better and smoother at low rpms. but im not too sure about that