Why do motorcar engines stop at V12? why isn’t there a V 16 or V20?
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To be more specific in answering your question, the reason there arent any current V16 or V20s or V24s is because of the crankshaft length. Back when there were V16s they didnt have much power. Compression was pretty low. Stress on the crank was also pretty low.
A modern V16 or V20 crank simply wouldnt be strong enough to hold up on the stress. The crank runs the length of the engine and the longer it is, the more susceptible to torsional stress it is.
This is why the Bugatti W16 works. If it were a V16 it wouldnt work, but the W16 is much more compact and the crank is much shorter than the equivalent displacement V16.
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