Why do motorcar engines stop at V12? why isn’t there a V 16 or V20?
In: 43
the more moving parts the less efficient and more maintenance.
as a teen my dream car was the Lamborgini Espada, it had a v12 (ferrari stopped using them I think they started using the inventory) with six carbs (a real PITA to tune) and it turned out some 320 HP. You can buy family sedans with that much today.
When the oil embargo crashed the economy, and smog concerns required engines to be more efficient the engineers actually figured out how to do it. IIRC the Honda Civic engine was the first to have a pre combustion chamber, a small bulb shaped space above the cylinder, as the piston compressed the gasoline vapor, the spark plug would fire early so as the piston reached the top, the little chamber was shooting not just a spark but a flame thrower of burning gas which not only used up all the petro chemicals in the cylinder but also maximized the energy from it.
So today you get a lot more power from smaller engines and they are designed to last far longer (pre 70s an american car was designed for 50,000 life, today you expect 100,000 without significant repairs, and 200-250k life. A 4 or 6 banger will live longer than a 12
Latest Answers