What Is A V Engine? Its Construction & Advantages

V Engine image

V Engine Construction:

The V engine is a newer generation compact engine design. This engine construction places the cylinders at an angle instead of in a straight line. The angle between the cylinders varies from 60 to 90 degrees. The angle between the cylinders forms a ‘V’ shape. And that is why this engine is called the ‘V’ type engine.

With a few exceptions, manufacturers make this engine type usually with an even number of cylinders. An example includes 2 (twin), 4, 6, 8 or 12, and so on. This type of design construction considerably reduces the height, length & weight of the engine compared to an Inline engine design type with an equal number of cylinders.

V Engine Design
‘V’ Engine Design

Applications:

The ‘V’ engines have a complex design. Hence, they carry higher manufacturing costs than an InLine engine of similar capacity. The 2-cylinder’ V’ is also known as the ‘V-Twin.’ The manufacturers typically employ them for high-end sports bikes and cruisers. On the other hand, high-end super-bikes use a V-4 design. High-end cars such as saloons, sports cars, and SUVs commonly employ the ‘V6’ and ‘V8’ and ‘V12’ designs.

Honda VFR 1200F with V4 engine (Image courtesy: Honda)
Honda VFR 1200F with a V4 engine (Image courtesy: Honda)

Vehicles with engine capacity above 3.0L, especially cars, tend to use a ‘V’ engine design. In this design, the engine houses its camshaft in the cylinder head, known as Overhead Camshaft (SOHC or DOHC).

Most C-segment passenger cars, such as large family sedans, SUVs and sports cars, etc., use ‘V’ type engines. Some of the cars with this type of engine include Toyota Camry 3.0L, Mercedes Benz E 400 Cabriolet, C63 S AMG, E 63 AMG, G 63 AMG, GL 63 AMG, some of the BMW 5 series, 6 series & 7 series models and Ferrari 458 Speciale, Spider, 488 GTS, California T models. In addition, cars with ‘V’ type engines in the SUV segment are Toyota Land Cruiser, Land Rover Discovery-4, Range Rover, Audi Q5, Q7, etc., available in India.

Advantages:

  1. Smallest of all the eight-cylinder engines
  2. The low position of bonnet helps in better aerodynamics
  3. Increases primary balance & reduces vibrations
  4. The smoother operation for high-speed performance
  5. Compactness makes it suitable for high-end sports-cars

E.g. Toyota uses a V6 engine for its Camry series cars.

Watch V engine working video here:

Read More: What is an ‘In-line’ Engine design’?>>

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