Vs Autozeitung: BMW 335i Touring vs Audi S4 Avant vs MB C55 AMG T-Modell

[chonkoa]

True. BMW is also making some of the best V8 and V10 engines in the world so that proves that an I6 configuration (even with turbo) has it's limits.

I think when comparing I6 configurations with V8 and V10, we ought to be careful not to mix things up.
1. I6 implies that the engine has 6 cylinders which are aligned along a longitudinal axis.
2. V8 or V10 implies that the 8/10 cylinders are aligned diagonally.

There are occassions where you would choose one over the other.
Typically, space and power considerations are the biggest constraints, and your requirements will naturally steer you in a particualr direction.
If you have enough engine space, nothing stops you from trying out an I6,I7,I- where n could be 8,9,10,11,12 etc. However I am sure you will have an akward looking car that will be too-front biased,with a interesting set of dynamics to deal with,and that is why most manufacturers beyond 6 cylinders will look at other configurations such as V.
The V arrangement conserves space by allowing more cylinders to be cramped into a limited space. The trade-off with the v configurations is that the engine is not as smooth as their equivalent Inline counterparts.
To optimise the space further, you can look at W configurations that allows you to cramp more cylinders into the same engine space.

So we should rather be comparing I6 to V6, and I8 to V8.....
It would not be fair to compare an I6 to V8- we tend to lose some of the mechanics and dynamics involved when we do that.
Enough said.

 

[Yperion]

Where is this engine now?

Will be probably introduced along with A5 (Geneva).

 

[klier]

And so do turbo engines over NA ones. If done right, of course.

Hehe, yeah, but in comparison, the BMW turbo is brand new, and Audi uses tech a bit older now. Their next gen will be much better, plus they now have the advantage that they know every single screw in the BMW engine, and can think of their way to improve on that....just as BMW is doing already as well, for sure.

 

[klier]

I think when comparing I6 configurations with V8 and V10, we ought to be careful not to mix things up.

1. I6 implies that the engine has 6 cylinders which are aligned along a longitudinal axis.

2. V8 or V10 implies that the 8/10 cylinders are aligned diagonally.



There are occassions where you would choose one over the other.

Typically, space and power considerations are the biggest constraints, and your requirements will naturally steer you in a particualr direction.

If you have enough engine space, nothing stops you from trying out an I6,I7,I- where n could be 8,9,10,11,12 etc. However I am sure you will have an akward looking car that will be too-front biased,with a interesting set of dynamics to deal with,and that is why most manufacturers beyond 6 cylinders will look at other configurations such as V.

The V arrangement conserves space by allowing more cylinders to be cramped into a limited space. The trade-off with the v configurations is that the engine is not as smooth as their equivalent Inline counterparts.

To optimise the space further, you can look at W configurations that allows you to cramp more cylinders into the same engine space.



So we should rather be comparing I6 to V6, and I8 to V8.....

It would not be fair to compare an I6 to V8- we tend to lose some of the mechanics and dynamics involved when we do that.

Enough said.

Wow, well said man!

Will be probably introduced along with A5 (Geneva).

Damn this will be one hot car if true....a great new coupe of the right size (aka, not too big) with 300+ hp non S engine

 

[Imhotep Evil]

Of course. Just look at the F1 engines...all V8 now.

V8 simply has much more potential than a V6/I6. Just like a V10 has that over a V8, and a V12 over a V8.

If we look at it like that, the V10s in Formula 1 becomed the de facto standads because they were the best choise as opposed to both V8 and V12s.

Also the main advantage of the I6 vs. V6 is that the I6 is naturally balanced were as the V6 is not, thus it needs balance shafts.