YACT: How many cylinders do you prefer?

[Vic]

Originally posted by: ElFenix

Originally posted by: MulLa
Voted for 6, much prefer a car that handles well round corners over pure straight line accleration.

BMW's 6s are bigger and weigh more than a much larger displacement pushrod V8. if they go around the corner better than something with a larger displacement pushrod V8, it isn't the engine's fault.

and this is about engine preference, not car preference.

some of you people seem to have little to no imagination. turbo'd inline 4s? pussies.

Correct. Gas usage is a function of displacement, volumetric efficiency, rpm, and throttle position. NOT the number of cylinders any more than power output is based on the number of cylinders. Basically, it's a issue of how much air is going through the motor. The more air, the more gas, the more power. Otherwise, it is more than possible for an 8-cyl. to get better gas mileage than a comparable 6-cyl.

Nothing wrong with a turbo I-4 except that the configuration itself is rather poorly balanced (which is why most people think of 4-cylinders as "buzzy," even though flat-4's are not). Otherwise, a turbo I-4 makes for a great compact, lightweight package.

 

[Vic]

Originally posted by: 91TTZ

Originally posted by: Vic

Originally posted by: ultimatebob
What if I like rotary engines? What do I choose then?

The most common form of rotary engine, the twin-rotor, is equivalent to a piston engine V-12 insofar as they both fire 6 times per revolution with virtually no unbalancing forces. The rotary also has the advantage of an extremely compact package. Unfortunately, they are very inefficient and unreliable.
Yes, yes, I know wankel fans think their rotaries are efficient. They are not. For example, Mazda rotaries are not really 1.3 liters. That's cheating to say so, because it uses total displacement like a piston engine while forgetting that the same volume is simultaneously in use by the 3 sides of each rotor, which makes the effective size is actually 3.9 liters.

You're on the right track, but don't forget that the output shaft rotates at 3x the rotor speed. So for each rotation of the rotor, you've turned the crank 3 times.

A 1.3 liter rotary is equivalent to a 2.6 liter 4 stroke piston engine.

Oops, you are correct. Forgot about that.