A V6 engine is a six- cylinder piston engine where the cylinders and cylinder blocks share a common crankshaft and are arranged in a V configuration .
56-671: The first V6 engines were designed and produced independently by Marmon Motor Car Company , Deutz Gasmotoren Fabrik and Delahaye . Engines built after World War II include the Lancia V6 engine in 1950 for the Lancia Aurelia , and the Buick V6 engine in 1962 for the Buick Special . The V6 layout has become the most common layout for six-cylinder automotive engines. Due to their short length, V6 engines are often used as
112-487: A 2.4 L (146 cu in) version used in the 1958 Ferrari 246 Formula One racing car. A few years later, the 1961-1964 Ferrari 156 Formula One car used a new V6 engine with a V-angle of 120 degrees and a displacement of 1.5 L (92 cu in). This engine was shorter and lighter than the Ferrari Dino engine, and the simplicity and low center of gravity of the engine was an advantage in racing. It won
168-494: A 60-degree V-angle. The 1967 Dino 206 GT was Ferrari's first V6 road car, which had a 65-degree V-angle. The 1979-2005 Alfa Romeo V6 engine was introduced in the Alfa Romeo Alfa 6 luxury sedan and later used in many other Alfa Romeo models. This engine used a 60 degree V-angle, an all-aluminium construction and two valves per cylinder. A turbocharged version was introduced in 1991 and a four valve per cylinder version
224-508: A V16 with help from an ex-Marmon engineer, James Bohannon. The Sixteen's engine displaced 491 in³ (8.0 L) and produced 200 hp (149 kW). It was an all-aluminum design with steel cylinder liners and a 45° bank angle. The car's body was designed by Walter Dorwin Teague in 1930, with assistance from his son. The original Nordyke & Marmon Plant 1 was at the southwest corner of Kentucky Avenue and West Morris Street. Plant 2
280-645: A V6 engine shows instantaneous torque peaks of 154% above mean torque and valleys of 139% below mean torque, with a small amount of negative torque (engine torque reversals) between power strokes. In the case of a four-cylinder engine, the peaks are approximately 270% above mean torque and 210% below mean torque, with 100% negative torque being delivered between strokes. However, a V6 with uneven firing intervals of 90° and 150° shows large torque variations of 185% above and 172% below mean torque. Since 1991, Volkswagen has produced narrow angle VR6 engines with V-angles of 10.5 and 15 degrees shared by both banks of cylinders, in
336-567: A cast aluminum engine and electric headlights and horn , as well as electric courtesy lights for the dash and doors. It used a 573 in (9,382 cc) (4½×6-inch, 114×152 mm) T-head straight-six engine of between 48 and 80 hp (36 and 60 kW) with dual- plug ignition and electric starter . It had a 145 in (3683 mm) wheelbase (long for the era) and 36×4½-inch (91×11.4 cm) front/37×5-inch (94×12.7 cm) rear wheels (which interchanged front and rear) and full- elliptic front and ¾-elliptic rear springs. Like most cars of
392-502: A commonly used crossplane crankshaft, because the inline-four engine in each bank of the V8 engine does not have this primary imbalance. A 120 degree design also results in a large width for the engine, being only slightly narrower than a flat-six engine (which does not have the balance problems of the V6 engine). Therefore, the flat-six engine has been used in various automobiles, whereas use of
448-402: A complete stop and reverses direction before the next one starts its power stroke, which results in a gap between power strokes, especially at lower engine speeds (RPM). In a six-cylinder engine with an even firing interval, the next piston starts its power stroke 60° before the previous one finishes, which results in smoother delivery of power to the flywheel. Comparing engines on a dynamometer,
504-401: A crankshaft that is adequately strong. A balance shaft and/or crankshaft counterweights can be used to reduce vibrations in 90 degree V6 engines. At first glance, 120 degrees might seem to be the optimal V-angle for a V6 engine, since pairs of pistons in alternate banks can share crank pins in a three-throw crankshaft and the combustion forces are balanced by the firing interval being equal to
560-432: A design similar to the 1922-1976 Lancia V4 engine . These engines use a single cylinder head so are technically a straight engine with the name "VR6" coming from the combination of German words “Verkürzt” and “Reihenmotor” meaning “shortened inline engine”. The VR6 engines were used in transverse engine front-wheel drive cars which were originally designed for inline-four engines. Due to the minimal extra length and width of
616-622: A large number of races between 1961 and 1964 . However, Ferrari's founder had a personal dislike of the 120 degree layout, preferring a 65 degree layout, and after that time it was replaced by other engines. The Dino engine was also used in the Lancia Stratos , which was a highly successful rally car that won the World Rally Championship in 1974, 1975 and 1976. A notable racing use of the Alfa Romeo V6 engine
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#1732772611769672-554: A mainstay of GM's FWD mid-size and full-size cars. It was discontinued in 2008. Over 25 million units had been built, making it one of the most-produced engines in history, and it was on Ward's 10 Best Engines of the 20th century list. Ford introduced its European road car engines in 1965 with the German division's Cologne V6 , and the Ford Essex V6 engine , introduced by Ford's United Kingdom division in 1966; both engines used
728-656: A mile to operate, "independent of the chauffeur." In his memoir, "The Cruise of the Rolling Junk", F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote about a 1,200-mile automobile trip to the South that he and Zelda Fitzgerald took in their used 1918 Marmon Speedster. In 1916–17, Ruby Archambeau of Portland, Oregon, became the first woman to drive the circumference of the United States. Her vehicle was a Marmon . "King of Bootleggers" Italian Canadian Rocco Perri of Hamilton, Ontario,
784-454: A narrower engine overall than V6 engines with larger V-angles. This angle often results in the overall engine size being a cube shape, making the engine easier to fit either longitudinally or transversely in the engine compartment. Many manufacturers, particularly American ones, built V6 engines with a V-angle of 90 degrees based on their existing 90-degree V8 engines. Such configurations were easy to design by removing two cylinders and replacing
840-460: A reputation as reliable, speedy upscale cars. The Model 32 of 1909 spawned the Wasp. The Wasp, driven by Marmon engineer Ray Harroun (a former racer who came out of retirement for just one race), was the winner of the first ever Indianapolis 500 motor race, in 1911 . This car featured the world's first known automobile rear-view mirror . The 1913 Model 48 was a left-hand steering tourer with
896-470: A smaller package that produces cleaner emissions, has better fuel economy, and are less expensive to produce. The Lancia Aurelia (the first series production car with a V6 engine) was also successful in motor racing. Four of the Aurelia B20 Coupes were entered in the 1951 Mille Miglia with the best placed cars finishing second and fourth. A tuned 3,102 cc (189 cu in) version of
952-402: A three-throw crankshaft with 'flying arms' between the crankpins to allow an even firing interval of 120 degrees to be achieved. A pair of counterweights on the crankshaft can then be used to almost perfectly cancel out the primary forces and reduce the secondary vibrations to acceptable levels. The engine mounts can be designed to absorb these remaining vibrations. A 60 degree V-angle results in
1008-689: A turbocharged V6 engine. Ferrari won the Formula One constructors' championship with turbocharged V6 engines in 1982 and 1983. Initial versions used a 120 degree V-angle, before switching to a 90 degree V-angle for the 1987 Ferrari F1/87 racing car. Other successful turbocharged V6 Formula One cars in the era of 1982-1988 were the McLaren MP4/2 , McLaren MP4/3 , McLaren MP4/4 , Williams FW10 , Williams FW11 , Williams FW12 , Lotus 95T , Lotus 97T , Lotus 98T , Lotus 99T and Lotus 100T . The Nissan GTP ZX-Turbo and Nissan NPT-90 competed in
1064-471: Is the first Ferrari road car to sport a V6 turbo with a vee angle of 120 degrees between the cylinder banks. Other angle V6 engines are possible but can suffer from severe vibration problems unless very carefully designed. Notable V-angles include: In 1906, a few years after 4 cylinder engines and V8 engines had come into existence, the first known V6 engine was built. This V6 engine was a single prototype automotive engine built by Marmon Motor Car Company in
1120-521: The Buick Fireball V6 engine) had three shared crankpins arranged at 120 degrees from each other, due to their origins from the V8 engines. This resulted in an uneven firing order, with half of the cylinders using a firing interval of 90 degrees and other half using an interval of 150 degrees. The uneven firing intervals resulted in rough-running engines with "unpleasant" vibrations at low engine speeds. Several modern 90 degree V6 engines reduce
1176-605: The Great Depression drastically reduced the luxury car market, the Marmon Car Company joined forces with Colonel Arthur Herrington , an ex-military engineer involved in the design of all-wheel drive vehicles. The new company was called Marmon-Herrington . In the early 1960s, Marmon-Herrington was purchased by the Pritzker family and became a member of an association of companies which eventually adopted
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#17327726117691232-606: The IMSA sports car prototype category from 1985 to 1994 and used a turbocharged V6 engine loosely based on the Nissan VG30ET production car engine. The Nissan 300ZX used a similar engine to compete in the 1996-1997 All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship (now known as the 'Super GT' championship). Downsizing to V6 engines in open-wheeler racing became more common: V6 engines are popular powerplants in medium to large outboard motors . The first V6 engine to reach production
1288-653: The Marmon Motor Company of Denton, Texas . Marmon-Herrington became the Marmon Group of Chicago , in 1964. Marmon was notable for its various pioneering works in automotive manufacturing, introducing the rear-view mirror , pioneering the V16 engine, and the use of aluminum in auto manufacturing. The historic Marmon Wasp race car of the early 20th century was the first car to use a single-seater "monoposto" construction layout. Marmon's parent company
1344-628: The Mazda J engine in 1986, the Toyota VZ engine in 1988, and the Isuzu V engine in 1992. Hyundai introduced the first South Korean Hyundai Sigma engine based on technology shared from the Mitsubishi unit in 1995. German car manufacturers were relatively slow to adopt V6 engines, because engineers believed that they lacked the smoothness of an inline-6 engine. Eventually, the first German V6 engine
1400-413: The handling ). The displacement of modern V6 engines is typically between 2.5 and 4.0 L (153 and 244 cu in), though larger and smaller examples have been produced, such as the 1.8 L (110 cu in) Mazda V6 used in the 1991–1998 Mazda MX-3 , or the 1.6 L (98 cu in) Mitsubishi V6 engine used in the 1992–1998 Mirage / Lancer , while the largest gasoline V6 built
1456-419: The 120 degree V6 engine has been limited to a few truck and racing car engines, with the exception of McLaren Automotive 's M630 V6 engine, which uses a 120 degree bank angle with a single balance shaft to eliminate all primary couples. The McLaren M630 engine also takes advantage of the wide angle by placing the turbochargers inside the vee, commonly referred to as a 'hot vee' configuration. The Ferrari 296 GTB
1512-701: The Lancia V6 engine producing was 169 kW (230 PS) used in the Lancia D24 . The D24 competed in sports car racing and won the 1953 Carrera Panamericana with Juan Manuel Fangio at the wheel. The initial version of the Ferrari Dino engine was a 1.5 L (92 cu in) racing engine used in Formula Two racing in the 1957 season. It had a V-angle of 65 degrees and dual overhead camshafts. The Dino V6 underwent several evolutions, including
1568-403: The United States. The engine did not reach production. Similarly, a single prototype engine was produced by Buick in 1918. In 1910 Delahaye produced the first 30° 3.2-litre V6 which was installed in the 1911 Delahaye Type 44 automobile. The Lancia V6 engine was introduced in the 1950 Lancia Aurelia . Lancia had been producing V4 engines for approximately 30 years, and one of the key goals
1624-400: The V8 engine's four-throw crankshaft with a three-throw crankshaft. This reduced design costs, allowed the new V6 to share components with the V8 engine, and sometimes allowed manufacturers to build the V6 and V8 engines on the same production line. The downsides of a 90 degree design are a wider engine which is more vibration-prone than a 60 degree V6. The initial 90 degree V6 engines (such as
1680-475: The VR6 engine, it could be fitted to the engine compartments relatively easily, in order to provide a displacement increase of 50 percent. Since there is no room in the V between the cylinder banks for an intake system, all the intakes are on one side of the engine, and all the exhausts are on the other side. It uses a firing order of 1-5-3-6-2-4 (which is the firing order used by most straight-six engines), rather than
1736-418: The angle between the cylinder banks. A 120 degree configuration, unlike the 60 degree or 90 degree configurations, would not require crankshafts with flying arms, split crankpins, or seven main bearings to be even-firing. However, the primary imbalance caused by odd number of cylinders in each bank still remains in a 120 degree V6 engine. This differs from the perfect balance achieved by a 90 degree V8 engine with
V6 engine - Misplaced Pages Continue
1792-410: The appropriate firing order . The inline-three engine that forms each cylinder bank, however, produces unbalanced rotating and reciprocal forces. These forces remain unbalanced in all V6 engines, often leading to the use of a balance shaft to reduce the vibration. The 1950 Lancia V6 engine was pioneering in its use of a six-throw crankshaft in order to reduce vibration. More recent designs often use
1848-548: The body and chassis to reduce overall weight to just 3295 lb (1495 kg). A Model 34 was driven coast to coast as a publicity stunt, beating Erwin "Cannonball" Baker 's record to much fanfare. New models were introduced for 1924, replacing the long-lived Model 34, but the company was facing financial trouble, and in 1926 was reorganized as the Marmon Motor Car Co. In 1927 the Little Marmon series
1904-422: The common V6 firing order of 1-2-3-4-5-6 or 1-6-5-4-3-2. A V-angle of 60 degrees is the optimal configuration for V6 engines regarding engine balance. When individual crank pins are used for each cylinder (i.e. using a six-throw crankshaft), an even firing interval of 120 degrees can be used. This firing interval is a multiple of the 60 degree V-angle, therefore the combustion forces can be balanced through use of
1960-620: The era, it came complete with a tool kit; in Marmon's case, it offered jack, power tire pump, chassis oiler, tire patch kit, and trouble light . The 48 came in a variety of models: two-, four-, five-, and seven-passenger tourers at US$ 5,000 ($ 154,141 in 2023 dollars ), seven-passenger limousine at US$ 6,250 ($ 192,677 in 2023 dollars ), seven-passenger landaulette at US$ 6,350 ($ 195,760 in 2023 dollars ), and seven-passenger Berlin limousine at US$ 6,450 ($ 198,842 in 2023 dollars ). The 1916 Model 34 used an aluminum straight-six, and used aluminum in
2016-474: The larger engine option for vehicles which are otherwise produced with inline-four engines, especially in transverse engine vehicles. A downside for luxury cars is that V6 engines produce more vibrations than straight-six engines . Some sports cars like the Porsche 911 use flat-six engines instead of V6 engines, due to their near perfect primary engine balance and lower centre of gravity (which improves
2072-587: The name The Marmon Group . In 2007, the Pritzker family sold a major part of the Group to Warren Buffett 's firm Berkshire Hathaway . For the 1993 Indianapolis 500 , to commemorate the 40th anniversary of The Marmon Group of companies, Éric Bachelart drove a tribute to the Marmon Wasp , actually a year old Lola with Buick power, which was uncompetitive and failed to qualify. After qualifications ended,
2128-495: The sponsorship was transferred to the car of John Andretti , who was driving for A. J. Foyt Enterprises . Andretti started 23rd and briefly led before eventually finishing tenth. Actor Francis X. Bushman , at the height of his movie fame in the 1910s, owned a custom built purple painted Marmon. Other actors who were owners of Marmons include Wallace Reid , Douglas Fairbanks and Arthur Tracy . Statesman and national hero of Finland Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim 's official car
2184-419: The vibrations caused by this imbalance, most V6 engines use a harmonic damper on the crankshaft and/or a counter-rotating balance shaft . Six-cylinder designs have less pulsation in the power delivery than four-cylinder engines, due to the overlap in the power strokes of the six-cylinder engine. In a four-cylinder, four-stroke engine, only one piston is on a power stroke at any given time. Each piston comes to
2240-512: The vibrations using split crankpins offset by 30 degrees between piston pairs, which creates an even firing interval of 120 degrees for all cylinders. For example, the 1977 Buick 231 "even-fire" V6 engine was an upgraded version of the Buick Fireball engine with a split-pin crankshaft to reduce vibration by achieving an even firing order. Such a 'split' crankpin is weaker than a straight one, but modern metallurgical techniques can produce
2296-708: Was a Marmon E-75. Much later, the same car was bought by a group of technology students. It is still the representational car of the Aalto University student union after considerable repairs, and the name Marmon , to some extent, is coupled to this specific vehicle. J. Horace McFarland , president of the American Civic Association, owned a Marmon . In 1924, he wrote to John Gries of the National Bureau of Standards' Division of Building and Housing that his Marmon cost nine cents
V6 engine - Misplaced Pages Continue
2352-501: Was a 2.8 liter 90 ° V6 that was launched in the 1990 Audi 100 , and the narrow-angle VR6 , which was introduced across Volkswagen's mid-size and sports car lineup in the 1990s. In 1998, Mercedes-Benz introduced the M112 , its first V6 engine, while BMW has continued to use inline-6 engines. Mercedes-Benz discontinued its V6 engines in 2017, and has since returned to making inline-6 engines. The first independently designed British V6 engine
2408-410: Was an American automobile manufacturer founded by Howard Carpenter Marmon and owned by Nordyke Marmon & Company of Indianapolis, Indiana , US. It produced luxury automobiles from 1902 to 1933. It was established in 1902 but not incorporated as the successor of Nordyke Marmon & Company until 1926. In 1933 it was succeeded by Marmon-Herrington and in 1964 the Marmon brand name was sold to
2464-685: Was at the southwest corner of Drover and West York Street. Plant 3 was a five-story structure measuring 80 x 600 feet parallel to Morris Street (now Eli Lilly & Company Building 314). The Marmon assembly plant was built adjacent to the Morris Street property line with Plant 3 behind and parallel to it (also part of the Eli Lilly complex). While the Marmon Company discontinued auto production, it continued to manufacture components for other auto manufacturers and manufactured trucks. When
2520-751: Was built from 1908 to 1913 by the Deutz Gasmotoren Fabrik in Germany. These V6 engines were used as the generator for gasoline-electric railway engines. The Laverda V6 was a racing motorcycle which was unveiled at the 1977 Milan show. It entered the 1978 Bol d'Or 24 hour endurance race, however it retired with mechanical issues after approximately 8 hours. Horex has produced road motorcycles with VR6 engines since 2012. Marmon Motor Car Company 39°45′07″N 86°10′51″W / 39.7520492°N 86.1808944°W / 39.7520492; -86.1808944 Marmon Motor Car Company
2576-466: Was discontinued in 2020, and Jaguar Land Rover replaced it with the new Ingenium engine , which has an inline-6 variant for JLR's bigger cars and SUVs. By the mid-1990s, the V6 layout was the most common configuration for six-cylinder automotive engines, with V6 engines having replaced most of the straight-six engines. Today, it is being progressively replaced across the car industry by turbocharged 4-cylinder engines, which can produce similar power, but in
2632-444: Was founded in 1851, manufacturing flour grinding mill equipment and branching out into other machinery through the late 19th century. Small limited production of experimental automobiles began in 1902, with an air-cooled V-twin engine. An air-cooled V4 followed the next year, with pioneering V6 and V8 engines tried over the next few years, before more conventional straight engine designs were settled upon. Marmons soon gained
2688-585: Was introduced and in 1929, Marmon introduced an under-$ 1,000 straight-eight car, the Roosevelt , but the stock market crash of 1929 made the company's problems worse. The Marmon Sixteen was produced between 1931 and 1934. Howard Marmon had begun working on the world's first V16 engine in 1927. By the time the Sixteen was introduced Cadillac had already debuted their V-16 , designed by ex-Marmon engineer Owen Nacker . Peerless , too, had been developing
2744-488: Was introduced in 1962 and was based on the all-alloy Buick 215 V8 , which shared its 90 ° bank angle, but unlike the Buick V8, used all-cast iron construction. Initially an uneven-firing engine, Buick later redesigned the crankshaft to a "split-pin" configuration to create an "even-firing" version. After it became the 3800 V6 in 1990, the engine gained a reputation as a reliable, powerful, fuel-efficient workhorse that became
2800-599: Was introduced in 1997. Also in 1970, the Citroën SM grand tourer was introduced, powered by a 90-degree V6 built by Maserati. The Chevrolet 90° V6 engine was introduced in 1978 and produced for 36 years. The first mass-produced Japanese V6 engine was the Nissan VG engine , a 60-degree design which was produced from 1983 to 2004. The Honda C engine was introduced in 1985, followed by the Mitsubishi 6G7 engine and
2856-624: Was known to favour Marmons in the 1920s. Actress Bebe Daniels was driving a Marmon Roadster 72 miles per hour south of Santa Ana when she became the first woman to be convicted of speeding in Orange County . Philip Marlowe drives a Marmon in the short story, "FingerMan". Crank pin Too Many Requests If you report this error to the Wikimedia System Administrators, please include
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#17327726117692912-628: Was the Alfa Romeo 155 V6 TI , designed for the 1993 DTM season and equipped with a 2.5 L (150 cu in) engine making a peak power of 360 kW (490 PS) at 11,900 rpm. The Renault-Gordini CH1 was a 90 degree V6 engine with an iron block. It was introduced in the 1973 Alpine -Renault A440 sportscar racing car. This engine won the European 2 L prototype championship in 1974 and several European Formula Two Championships . A turbocharged 2.0 L (122 cu in) version
2968-870: Was the Rover KV6 engine , which replaced the Honda C engine that was previously used in the Rover 800 . Jaguar used the Ford-based AJ-V6 engine until 2011 in their smaller cars, but also shared a V6 version of the 90 ° AJ-V8 engine with Land Rover for use in the XE, XF, XJ, F-Type and the F-Pace. Land Rover used it in the Range Rover, Range Rover Sport, Range Rover Velar, and the Discovery 4. The 90 ° V6 engine
3024-469: Was the 7.8 L (476 cu in) GMC V6 used in the 1962 GMC C/K series 6500 . All V6 engines with even firing spacing—regardless of the V-angle between the cylinder banks—are subject to a primary imbalance caused by each bank consisting of an inline-three engine , due to the odd number of cylinders in each bank. Straight-six engines and flat-six engines do not experience this imbalance. To reduce
3080-529: Was to reduce the vibrations compared with the V4 engine. The V6 engine used a 60 degree V-angle and six crankpins, resulting in an evenly-spaced firing order to reduce vibrations. Other manufacturers took note and soon other V6 engines were designed. In 1959, the GMC V6 engine was introduced in the form of a 60-degree 305 cu in (5 L) petrol engine used in pickup trucks and carryalls . The Buick V6 engine
3136-601: Was used in the Renault Alpine A442 , which won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1978. A turbocharged 1.5 L (92 cu in) version of the Renault-Gordini CH1 engine was introduced in the 1977 Renault RS01 Formula One car. Renault struggled with reliability issues in 1977 and 1978; however, the 1979 season saw some good results at a few races. In 1981, the Ferrari 126C Formula One car used
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