Here's a quick diagram I threw together of another engine not mentioned, compared to the more common I4 and V6. The VR6 is the one I'm talking about (yes, because I'm a VR6 Volkswagen whore).

Generally, the "straighter" up and down the cylinder the more torque it makes, however; the engine is usually longer horizontally in that case. A V formation is generally considered a good combination of both being relatively compact and still making a good amount of torque. A large 8 cylinder engine would have to have an insanely long engine bay to house an Inline-8, but it needs a much smaller one for a V-8, make sense?

Well, Volkswagen went and squished the idea's of an I4 and a V-6 together and came up with a VR6, what you see is an engine with about 1/3rd more "thickness" than a typical I-4, which only has one row of cylinders, and it's roughly the same length horizontally as well. Compared to the V-6 shown on the bottom, you can see the space it saves.

I'm not saying what's better, but there's some more things out there for ya to look at...

 

damn i was gonna post something funny but the pics ruined it

 

It's a vibration thing. If you fire 1,3 and 2,4 the engine will want to rotate as the pistons move up and down, whereas if you fire 1,4 and 2,3 the engine is balanced symmetrically.

 

Thank you for the diagrams on the VR6 I love that engine...got any of the W series engines?

Never knew that...thanks for the clarification

 

No, I don't. I could draw one up but I'm lazy now; I spent all my energy on those little things. The W is two small angle V6's crammed together in the center.

It's two V6's, not VR6's, joined together at the center. They're 76 degree V6's though, not 90 degree V6's, so it still makes it really narrow compared to a large V8.

Volkswagen W-12 engine. Comparable to a large V8.. and usually lighter.

 

I don't see an I-5 diagram h:

 

because it sucks! :rick:


and also the VR5 h:

 

:werd: to the I-5

The VR5 actually isn't that bad an engine.