PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum - View Single Post - Difference between a sraight six and a V-six

jjrodger · #3 08-12-2002, 03:53 AM

I'm not sure inline sixes are simply "better": it depends on your criteria. A V-6 is more compact than the I-6; it can be made less expensively as part of a modular series of engines (like the Mercedes-Benz V-6, which is three quarters of a V-8, or the VW VR6, which is a cylinder more than the VR5). A V-6 is safer in an accident because it can be better accommodated in the engine bay (and so is less likely to intrude into the passenger cell or whack as pedestrian). A V-6 can be mounted in longitudinal or transverse fashion and used with front- or rear-wheel drive (although Volvo has a transverse front-wheel drive I-6).