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

jjrodger · #18 08-13-2002, 05:59 PM

yeah, the W-8 is bizarre. I gather VW is not going to use it in any other application than the Passat. I don't quite know why. The W-8, by the way is a 4-litre motor made of two narrow angle V-4s joined on a common crank. It is extraordinarily compact, but apart from being different has little else to recommend it, least of all ease of servicing (the timing chain arrangement is a nightmare). The engine develops 275bhp and 275 lb/ft torque. I have a brochure for the Passat W-8 and I was impressed: the ultimate sleeper car. I know, I know, depreciation disaster. There was a rumour that the W-8 would make it into the Golf. Now that would have been a car! The W-8 really appeals to me because it is innovative and different (though probably not any better).

VW has not abandoned the W format however. The Audi A8 is available in continental European markets with a 6.0-litre W-12 (basically two golf VR6s). the Phaeton will have the W-12, too. It gets good reviews. Bentley may get the W-12, then again it may get a W-16. Who knows? And who knows how the hell VW will make any money this decade.

Finally, the forthcoming Bugatti Veyron has an 8-litre W-18 developing 1,001bhp and 800lb/ft torque. It is all part of VW's plan to save the environment. The Bugatti will do 252mph (400kph). Interestingly, the Bugatti motor features three banks of six cylinders (and six turbo chargers), so is unrelated to the W-8 and W-12 motors. It's a really sensible car.

Nobody will be making straight eights any more, they are just too long. That said, Cizetta (a failed Italian sports car maker) made a V-16. It was essentially two V-8s with the gearbox in the middle, though, rather than two straight eights.