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the flat-6 is also 100% naturally balanced. and not all V12s - only the 60degree V12. The 550 Maranello for example, has a 65degree block.
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I'll buy that.
Also, I'm kind of a fan of 'boxster' style horizontally oppossed engines because they have a lower center of gravity allowing for better handling, ala Porsche and Subaru.
I'm sure there are other reasons, but at least partly due to the horizontal arrangment of the cylinders, flat-4 engines are much more balanced than inline-4 cylinder engines, which allows larger displacement w/o the use of counter balance rotating shafts.
Case in point is Subaru's 2.5 liter 4-cylinder engine. This engine is smooth w/o these balance shafts.
Heck, Mitsubishi's 2.4 liter 4-cylinder, the new Honda 2.4 liter engine, and Toyota's 2.2 liter 4-cylinder engine all employ the use of counter rotating balance shafts to achieve the smoothness that Subaru's can do without.