V6 these days are just too generic and boring. I’d say that the most ingenious design is the Volkswagen’s VR6. It’s compact and lightweight a V6 with straight 6 smoothness. It’s worthy of a Porsche.
Very good-didnt the newer VW V-6 have a pretty narrow offset between banks?-Kevin
Ever heard of a bent six?( think V-6) and I was being a bit facetious-Kevin
Well I didnt intend to get into large truck engines-but fair enough.How about the old E-6 Mack,designed in the 30’s by Scania I’m told-Kevin
FWIW, a round trip to NOLA(780 mi) in my 91 S-10 with a 2.8 V6 was made more pleasant when I calculated the fuel mileage. The truck averaged 25.5 mpg. The engine is such a gutless wimp with regard to torque, but it seems to do very well once it gets going. Maybe the 2.8 deserves an honorable mention. This one has 200,000 miles of nearly trouble free driving and I would feel safe to take it anywhere I might want to go.
The engine on my Moto Guzzi held up just fine, it was the rest of the bike that fell apart, cheap switchgear, cheap paint and chrome that turned into rust, rattles etc.
I think that in the late 70’s, MG was still trying to compete with the Japanese, and that’s like trying to compete with Wal-Mart. Today, they cater to a niche market that wants this bike and is willing to pay for it and thus the overall quality of current MGs is much, much better than it was in the late 70’s.
Their firing order is uneven so they are not inherently balanced. The new ones are smooth because they use a balance shaft to offset the vibration of the uneven power strokes.
Do a valve adjustment, you’ll find the torque you are missing and maybe a few more mpgs. I know it has hydraulic lifters, but they are adjustable. With the engine running, you back off the nut on top of the rocker until the lifter clacks, then turn the nut in 1.5 turns. Use clips made for this to stop oil from being sprayed all over the place.
“Just a little deuce coupe with a flathead mill, but it would walk a Thunderbird like it was standin’ still”…
With a flat 6?-Kevin
Hear hear. The VR6 is neither a true V or inline. Once the initial overheating problems were solved, it’s been a good engine that puts the displacement and smoothness of a 6 in the space of a 4.
Mechanically complex, but nothing compared to the W-12’s - basically two VR6 blocks in a V arrangement.
Personally I favor less cylinders with more bore - EG the Porsche 3L 4-cyl engine.
Yes the 240 was an excellent industrail engine-Kevin(the old L-head Dodges were good too)-Kevin
Porsche and Subaru also make flat 6 engines.
Keith, How the H— is the firing order uneven?? I happen to know many of them do not have balance shafts, probably all of them.
Iknow that-looks like a 540 and I made a typo.I guess you thought I may have meant a horizontly opposed engine.Dont think Ford made any engines like that.but could be wrong-Kevin
Yeah Ford made flathead sixes for awhile,a 226 and one a bit bigger-Kevin,speedboat guys used to use them,dont think they were real popular with the Hot Rod set.
Corvair used to sport them also-Kevin
And let’s not forget Honda’s Goldwing and Valkrye motorcycles as long as we are speaking of flat sixes.
Did anybody mention the the old Chevy “stovebolt” six? Very reliable old engine according to some hotrod guys,they were actually more powerful stock then some of the old flathead eights-Kevin