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About The Smoothness of Engines

The inline-six cylinder engine runs smoothly because the vibrations from cylinders 2 and 5 cancel each other out, eliminating end-to-end vibration. As the crankshaft is identical to a three-cylinder engine but twice as long, there are no horizontal or vertical forces generated. The V12 engine also runs smoothly due to having more combustions per crankshaft revolution, which increases smoothness over other engine types like the inline-six. Both engine configurations produce smooth operation through their crankshaft design and combustion timing.

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87 views

About The Smoothness of Engines

The inline-six cylinder engine runs smoothly because the vibrations from cylinders 2 and 5 cancel each other out, eliminating end-to-end vibration. As the crankshaft is identical to a three-cylinder engine but twice as long, there are no horizontal or vertical forces generated. The V12 engine also runs smoothly due to having more combustions per crankshaft revolution, which increases smoothness over other engine types like the inline-six. Both engine configurations produce smooth operation through their crankshaft design and combustion timing.

Uploaded by

lunikmir
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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The BMW 8series

About the smoothness of engines


The number of cylinders is not the primary reason for engine smoothness, another important factor is
the way the engine is constructed, if it's an inline-, V- or boxer-engine. Those concepts will be
discussed here.

The Inline-Six Engine (or Inline-12)


As you can see an inline six engine consists basically of two mirrored three cylinder engines. That
results in two sorts of vibrations (around cylinder #2 and #5) which cancel themselves. So there isn't
even end-to-end vibration.
Because the crankshaft is identical to the one of a three cylinder, only twice as long and with twice as
much pistons, here as well is no change of the center of gravity and no forces are generated, neither
horizontal nor vertical ones. That is the reason why inline six cylinder engines run so smoothly.

The crankshaft of an inline six engine.

Frontal view of crankshaft.

The V12 Engine


The V12 is said to be the most sophisticated engine design, being free of vibrations and running
smoothly. But so does an inline six. Now what is the difference between those two concepts
concerning smoothness, as even the crankshafts look alike?
Let us return to the one-cylinder. It was said there, that an engine's power delivery occurs in 'jerks',
every time a combustion takes place. And that is the secret of a V12: the smoothness is increased by
more combustions per crankshaft revolution.

The crankshaft of a V12 engine.

Frontal view of crankshaft.

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