I'm In Denial!

[Sarumatix]

Look I hate vee sixes as much as the next bloke, but there is a little more to it than just saying they are not perfectly balanced. It depends on their vee angle. Ever wonder why people produce 60 degree angled vee sixes?

i'm no engine engineer , but from what I gather there is no way to balance a V6 without using balance shafts.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Engine_balance

Have a look down the bottom for the lists of engines with inherent advantages and disadvantages of balance.

but as I was trying to say, balance is only part of the problem. Infact it is compactness which has pushed inline engines out of the mainstream. If you look back through time you will find massive inline engines (i've heard of an inline 16 engine) however as cars have become more and more compact these engines just can't work. That appears to also occur in 'performance' cars now too, where the balance of the engine position is more important than the some aspects of the power output.

[Duncan]

well this is all true. but ultimately the length of a straight 6 leads means

harmoc problems (balancer and flywheel have to be right)

need for a really strong cranks (nice of nissan to give us a forged one standard)

spun bearings

poor packaging in the car

front heavy balance

they are dead. just like the inline 8 is dead too.

[Roy]

Actually, maybe i shoudl have packed a parachute before standing up for the in line sixes.

This sounds pretty racey/cool

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCcvLmHn9UQ

BUT, i still go to night most nights i could build an R32 that sounds and goes like this

[gts-4 dreamer]

if you could chop 500kg out of a r35 when I start to go bald or get slightly better money I promise to buy one... not before.