A flat engine or horizontally-opposed cylinder engine is an internal combustion engine with pistons that are all relatively horizontal. The internal combustion engine is an engine in which the Combustion of Fuel and an Oxidizer (typically air occurs in a confined space called a A straight engine canted 90 degrees from straight up is a flat engine, as is one in which the cylinders are arranged in two banks on either side of a single crankshaft. Usually found in 4- and 6- cylinder configurations the straight engine (often designated Inline engines is an Internal-combustion engine with all cylinders A cylinder is the central working part of a Reciprocating engine, the space in which a Piston travels The crankshaft, sometimes casually abbreviated to crank, is the part of an Engine which translates reciprocating Linear In both configurations, the motion of all the pistons is in the horizontal plane.
German engineer Karl Benz patented his design for the first internal combustion engine with horizontally opposed pistons in 1896. Karl Friedrich Benz, sometimes spelled Carl, ( November 25, 1844, Karlsruhe, Germany – April 4, 1929, Ladenburg A patent is a set of Exclusive rights granted by a State to an inventor or his assignee for a fixed period of time in exchange for a disclosure of an A piston is a component of Reciprocating engines Pumps and Gas compressors It is located in a cylinder and is made gas-tight by Piston
Usually, each pair of corresponding pistons from each bank of cylinders share one crank pin on the crankshaft, either by master/slave rods or by two ordinary rods side by side. The crankshaft, sometimes casually abbreviated to crank, is the part of an Engine which translates reciprocating Linear Some authorities divide flat engines into boxer engines which do not share crank pins in this way, and 180° engines which do. A flat engine is an Internal combustion engine with pistons that are all relatively horizontal
- The boxer engine (also known as a horizontally opposed cylinder engine) in which the corresponding pistons reach top dead centre simultaneously. In a Reciprocating engine, the dead center is the position of a piston in which it is farthest from or nearest to the Crankshaft. Boxer engines should not be confused with opposed piston engines, which use a completely different concept. An opposed piston engine is one in which the cylinders are double-ended with a piston at each end and no cylinder head
- The 180° V engine, in which corresponding pistons share a crank pin, and thus each will reach top dead centre half a crankshaft revolution after the other. A V engine is a common configuration for an Internal combustion engine. Flat engines with more than eight cylinders are most commonly V engines.
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Configuration
Flat engines are shorter than in-line engines, and have a lower center of gravity than any other common configuration. Automobiles and motorcycles powered by a flat engine generally have a lower center of gravity, giving better stability and control. MotorCycle is the title of a 1993 album by Rock band Daniel Amos, released on BAI Records. These engines, however, are also wider than more traditional configurations and are more expensive to build. The extra width may cause problems fitting the engine into the engine bay of a front-engined car owing to the interference with the steering wheels, and create cornering problems for a motorcycle.
The flat configuration also fits very well with air cooling and aircraft engines. Air cooling is a method of dissipating Heat. It works by making the object to be cooled have a larger surface area or have an increased flow of air over its surface or both An aircraft engine is a Propulsion system for an Aircraft. Aircraft engines are almost always a type of lightweight Internal combustion engine. Air-cooled designs such as in the VW Beetle used a flat-4, as did the Porsche 356 and 912. The Volkswagen Beetle, officially known as the type 1 and originally called ‘Käfer’ is an Economy car produced by the German auto maker Volkswagen A flat-4 or horizontally-opposed-4 is a Flat engine with four Cylinders arranged horizontally in two banks of two cylinders on each side of a central Porsche SE or Porsche ( German, ˈpɔɹʃə is a German manufacturer of automobiles which is majority-owned by the Porsche and Piëch The Porsche 356 was the company's first production automobile The Porsche 912 was a Sports car manufactured by Porsche of Germany between 1965 and 1969 as their entry-level model The Chevrolet Corvair used an air-cooled flat-6, a rarity in American designs. The Chevrolet Corvair was an Automobile produced by the Chevrolet division of General Motors from 1959 to 1969 for the 1960&ndash1969 Model The Chevrolet Corvair engine was a Flat-6 (or Boxer engine) Piston engine used exclusively in the 1960s Chevrolet Corvair automobile Both the older and newer models of the 911 use a flat-6, at first air cooled but later models are water-cooled. The Porsche 911 (pronounced as Nine Eleven, Neunelfer is a Sports car made by Porsche AG of Stuttgart, Germany flat-6 or horizontally-opposed-6 is a Flat engine with six Cylinders arranged horizontally in two banks of three cylinders on each side of a central These automobiles situate the engine in the rear rather than the front, where its width does not interfere with the steering of the front wheels.
Front-mounted air-cooled flat-twin engines were used by Citroën in their model 2CV and its derivatives, while the Citroën GS used a flat-4, and a flat-6 was proposed for the Citroën DS, but rejected. A flat-twin is a two cylinder Internal combustion engine with the cylinders arranged on opposite sides of the crankshaft Citroën (pronounced See-Troh-Enn is a French Automobile manufacturer, founded in 1919 by André Citroën. The Citroën 2CV ( French: deux chevaux vapeur, literally "two steam Horses quot from the Tax horsepower rating was an Economy car The Citroën GS (1970–79 and Citroën GSA (1980–86 were Small family cars produced by the French automaker Citroën. A flat-4 or horizontally-opposed-4 is a Flat engine with four Cylinders arranged horizontally in two banks of two cylinders on each side of a central flat-6 or horizontally-opposed-6 is a Flat engine with six Cylinders arranged horizontally in two banks of three cylinders on each side of a central The Citroën DS (also known as Déesse, or Goddess, after the punning initials in French is an Executive car that was produced by BMW uses an air-cooled or partially oil-cooled flat-twin in many of their motorcycles. ( BMW) (Bavarian Motor Works is an independent German automobile manufacturer founded in 1916 MotorCycle is the title of a 1993 album by Rock band Daniel Amos, released on BAI Records.
All versions of the Subaru Impreza, Forester, Tribeca and Legacy use either a flat-4 or flat-6 engine. The Subaru Impreza' is a Compact car that was first introduced by Subaru in 1993 The Subaru Forester, is a tall All-wheel drive Station wagon manufactured since 1997 by Subaru &mdash currently in its third generation and now marketed Subaru began selling the Tribeca, a five or seven-seat mid-size Crossover SUV as a 2006 model The Subaru Legacy is a Mid-size car introduced by the Japanese manufacturer Subaru in February 1989 as a larger companion to the company's A flat-4 or horizontally-opposed-4 is a Flat engine with four Cylinders arranged horizontally in two banks of two cylinders on each side of a central flat-6 or horizontally-opposed-6 is a Flat engine with six Cylinders arranged horizontally in two banks of three cylinders on each side of a central
Boxer engines
Boxer engines probably got their name because the pistons of the motor, when observed from the top, resemble the fists of a boxer pummeling his opponent. Boxer engines of up to eight cylinders have proved highly successful in both automobiles and motorcycles, and continue to be popular for light aircraft engines. Light aircraft is a generic category of aircraft that comprises many official designations in many countries
One benefit of using a boxer engine versus a V-engine is that the design provides good balance because each piston's momentum is counterbalanced by the corresponding piston movement of the opposite side. Boxers are one of only three cylinder layouts that have a natural dynamic balance; the others being the straight-6 and the V12. The straight-6 or inline-6 engine (often abbreviated I6 or L6) is a six cylinder Internal combustion engine with all six cylinders V12 redirects here For the V12 Training program see V-12 Navy College Training Program. These engines can run very smoothly and free of vibrations with a four-stroke cycle and do not require a balance shaft or counterweights on the crankshaft to balance the weight of the reciprocating parts, which are required in other engine configurations. Today Internal combustion engines in cars, Trucks motorcycles aircraft construction machinery and many others most commonly use a four-stroke cycle. In Piston engine engineering a balance The crankshaft, sometimes casually abbreviated to crank, is the part of an Engine which translates reciprocating Linear Note that this is generally true of boxer engines regardless of the number of cylinders (assumed to be even), but not true for all V and straight, or inline engines. However, in the case of two-cylinder boxers, a small "rocking couple" imbalance is unavoidable. This is a consequence of the "opposite" cylinders being not exactly opposite but offset slightly.
Boxer engines tend to produce more noise than inline and V-engines because valve clatter is not so well dampened due to lack of covering by air-filters and other components, and produce a larger torsional vibration than a V-engine, and so tend to require a larger flywheel. They have a characteristic smoothness throughout the rev range and, combined with the mounting position immediately ahead of the rear axle, offer a low center of gravity and more neutral handling.
Notable boxer engines
- In 1896, Karl Benz invented the first internal combustion engine with horizontally opposed pistons
- In 1923 Max Friz designed the first BMW motorcycles, choosing a 500 cc boxer engine and unit transmission with shaft drive. Karl Friedrich Benz, sometimes spelled Carl, ( November 25, 1844, Karlsruhe, Germany – April 4, 1929, Ladenburg The internal combustion engine is an engine in which the Combustion of Fuel and an Oxidizer (typically air occurs in a confined space called a BMW Motorrad, a division of BMW, is a German Motorcycle manufacturer This engine type is still in production today. The BMW 247 engine, known as an airhead due to its air cooling, was produced until 1995. Airheads are the traditional BMW motorcycles with a Flat-twin air-cooled engine (including the BMW 247 engine) that were built from 1923 to 1995 BMW replaced it with the oilhead engine with partial oil cooling and four valves per cylinder, but still retaining the same boxer twin configuration. An oilhead is the name used for BMW Motorcycle engines that use Oil cooling to transfer some of the heat from the engine to the atmosphere
- In 1948 Preston Tucker modified a helicopter flat 6 to be rear mounted in his Tucker Torpedo
- The Volkswagen air-cooled flat-4 engine used in the Volkswagen Beetle, SP2 and Karmann Ghia, and later developed further for the Volkswagen Type 2 (Bus) transporters and Volkswagen Type 3 cars
- The Citroën 2CV and Panhard air-cooled flat-2 engines, both influenced by the flat-2s of BMW
- The air-cooled Chevrolet Corvair flat-6
- The flat-4 engines in Alfa Romeo's Alfasud, Sprint, 33 and early versions of the 145. The 1948 Tucker Sedan or Tucker '48 Sedan (also nicknamed the Tucker Torpedo) was an advanced Automobile conceived by Preston Tucker and briefly The Volkswagen air cooled engine is one of the most widely used and versatile Internal The Volkswagen Beetle, officially known as the type 1 and originally called ‘Käfer’ is an Economy car produced by the German auto maker Volkswagen The SP2 was a sports car developed by Volkswagen do Brasil for that market from 1972 to 1976 the name is an Acronym for "São Paulo" The Karmann Ghia was marketed by Volkswagen as a 2+2 Coupe and Convertible combining the straightforward chassis and mechanicals of the Type 1 The Volkswagen Type 2 (also known as Transporter) was the second automotive line introduced by German automaker Volkswagen. The Volkswagen Type 3, properly referred to as the Volkswagen 1500 and later the Volkswagen 1600, was a range of small cars from German manufacturer The Citroën 2CV ( French: deux chevaux vapeur, literally "two steam Horses quot from the Tax horsepower rating was an Economy car The Chevrolet Corvair was an Automobile produced by the Chevrolet division of General Motors from 1959 to 1969 for the 1960&ndash1969 Model flat-6 or horizontally-opposed-6 is a Flat engine with six Cylinders arranged horizontally in two banks of three cylinders on each side of a central The Alfa Romeo Alfasud is a compact car made by Alfa Romeo of Italy from 1971 to 1989 The Alfa Romeo Sprint is a Coupé version of the Alfa Romeo Alfasud, produced from 1976 to 1989 by Alfa Romeo. The last of the line was a 1712 cc flat four, 16 valves, producing up to 137 bhp.
- The water-cooled front-mounted flat-4 and flat-6 engines used by Subaru in all of its mid-sized cars; Subaru refers to these as boxer engines in publicity commentary, and include a variety of naturally aspirated and turbo driven engines; in their turbo engines from 1984 to current, both closed and semi-closed short blocks have been used. is the automobile manufacturing division of Japanese transportation conglomerate Fuji Heavy Industries Co In March 2008, Subaru will offer the world's first boxer turbodiesel. [1] According to the Subaru Owners on-line newsletter dated March 2008, Subaru is "currently making modifications to the diesel so it meets the more stringent U. S. standards. Subaru diesel models should be domestically available in two to three years. "
- Since its introduction in 1975, the Honda Goldwing has utilized a boxer style engine, a 4-cylinder until 1987, and 6-cylinders since.
- The water-cooled SOHC 1832 cc flat-6 is fitted to the Honda Goldwing from 2001 on.
- The air-cooled flat-4, flat-6, flat-8 and flat-12 engines were used for many years in early Porsches
- The water-cooled flat-6 engines in the Porsche Boxster, Cayman and later 911 models
- The engines of light private aircraft are often air-cooled flat-4s and flat-6s of the type famously made by the companies Lycoming, and Continental
180° V-engines
Flat V engines are used in performance and racing cars, normally a 180 degree V12. Porsche SE or Porsche ( German, ˈpɔɹʃə is a German manufacturer of automobiles which is majority-owned by the Porsche and Piëch 986 The styling of the Boxster is due to former "Style Porsche" department head Harm Lagaay. The Porsche Cayman is a mid-engined rear wheel drive 2-seat Sports car produced by Porsche AG of Germany. The Porsche 911 (pronounced as Nine Eleven, Neunelfer is a Sports car made by Porsche AG of Stuttgart, Germany Lycoming Engines' is an American Aircraft engine company known primarily for its General aviation Engines For most of its history Lycoming has been Continental Motors ( Teledyne Continental Motors) is an engine manufacturer located in Mobile Alabama. A V engine is a common configuration for an Internal combustion engine. Ferrari used a 180° version of the Colombo V12 in the Testarossa and Berlinetta Boxer models. Ferrari SpA is an Italian Sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy 125 The first homegrown Ferrari engine was the 125. First appearing May 11, 1947 under the hood of Ferrari's 125 S sports racer V12 redirects here For the V12 Training program see V-12 Navy College Training Program. A Ferrari Berlinetta Boxer is one of a series of cars produced by Ferrari in Italy between 1973 and 1984
This configuration is technically termed a V engine due to the fact that pairs of pistons move together side to side in the same direction when viewed from the top, rather than in opposite directions in the Boxer.
See also
Flat engine designs
Other engine designs
References
- ^ Greencarcongress. A flat-twin is a two cylinder Internal combustion engine with the cylinders arranged on opposite sides of the crankshaft A flat-4 or horizontally-opposed-4 is a Flat engine with four Cylinders arranged horizontally in two banks of two cylinders on each side of a central flat-6 or horizontally-opposed-6 is a Flat engine with six Cylinders arranged horizontally in two banks of three cylinders on each side of a central A flat-8 or horizontally-opposed-8 is an Internal combustion engine in flat configuration having 8 cylinders The most famous engine of this The flat 10 engine is an engine with two banks of five opposing cylinders each A flat-12 is an Internal combustion engine in a flat configuration having 12 cylinders The flat-12 is wider (but significantly lower in height than A flat-16 is an internal combustion engine in flat configuration having 16 cylinders An H engine (or H-block is an Engine configuration in which the cylinders are aligned so that if viewed from the front they appear to be in a vertical or horizontal Controlled Combustion Engine (CCE is a term used by Revetec to identify a type of Internal combustion engine (ICE designed by Brad Howell-Smith X engine is a Piston engine comprising twinned V-block engines horizontally-opposed to each other A V engine is a common configuration for an Internal combustion engine. The W engine is an Engine configuration in which the cylinder banks resemble the letter W in the same way a V engine resembles the letter V Usually found in 4- and 6- cylinder configurations the straight engine (often designated Inline engines is an Internal-combustion engine with all cylinders The rotary engine was an early type of internal combustion Aircraft engine in which the Crankshaft remains stationary and the entire Cylinder Legacy Diesel Announcement. Retrieved on 2008-01-23. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 393 - Roman Emperor Theodosius I proclaims his nine year old son Honorius co-emperor
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