The Ford Essex V6 engine

"V6" and "V-6" redirect here. For other uses, see V6 (disambiguation).

A V6 engine is a V engine with six cylinders. It is the second most common engine configuration in modern cars after the inline four; it shares with that engine a compactness well suited to the popular front-wheel drive layout, and is becoming more common as car weights increase. Essex Ford Motor Company V6 engine Scanned from a sales catalog by MH 22:38, 2004 Aug 25 (UTC) This work is copyrighted. ... Essex Ford Motor Company V6 engine Scanned from a sales catalog by MH 22:38, 2004 Aug 25 (UTC) This work is copyrighted. ... Ford Motor Company has produced two different V6 piston engines which have been commonly referred to as Essex: Ford Essex V6 engine (UK) - A 60° V6, 2. ... V6 can refer to: A V6 engine A a Japanese band An estonian rock music radio station, now offline This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... A V engine is a common configuration for an internal combustion engine in which the pistons are aligned so that, if viewed along the line of the crankshaft, they appear to be in a V. Usually, two opposing pistons share one crank on the crankshaft. ... A piston and cylinder from a steam engine A cylinder in an internal combustion engine is the space within which a piston travels. ... The straight-4 or inline-4 is an internal combustion engine with four cylinders aligned in one row. ... Front-wheel drive is the most common form of engine/transmission layout used in modern passenger cars, where the engine drives the front wheels. ...

The first V6 was introduced by Lancia in 1950 with the Lancia Aurelia. Other manufacturers took note and soon other V6 engines were in use. In 1959, GMC introduced a heavy duty 305 cubic inch (5 liter 60-degree V6 for use in their pickup trucks and Suburbans, an engine design that was later enlarged to 478 cubic inches (7.8 liters) for heavy truck and bus use. Lancia (Lan-cha) is an Italian automobile manufacturer founded in 1906 by Vincenzo Lancia and which became part of the Fiat group in 1969. ... 1950 (MCML) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Lancia Aurelia is considered by many to be the first true Gran Turismo automobile. ... GMC Logo GMC, formerly known as GMC Truck, is a brand name used on trucks, vans, and SUVs marketed in North America and the Middle East by General Motors. ... A cubic inch is the volume of a cube which is one inch long on each edge. ... The liter (spelled liter in American English and litre in Commonwealth English) is a unit of volume. ...

The design really took off after the 1962 introduction of the Buick Special, which offered a 90 degree V6 with an uneven firing order that shared some parts commonality with a small Buick V8 of the period. Though the Buick Special was not a spectacular success, it was the first instance of a mass-produced V6 engine designed specifically for passenger automobiles. In 1983 Nissan produced Japan's first V6 engine with the VG series. 1940 Buick Coupé Straight 8 Special 4. ... The Liberty V8 aircraft engine clearly shows the configuration A V8 engine is a V engine with eight cylinders. ... 1940 Buick Coupé Straight 8 Special 4. ... The VG engine family consists of V6 piston engines designed and produced by Nissan for several vehicles in the Nissan lineup. ...

Modern V6 engines commonly range in displacement from 2.5 L to 4.0 L, though larger and smaller examples have been produced. Displacement, One complete cycle of a four cylinder, four stroke engine. ... This page lists superlatives of the automobile industry - that is, the smallest, largest, fastest, lightest, best-selling, and other such topics. ...

V angles

The ideal cylinder bank angle for a V6 is 60 degrees, which design tends to minimize vibration and encourage cancellation of reciprocating forces. The most common 60 degree V6s were built by General Motors (the heavy duty commercial models, as well as a design used in many GM front wheel drive cars), Ford European subsidiaries : Essex V6, Cologne V6 and the more recent Duratec V6. The Alfa-Romeo V6 is also common. General Motors Corporation, also known as GM, is the worlds largest automaker and has been since 1931. ... Ford may mean a number of things: A ford is a river crossing. ... A performance-tuned Essex V6. ... Left side of a 2. ... Duratec is a range of 4, 6 cylinder (V6) and 12 cylinder (V12) petrol engines used in Ford cars. ... Alfa Romeo is an Italian automobile manufacturer. ...

90 degree V6 engines have also been produced, often to take advantage of production-line tooling set up to produce V8 engines (for which a 90 degree arrangement is optimal). This design was first used by Buick when it introduced its 198 in³ Fireball V6 as the standard engine in the 1962 Special. Other examples include the Maserati V6 used in the Citroën SM, the PRV V6, Chevrolet's 4.3 L Vortec 4300 and Chrysler's 3.9 L Magnum V6 and 3.7 L PowerTech V6. The Buick V6 was notable because it introduced the concept of uneven firing, which was a natural result of the 90 degree layout. These engines were often referred to by mechanics as "shakers," due to the tendency of the engine to bounce around at idle speed. The Liberty V8 aircraft engine clearly shows the configuration A V8 engine is a V engine with eight cylinders. ... Buick is a brand of automobile built in the United States, Canada, and China by General Motors Corporation. ... The Buick V6 engine family, sometimes called the Fireball, is a large V6 engine used by General Motors. ... 1962 (MCMLXII) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1962 calendar). ... 1940 Buick Coupé Straight 8 Special 4. ... Present Maserati logo A 1957 Maserati 200SI at the Scarsdale Concours Maserati Birdcage 1959 Maserati 5000 GT Coupe Maserati Sebring Maserati is a famous Italian manufacturer of racing cars and sports cars, established in 1914 in Bologna. ... Vestigal chrome fins betray American styling cues The Citroën SM was a high performance coupé produced by the French manufacturer Citroën between 1970 and 1975. ... The PRV engine is an automobile petrol V6 engine that was developed jointly by Peugeot, Renault and Volvo Cars and sold from 1974 to 1998. ... Chevrolet (IPA: ʃɛv. ... Vortec is a trademarked name for a line of piston engines for General Motors trucks. ... The Chrysler Corporation was a United States-based automobile manufacturer that existed independently from 1925–1998. ... The LA engine (light or low A engine) was an evolution of the small-block Chrysler A engine. ... The PowerTech is a new engine family for Chrysler Corporation and is not based on the Chrysler A engine like almost every other Chrysler V8. ...

Narrower angle V6 engines are very compact but suffer from severe vibration problems. More recently, Volkswagen have used such a design, known as the VR6 engine. In this engine, both banks share the same cylinder head and are extremely close together. Electro-Motive produced a 6 cylinder version of their model 567 Diesel locomotive engine, which has a 45 degree cylinder angle. VW redirects here. ... The VR6 engine is a configuration developed by the Volkswagen Group. ... General Motors Electro-Motive Division (normally shortened to GM EMD or just EMD) is the worlds largest builder of railroad locomotives. ... Great Western Railway No. ...

Other notable V6 bank angles:

• The 10.6° and 15° Volkswagen VR6, a V6 with such a narrow angle it shares many characteristics with the straight-6, such as its firing order and use of a single cylinder head.
• The 54° GM/Opel V6, designed to be narrower than normal for use in small front-wheel drive cars.
• The 65° Ferrari Dino V6. The engine was originally fed by carburetors. A 60° angle was limiting the size of the carburetors, while a 65° angle allowed to mount larger carburetors to the expense of a slight increase of vibrations.
• The 120° V220/V300T V6 engines built by Bombardier for use in light aircraft. This layout allows for a shorter crankshaft and a more compact engine. It also allows for the use of a firing order that is in harmony with the layout, unlike the opposed (180 degree) 6 cylinder engines it is meant to replace.

Due to the odd number of cylinders in each bank, all V6 designs are inherently out of balance and thus benefit from some auxiliary counterbalancing. Also, the V6 can develop significant odd-order harmonic crankshaft vibration, an effect often counteracted by the use of a heavy duty harmonic damper to avoid possible crankshaft failure at higher engine speeds. VW redirects here. ... The straight-6 (also inline 6, I-6, or I6) is an internal combustion engine with six cylinders aligned in a single row. ... General Motors Opel division in Europe designed a compact V6 engine with an odd 54° vee angle. ... Front-wheel drive is the most common form of engine/transmission layout used in modern passenger cars, where the engine drives the front wheels. ... The Dino by Ferrari (also called the 206, 246, and 308GT4) was a mid-engined, rear-drive sports car produced from 1968 to 1973. ... Stromberg side-draft carburetor The carburetor, carburettor, or carburetter (see spelling differences), also called carb (in North America) or carbie (chiefly in Australia) for short, is a device that mixes air and fuel for an internal-combustion engine. ... Bombardier Inc. ... Balance shaft in Ford Taunus V4 engine. ... In acoustics and telecommunication, the harmonic of a wave is a component frequency of the signal that is an integer multiple of the fundamental frequency. ... Look up vibration in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Odd and even firing

Many V6 engines have been based on V8 engine designs. One characteristic of these engines is a notorious odd-firing behavior. The Liberty V8 aircraft engine clearly shows the configuration, although modern automotive versions use a 90 degree block angle. ...

Purpose-built V6 engines use one crankpin per cylinder for a smooth ignition 120° ignition pattern. In contrast, most V8 engines share a common crankpin between opposite cylinders in each bank. That is, the crankshaft has just four pins for eight cylinders, and a cylinder fires every 90° for smooth operation. Crankshaft, pistons, and flywheel Continental engine marine crankshafts, 1942 For the comic strip about an old, curmudgeonly bus driver, see Crankshaft (comic strip). ...

V6 engines that are converted from V8 engines often have three shared crankpins arranged at 120° from each other, similar to an inline 3-cylinder with two pistons per crankpin. If the cylinder banks are arranged at 90° (as they commonly are in V8-derived V6s), this leads to a firing pattern with groups of two cylinders separated by 90° of rotation, and groups separated by 150° of rotation. A Straight-3 is an internal combustion engine with three cylinders arranged in a straight line side by side. ...

An example is the Buick 231 odd-fire, which has a firing order 1-6-5-4-3-2. As the crankshaft is rotated through the 720° required for all cylinders to fire, the following events occur on 30° boundaries: The Buick V6 engine family, sometimes called the Fireball, is a large V6 engine used by General Motors. ... The firing order is the sequence of sparking of the spark plugs in a reciprocating engine, or the sequence of fuel injection in each cylinder in a Diesel engine. ...

Nissan uses the firing order 1-2-3-4-5-6 in some of the V6 engines they make.

In 1977, Buick introduced a unique "split-pin crankshaft" in the 231. Using a crankpin that is 'split' and offset by 30° of rotation results in smooth, even firing. Such a 'split' crankpin is weaker than a straight one, but modern materials and manufacturing produce a crankshaft that is strong enough. In 1986 the similarly-designed 90° PRV engine adopted the same 30° crankshaft offset design to even out its firing. For the album by Ash, see 1977 (album). ... Buick is a brand of automobile built in the United States, Canada, and China by General Motors Corporation. ... The Buick V6 engine family, sometimes called the Fireball, is a large V6 engine used by General Motors. ... 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The PRV engine is an automobile petrol V6 engine that was developed jointly by Peugeot, Renault and Volvo Cars and sold from 1974 to 1998. ...

Racing use

The V6 engine was introduced into racing by the Ferrari Dino V6. Alfredo Ferrari (nicknamed Dino), the only legitimate son of Enzo Ferrari, suggested to him the development of a 1.5 L DOHC V6 engine for Formula Two at the end of 1955. Soon afterwards, Alfredo fell ill, suffering from muscular dystrophy. While in hospital, he discussed technical details with the engineer Vittorio Jano. Dino would never see the engine; he died on 30 May 1956 at the age of 24. Ferrari is an Italian sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. ... Alfredino Dino Ferrari was the son of Ferrari automobiles Enzo Ferrari. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... A double overhead cam (also called a dual overhead cam, DOHC, or twincam) engine is a type of internal combustion engine where the camshafts that operate the intake and exhaust valves are mounted above the cylinders, and where there are separate camshafts for inlet and exhaust valves. ... Formula Two was a type of formula racing. ... 1955 (MCMLV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... It has been suggested that Congenital muscular dystrophy be merged into this article or section. ... Vittorio Jano, born April 22, 1891 - died 1965, was a famed automobile designer from the 1920s through 1960s. ...

The Dino V6 underwent several evolutions, and—with an increased engine displacement—competed in the 2.5 L Formula One. Displacement, One complete cycle of a four cylinder, four stroke engine. ... Formula One - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ...

Until the advent of wing cars, a wide 120° bank angle was appealing for racing engine designers as it permits a low center of gravity. It was even considered superior to the flat-6 in that it leaves more space under the engine for exhaust pipes; thus the crankshaft can be placed lower in the car. A further evolution of the Ferrari Dino built for new Formula One 1.5 L regulations engines had this configuration. This article or section may contain original research or unverified claims. ... The flat-6 engine of the Honda Valkyrie motorcycle A flat-6 is a 6 cylinder configuration of a flat engine or boxer engine. ... Ferrari is an Italian sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. ...

This engine saw a new evolution in 1966 when it was adapted to road use and produced by a Ferrari-Fiat joint-venture for the Fiat Dino and Dino 206 GT (this car was made by Ferrari but sold under the brand Dino). This new version was redesigned by Aurelio Lampredi initially as a 65° 2.0 L V6 with an aluminum block but was replaced in 1969 by a 2.4 L cast-iron block version (the Dino car was renamed the 246GT). 1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1966 calendar). ... Aurelio Lampredi was an automobile and aircraft engine designer. ... 1969 (MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1969 calendar). ...

The Fiat Dino and Dino 246GT were phased out in 1974, but 500 engines among the last built were delivered to Lancia, who was like Ferrari already under the control of Fiat. Lancia used them for the Lancia Stratos which would become the most successful car in Rally racing history. Lancia (Lan-cha) is an Italian automobile manufacturer founded in 1906 by Vincenzo Lancia and which became part of the Fiat group in 1969. ... Fiat Punto FIAT Group, or Fiat S.p. ... 1974 Lancia Stratos HF Group 4 Lancia Stratos 1974 The Lancia Stratos was an automobile made by Italian car manufacturer Lancia. ... Rallying (international) or rally racing (US) is a form of automobile racing that takes place on normal roads with modified production or specially built road cars. ...

The 246 block found its way into Alfa Romeo's in the 1970's, the first car to use them being the GTV 6. This strenghtened the long-standinig relationship between Alfa and Ferrari. The V6 has seen continuous use in road vehicles, from the GTV onwards. The Alfa 155 intrudced a DOHC 24 Valve version in late-series vehicles. The 164 introduced a over-square 3.0L V6, and a later 24 valve version with a cylinder head shared with the 155. The engine capacity has since been increased to 3.2L, where it currently finds application in the 156 GTA, 147 GTA, the Alfa GT and Alfa Brera. Alfa Romeo is an Italian automobile manufacturing company, founded as Darracq Italiana by Cavaliere Ugo Stella, an aristocrat from Milan in partnership with the French automobile firm of Alexandre Darracq. ... The Alfa Romeo GTV is a 2 door coupe. ...

Another influential V6 design was the Renault-Gordini CH1 V6, designed by François Castaing and Jean-Pierre Boudy, and introduced in 1973 in the Alpine-Renault A440. The CH1 was a 90° cast iron block V6, similar to the mass produced PRV engine in those two respects but otherwise dissimilar. It has been suggested that marketing purposes made the Renault-Gordini V6 adopt those characteristics of the PRV in the hope of associating the two in the public's mind. Renault S.A. is a French vehicle manufacturer producing cars, vans, buses, tractors, and trucks. ... Gordini was a Formula One constructor and engine manufacturer from 1950 until 1956. ... François Castaing is a 27-year veteran automotive executive with Renault, American Motors, and Chrysler. ... 1973 (MCMLXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday. ... Alpine was a French manufacturer of racing and sports cars which used rear mounted Renault engines. ... Cast iron usually refers to grey cast iron, but can mean any of a group of iron-based alloys containing more than 2% carbon (alloys with less carbon are carbon steel by definition). ...

Despite such considerations, this engine won the European 2 L prototype championship in 1974 and several European Formula Two titles. This engine was further developed in a tubocharged 2 L version that competed in Sports car and finally won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1978 with a Renault-Alpine A 442 chassis. 1974 (MCMLXXIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday. ... Formula Two was a type of formula racing. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

The capacity of this engine was reduced to 1.5 L to power the Formula One Renault RS01. Despite frequent breakdowns that resulted in the nickname of the 'Little Yellow Teapot', the 1.5 L finally saw good results in 1979.

Ferrari followed Renault in the turbo revolution by introducing a turbocharged derivative of the Dino design (a 1.5 L 120° V6) with the Ferrari 126.

Both Renault and Ferrari failed in their attempt to win the Drivers's Championship with V6 Turbo engines. The first turbocharged engine to win the championship was the Straight-4 BMW. The straight-4 or inline-4 is an internal combustion engine with four cylinders aligned in one row. ... BMW AG (an acronym for Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft, or in English, Bavarian Motor Works Corporation), is an independent German company and manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles. ...

They were followed by a new generation of Formula One engines, the most successful of these being the TAG V6 (designed by Porsche) and the Honda V6. This new generation of engines were characterized by odd V angles (around 80°). The choice of these angles was mainly driven by aerodynamic consideration. Despite their unbalanced designs these engines were both quickly reliable and competitive; this is generally viewed as a consequence of the quick progress of CAD techniques in that era. Dr. Ing. ... For other uses, see Honda (disambiguation). ...

External links

• Understanding the odd-fire V6