Posted on 11/26/2015 8:03:34 PM PST by MtnClimber
Flat-plane engines This term has become one of the buzz words of 2015 thanks to Ford’s stellar Voodoo V8 (covered previously by us) found in the Mustang GT350. With 526 horsepower and a soundtrack like this, it’s easy to see why it has been attracting attention. Rather than the loping burble of a traditional V8, the sound of a flat-plane engine is much tighter. It’s a tenor to the cross-plane V8’s baritone. However, flat-plane production engines are not a new concept, as Ferrari and Lotus have been using them for years.
The engine in the 458 Italia, for instance, is a flat-plane crank engine. That’s the real term as it describes the construction of the crankshaft of the engine. Before we dive into the technical details, opportunities, and limitations of flat-plane crankshaft engines, watch the short animation below that displays a flat-plane crankshaft and a cross-plane crankshaft, which is what most V8s use, in action.
It looks from the animation that the flat plane forces the cylinders to fire in groups of two...essentially making the motor a V-4. Or do I misunderstand something?
That's true
I once saw CVA59 in dry dock and each of the three screws were bigger than a PT boat.....
I saw that also. Very nice machine.
"When the connecting rod journals are spaced 180 degrees apart, it leads to a long gap (relatively speaking) between combustions in the engine. By putting the journals only 90 degrees apart, the firing happens quicker, which makes each combustion less apparent."
So are there more power strokes per cycle or is it smoother power strokes ? anybody?
I had one of those, convertible, white over black, red bucket seat interior, 4 speed. A really fun car for a kid at college in the late 60’s.
Of course, I wish I had it back, along with the 61 Bugeye Sprite, the 66 Charger, 64 SS Impala 4 speed black bucket interior and posi.
Oh well.........
The rotary design is no longer a reciprocating engine, it is sort of a flex-chamber turbine, with the compression being created by the changing shape of the torus around the central hub, the seals moving in and out to follow the surface of that torus.
Ingenious design, just that the materials used have a sort of dicey lifetime, especially the compression seals.
Madza used a smaller version in the RX-3, a sort of sub-compact, that seemed to wind higher and higher forever, on occasion well past 120 mph, which is clearly a white-knuckle situation in that small a vehicle. Had to be turning close to eight-nine thousand RPM at that speed, and it may have been capable of turning even higher.
Stupidity and bravery are at times indistinguishable.
Sorry, but the car and marine engines were COMLETELY different critters.
The V12 in the cars was a flathead displacing 473 c.i.
The marine V12 was all aluminum ohv displacing just shy of 2500c.i. and ran on airplane fuel.
In fact, the marine motor had more in common with the RR Merlin engine, which Packard also built under contract.
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