W engine

2025-07-21T01:55:44Z

2601:249:D01:EF20:513F:5D32:4AB2:BC70:

{{Short description|Type of reciprocating engine}}
[[File:Napier Lion W12 @ Brooklands Museum.JPG |thumb |right |[[Napier Lion]] W12 aircraft engine (circa 1930) ]]

A '''W engine''' is a type of [[piston engine]] where three or four [[cylinder (engine)|cylinder]] banks share the same [[crankshaft]], resembling the letter "W" when viewed from the front.<ref name="Wiley1936" /><ref>{{cite book |last= Taylor|first= Charles Fayette|orig-year= 1968|year= 1985|title= The Internal-combustion Engine in Theory and Practice: Combustion, fuels, materials, design|url= {{Google books|mX1-OJBQ6ngC|The Internal-combustion Engine in Theory and Practice: Combustion, fuels, materials, design|page=241|plainurl=yes}}|publisher= [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]]|isbn= 0-262-70027-1|lccn= 84028885|access-date= 2013-12-17|quote= W engine is similar to a V engine but with three banks of cylinders. The two V angles are usually equal.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last= Rajput|first= R. K.|date= December 2005|title= Internal Combustion Engines|url= {{Google books|UtxI5gXM1yQC|Internal Combustion Engines|page=37|plainurl=yes}}|location= New Delhi, India|publisher= Laxmi Publications|isbn= 817008637X|access-date= 2013-12-17|quote= W-engine Same as V-engine except with three banks of cylinders on the same crankshaft.}}</ref>

W engines with three banks of cylinders are also called "broad arrow" engines, due to their shape resembling the British government [[broad arrow]] property mark.<ref name="Wiley1936">{{cite book |last1= Domonoske|first1= Arthur Boquer|last2= Finch|first2= Volney Cecil|year= 1936|title= Aircraft engines: theory, analysis, design, and operation|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=qrc7AAAAMAAJ&q=%22broad+arrow%22+W|type= Engineering textbook|publisher= J. Wiley & Sons|page= 7|access-date= 2014-04-25|quote=The W, or broad arrow engine, has three rows of cylinders of which the central row is vertical with the other two rows forming equal angles with the vertical.}}</ref><ref name="NewSunbeam32">{{Citation |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=GlApAQAAIAAJ&q=Broad+arrow&pg=PA32 |title=The New Sunbeam Overhead Valve Type Engines| magazine= Aviation Week and Space Technology |volume= 3 |page= 32 |year= 1917 |publisher= McGraw-Hill }}</ref>

The most common W-type engine is the 4-bank type, with the [[Volkswagen Group]] experimenting with the [[Passat]] W8 and its 4.0 liter, 4-bank W8 engine and later implementing the concept with the group's [[Bentley]] division, creating a 6.0 liter [[W12 engine|W12]] in both naturally aspirated and [[turbocharged]] variants. Due to the pre-existing [[VR6 engine|VR-type engine]] only needing one cylinder head despite having two banks of cylinders, a Volkswagen 4-bank W-type engine is structured more similarly to a conventional 2-bank [[V engine]] as opposed to a "true" W engine.

W engines are significantly less common than V engines. Compared with a V engine, a W engine is typically shorter but wider. In Volkswagen’s case, this allows for superior packaging in engine compartments intended for 6 and 8 cylinder engines, the Passat W8 being one such example.

== W3 engines ==
[[File:Anzani, Alessandro W-3 1906.GIF|thumb|right |1906 [[Anzani 3-cylinder]] motorcycle engine]]

One of the first W engines was the [[Anzani 3-cylinder]], built in 1906, to be used in Anzani motorcycles. This W3 engine also powered the 1909 [[Blériot XI]], the first airplane to fly across the English Channel.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Siegel |first=Nan |date=September 2009 |title=A Frenchman Conquers the English Channel |url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f6h&AN=42999361&site=eds-live&scope=site |magazine=Aviation History |volume=20 |issue=1 |page=13 |issn=1076-8858}}</ref>

The ''Feuling W3'' is a {{convert|2.5|L|cuin|0|abbr=on}} motorcycle engine that was built by an aftermarket parts company in the United States in the early 2000s.<ref>{{cite web |title=About Us |url=https://www.feulingparts.com/aboutus.php |website=www.feulingparts.com |access-date=4 November 2019}}</ref> Like radial aircraft engines it has a master [[connecting rod]] and two slave rods connected to the pistons.<ref name=Feuling>{{cite web|url=http://www.motorcyclecruiser.com/roadtests/feuling_w3/|title=Make Mine a Triple: The Feuling W3|work=Interlink Media|publisher=MotorcycleCruiser.com|date=October 2000|access-date=31 December 2009}}</ref>

== W6 engines ==
The [[Rumpler Tropfenwagen]] had a [[Siemens|Siemens and Halske]]-built<ref name="WiseP1964">{{cite encyclopedia | last = Wise | first = David Burgess | author-link = David Burgess-Wise | editor = Tom Northey | encyclopedia =World of Automobiles | title = Rumpler: One Aeroplane which Never Flew | year = 1974 | publisher = Orbis | volume =17 | location = London | page = 1964}}</ref> {{convert|2580|cc|cid|abbr=on}} [[overhead valve]] W6 engine, with three banks of paired cylinders, all working on a common crankshaft.<ref name="WiseP1964" /><ref name="Period">{{cite book| last = Rogliatti| first = Gianni| editor = Cyril Posthumus| editor-link = Cyril Posthumus| title = Period Cars| year = 1973| publisher = Hamlyn| location = Feltham, Middlesex, UK| isbn = 0-600-33401-5| pages = 108–109}}</ref>

== W8 engines ==
{{main|W8 engine}}

The sole W8 engine to reach production is the [[List of discontinued Volkswagen Group petrol engines#W8|Volkswagen Group W8 engine]] automotive engine, which used a four-bank design and was produced from 2001-2004.<ref>{{cite web|title=VW Passat W8 4motion|publisher=[[Volkswagen Group|Volkswagen AG]]|url=http://www.worldcarfans.com/102042211769/vw-passat-w8-4motion|date=22 April 2002|work=WorldCarFans.com|access-date=30 December 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130420020354/http://www.worldcarfans.com/102042211769/vw-passat-w8-4motion|archive-date=20 April 2013|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

== W12 engines ==
[[File:NapierLion VII 1.jpg|thumb|[[Napier Lion]] VII]]
{{main|W12 engine}}

W12 engines with three banks of four cylinders were used by several aircraft engines from 1917 until the 1930s. A three-bank W12 design was also used unsuccessfully by the [[Life Racing Engines|Life F1 team]] in the [[1990 Formula One World Championship|1990 Formula One season]], failing to qualify at every race.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The V12 Engine|last=Ludvigsen|first=Karl|publisher=Haynes|location=Sparkford, Yeovil|year=2005|isbn=1844250040|ref={{harvid|Ludvigsen|V12 Engine}}|pages=356–358}}</ref>

Although less commonly used in automobiles than V12 engines, a W12 petrol engine has been produced by the [[Volkswagen Group]] starting in 2001. This four-bank engine—based on two [[VR6 engine]]s with a common crankshaft—has been used in various cars sold under the Audi, Bentley and Volkswagen brands and has appeared in multiple variants, including a rare 6.3L normally aspirated version only available in the D4 [[Audi A8]] L. In 2018 the Volkswagen Group announced the W12 engine would be exclusive to vehicles produced by their [[Bentley]] division<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.autoblog.com/2018/03/19/audi-a8-w12-engine/|title=A8 is the last Audi to get the W12 engine, exclusive of Bentley|website=Autoblog|date=19 March 2018 }}</ref>

== W16 engines ==
{{main|W16 engine}}

W16 engines are rarely produced, with the notable exception of the [[Bugatti W16 engine|Volkswagen Group 8.0 WR16]] engine that has been used since 2005. The W16 type of engine can also be found in the [[Bugatti Veyron]], [[Bugatti Chiron|Chiron]], [[Bugatti Divo|Divo]] and their related models.<ref>{{Cite web|title=What is the W16 Engine? {{!}} Bugatti W16|url=https://www.bugatti-broward.com/bugatti-information/bugatti-w16-engine/|access-date=2021-10-22|website=Bugatti Broward|language=en}}</ref>

== W18 engines ==
[[File:W-Engine with 60 Degree angle.gif |thumb|right |Operation of a three-bank W engine]]
{{main|W18 engine}}
The W18 layout is rarely used, with the only production examples being several aircraft during the 1920s and 1930s, and [http://www.crmmotori.it/interna.asp?tema=16 CRM Motori SpA marine engines].

== W24 engine ==
The [[Allison V-3420]], manufactured by the [[Allison Engine Company]], is an example of a W24 engine.{{Citation needed|date=March 2021}}

== W30 engine ==
The [[Chrysler A57 multibank]], essentially five {{convert|250.6|cuin|L|1|abbr=on}} [[Chrysler flathead engine]]s driving one output shaft through a gear train, saw action during [[World War II]]. Developed in 1941, it would be used inside variants of the [[M3 Lee]] and [[M4 Sherman]] tanks, all deployed on the [[Western Front (World War II)|Western Front]].<ref>{{Cite book |last= |first= |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oiUDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PP1 |title=Popular Science |date= February 1944|publisher=Bonnier Corporation |language=en}}</ref> The A57 is the only example of a five-bank W configuration. {{Citation needed|date=July 2021}}

== See also ==
* [[VR6 engine]]

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

{{Piston engine configurations|state=expanded}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:W Engine}}
[[Category:Piston engine configurations]]
[[Category:W engines| ]]
[[Category:Engines by cylinder layout]]

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W engine