I do not understand them. Maybe they are a bigger car but not too big, i.e. a Santa Fe or Kluger.
Do not have the economy of a 4 cylinder
Do not have the power of a V8
Do not have the long distance ability of diesels.
I ask this having once own a Santa Fe.
They have better economy than a V8
They have better power than a 4 cylinder
Disel is dead.
I have an EV and a turbo 4 but I'd love to get a straight 6 as a final ICE car. Was my dream as a kid to have an RB26/2jz/BMW m3
Rotary….
Naive question from OP. Quantity of cylinders doesn’t magically increase-or-descrease power-or-economy
you obviously know nothing about cars…. 4 cylinders are just as bad as v6s on fuel.
The v6 commodores / falcon were a good mix of "it's not huge but it can tow a decent load".
That's where the appeal would be for myself.
Yet they're not making new ones unfortunately, hence the dual cab 4x4 utes or diesel SUVs being more common now days for that purpose.
i think people should realise that the V6 falcodore was a product of its generation
it made perfect sense in a time of sub $1 petrol but it did not move with consumer tastes so the way they died was unfortunate but hey, who really cares in the end…
I'm sure you intended this but Errr, There has never been a v6 Falcon,
Yeah I know they're a straight 6 lol. Just lumping them all together, oops
V6 gas more V than V4 but not too much V for most people like the V8. Like buying a six cylinder Dyson vacuum, it's a bit more economical choice than the V8 Dyson.
I love my 6.2 litre supercharged V8 .. 530kw and 1000Nm is never enough thinking of upgrading further. Heavy car thou.
If they halved the weight of the Teslas i might look at one but all the battery cars just to heavy
Maybe other EV's are too heavy, but not Tesla's. Look at the difference in weight between a Tesla Model 3P and a BMW M3 Competition - 1836kg vs 1780kg. Or the Model S LR vs the E63 AMG - 2069 vs 2094kg, the ICE is actually heavier.
I currently own a V6 Camry and have owned 4 Cyclinders 2015 Camry and 2006 Accord is the past. Back when petrol was still cheap, the V6 costed me just over $10 more a week and that took into consideration switching petrol from 91 to 95. The fuel consumption of the V6 is also much more efficient than my old Accord.
The ride is also smoother, easier and effortless. The accelaration is quicker and the fuel consumption is on par with the 4 Cyclinders during road trip.
Imo, the extra money for fuel is well worth it. I'll miss my Camry when I sell it.
i think to me it was the 'shits and giggles' factor
i owned turbo sixes and V8s and yes, the fuel consumption was something you should account for
but if a typical large 4 cyl. like a 2.5 four does 10-11 litres per 100 then my old V8 would do 13-14-15 litres per 100 then the sheer 'joy of driving' made up for it???
how much do you value your happiness???
i dont mind paying more if it gives you more
if you're miserable behind the wheel of a 1.5 litre MG piss box but it does 7/100 then what is the point?
I love my V6! Though it's got a couple of turbos on it and can take an SS commodore easily. If only it sounded as good though…
Have u driven the v6 engine from Toyota they put in the aurion, kluger and then camry before they stop selling it.
So smooth like butter and when is ideal time is so quiet and very little vibration if at all.
Compared to for eg. Corrolla 4 cylinder engine or the camry 4 cylinder engine the difference is so obvious.
Stuff this.
The real winners here are 4-cylinder cars with 8 spark plugs.
*30 years ago I'd have said VTEC. How times change!
The best Australian engine ever built is a straight/inline 6, Ford Barra.
2k Barra does 10 second quarter miles all day every day lol.
Towing decent but not crazy loads
Yep, OP hasn't ever towed a trailer from the sounds of it. I pulled a 2 tonne load just today with a turbo inline 6. Didn't even break a sweat.
Many reasons, you could perhaps google it or look on YouTube. Lots of info freely available
Do not have the economy of a 4 cylinder
Do not have the power of a V8
Do not have the long distance ability of diesels.
More power than a 4 cylinder
More economic than a V8
You can get 6 cylinder diesels.
Was looking for a mid sized suv 2 years ago. Drove a few turbo 4cyl and hated them. There is just so little low down instant power and they’re always searching for gears. Very frustrating to drive.
Settled on a twin turbo in-line 6 diesel. Pretty fuel efficient and bucketloads of power avail at all times. It’s a more comfortable drive with the 6.
I don't have a car
I’m assuming you’re talking about 6 cylinder cars in general not necessarily v6’s. Anyway
You answered your own question it just in how you chose to word it. Another way to look at what you said is.
A 6 cylinder car has more power than a 4 cylinder and better fuel economy than an 8. It’s called bang for buck. A mid option.
By the by, my is350 which is a 6 will beat plenty of 8’s it may lose the better ones at the top end but will obliterate them off the line and when you live life a quarter mile at a time, off the line is all that matters.
My 2005 v6 Camry used to tow my box trailer with a 1/2 metre of dirt like it was there. I was very sad a few years ago the day i moved it on. It was bullet proof, i recon it still had another 15 years in it.
To rephrase:
Why does something that wouldn't fit in with one of my uses exist?
Because, not everyone is you. Vehicles are built for different purposes, have different requirements for their engines, and different characteristics depending on the type of vehicle.
There is even variation in 6 cylinder engines:
It might be time to start some meditation/psychedelics to reduce the extreme sense of self.
Real question is.. Where are there so many coffee cup sizes?
There's too many assumptions from OP
My old XR6 Turbo for example had better performance than the V8 variant.
People rip out the diesels from the 4WD's to do a barra swap even now.
Everyone has a different idea of "performance".
Personally, I can't go-back after having torque. Max HP is a young man's game.
There's 576 Nm in a turbo charged Barra
It’s a start
On the flip side: more economical than a V8, more powerful than a 4-cylinder.
I've loved past V6's for splitting the difference between a 4cyl and V8, good power but not the best, good economy but not the best.
Nowadays though it seems like a 2-2.5L Turbo 4 fit in the same spot atmo v6's used to, and I'm not mad.
What's the point?
It's a medium sized meal when people don't want the large nor the small.
V6 is for people want V8 but can't afford it. I am talking the same class of cars of course. There are very powerful V6 and weak V8, but I am comparing the same class or same manufacturer.
You got no idea.
Oh you missed me out my car only has 5 cylinders.. Ford Mondeo XR5.. 8-(
That's odd.
Yeah Ford Volvo brought out inline 5 cylinder turbo motor for mondeo and focus st
https://www.fastcar.co.uk/tuning-tech-guides/ford-mondeo-2-5…
I loved my v5 bora for a short time It had personality. Unreliable as anything but so much low end torque and understeer. Fun
Back in the days when turboing everything wasn't the way to go.
N/A 6 was more reliable if you needed more power/torque over a 4cyl but didn't want it to guzzle fuel like a v8.
V8's were saved for performance/heavy duty work trucks.
My stinger V6 is awesome. Just wish it had V8 sound.
Driving a stinger was lame af.
It was like being in an airplane as stock…
Optima GT more personality, less hype.
And this is from the person who reckons an AU falcon is better than a Porsche.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/97k-porsche-outgunned-by-for…
/s
Wanted to like the stinger. But the optima GT was a better proposition and a sleeper.
@mousie: Optima is mid way between Cerato and the Stinger, not sure why you think its a better proposition apart from price?
Don’t forget inline 6. Longer but easier to turbo and in theory, can be smaller, cheaper (to run and maintain) and simpler than a V8
I own a V6 hybrid (Toyota Crown Majesta with the 2GR-FXE). It's got the power of a mild v8 (about 250kw) yet the combined fuel economy of a 4cyl (6.5l per 100km). Absolutely fantastic drivetrain, smooth yet powerful, reliable, economic.
Even if it wasnt a hybrid I still believe V6's have their place, as you put it OP, they aren't as economic as a 4cyl or as powerful as a v8. But what they are, are a great mix between the 2.
They are generally a balance between power of V8 and Fuel economy of V4?
Man if I could get my hands on a Volkswagen VR6 Passat.
4cyl, no power (unless turbo), noisy
8cyl, too much power, thirsty
inline 6 - perfect balance of power + noise
Ok serious question here, and hopefully someone can please explain it to me like I'm five.
I still don't quite understand the differences between 4, 6, 8 or more cylinder cars.
To make it a bit easier, can we assume that all things are equal, other than engine configuration, ie:
Same hypothetical manufacturer;
same engine displacement (lets go with 3L for this);
same transmission (all cars are manual, or all auto if you swing that way);
same type of fuel.
The only difference would be engine configuration.
So one car would be 3L I4;
another car would be 3L V6 (or I6);
another car would be 3L V8.
Obviously the cylinder size would be different, and probably the engine block as well, to accommodate more or fewer cylinders.
And logically to me, since they are all displacing the same amount, the math would dictate that the torque and power generated would be the same.
But somehow it doesn't seem to work that way?
Can anyone help?
More cylinders means powerstrokes are happening more frequently at a given RPM (powerstroke being the stroke in a 4stroke engine where the air/fuel mixture is ignited/then expanding forcing the cylinder down).
In addition to this, your hypothetical doesn't really check out. There are reasons that 4cyl cars are often 2-2.5L, 6cyl cars are often 3-4L. Watch this video on the reasons why manufacturers usually have 500-600cc of dispalcement per cylinder https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9OnI3j5G7g
To add to this, its the overlapping powerstrokes that makes the engine smooth and affects torque. A 4cyl engine does not have any overlap. 5+ cyls do have overlap. The more cyls, the more overlap, the more smooth the power delivery.
Engine configuration also affects engine balance. A balanced engine means it runs smooth and can rev higher (producing more power) without shaking itself to pieces. I4 is not balanced, V6 is not balanced, a boxer engine is balanced, a 90deg V8 is balanced, I6 is balanced. You can make an I4 or V6 balanced by adding Lanchester shafts, but that saps power/reliability.
Hi Vent89 & Stumo, thank you for the replies and the video!
It has helped my understanding a little bit more!
Cheers
VN/ VP/ VR V6 engines are Buick motors dating back to the 60's. The VN series 1 where one of the better designs as it had very hi torque and as a result holden installed bell mouths into the series 2 to tame the torque.
also the VN v6 hitting the rev limiter sounded like….. MANG MANG MANG
i didnt have one, i have a 88 VL commodore NA with approx 190kw post mods and tune.
I still remember that, all the granny's rippin' some skids in the local carparks in their brand new VN's. The torque would hit so low and hard especially in the autos, they were a good engine but I had the later VX version of it
braps - rotaries FTW
Back in the days, they would say, "whats the point of a 4 cylinder car, theres no power?!"
If they were such a bad idea, nobody would buy, and they would have discontinued them years ago
Do not have the power of a V8
Nor a V12 or a W16 …. what a pointless post. It is what it is, a step between a 4 and something larger….
where's my option for "i own an H6 and love it"? :'(
you are right sir
Fuel economy is a discussion for normies.
I bought a V8 knowing I would pay out the ass for petrol… but you know what… IT WAS WORTH IT.
I had it for a relatively short time (say 5 yrs) but I'll do it again… because I'm crazy. Life is too short for regrets.
I have also driven a succession of V6s that left no impression on me. I do get where OP 'largely' is coming from of sorts… if you have a shitty ass V6 in a shitty ass Korean pile of junk then of course, you may ask… what is the point?