[scott19]

""Porsche is a flat six!" Depends on what Porsche you are thinking (they made more than boxters, and 911's you know)"

Well, this thread is about 6 cylinder engines. There's never been a V6 or I6 Porsche that I've ever heard of. School me if I'm wrong...

 

[280Z Driver]

You guys are forgetting another major advantage of inline sixes. 1 head, 1 valve cover, 1 exhaust manifold, 1 timing chain, etc. If something goes wrong, it's cheaper and easier to replace.

 

[NotSuperBbutZ]

thats true, and yes, i dont know of ANY porsche car that has EVER had anything but a flat or boxer six, except for the 928 which had a v8, the 966 which had a dohc 4, and the 924 and 944 which shared the same sohc 4.

 

[fl81turbozx]

2 reasons:

Common Theory:

It's a space thing, V engines are more compact

Conspiracy Theory:

V engines, by design, are designed to fail......Can't sell new cars if the old ones last forever.

Think of a piston going straight up and down in an straight engine. Now think of that same piston running on an angle. Over the years, gravity will win, causing that piston to wear on the bottom cylinder wall and over time wear out the engine.

 

[Z06C5R]

A little off topic, but one "advantage" I enjoy in the Straight 6 is it's uniqueness. It's no rotary, but not many cars have then these days. One more reason my Z rocks!

 

[erzelda]

Long sexy hoods - instead of short boxes with wheels on what used to be a bumper.

 

[GT_McCann]

One of the comments

I hear alot is "Jeez, that's a big engine for such a little car". The Z engine is definitely unique in it's presentation. I think the younger drivers are just so used to seeing the front wheel drive setup with I-4's and V-6's that they are stunned to see the Z engine bay.


Really enjoyed reading this thread. Ironically, my 16 year old son asked me a couple of weeks back to explain the concept of an inline 6 cylinder engine versus V configurations. This thread provided an excellent father-son conversation about our favorite topic.....Cars!!!!!!!!!!!!!