Ever See One of These?

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by IndyIan

Now can a GW engine beat 70mpg in a body with half the total drag of an Insight? Probably easily with the right gearing.

Well, sure, but what would the Insight drivetrain get in the same body? Not that I'd complain much either way - I would happily take something like an Aptera body with a GW powertrain.

[Big Dave]

Honda is generally recognized as one of the world's two best engine design firms. What makes you think they couldn't make a very-fuel efficient engine on the Gold Wing (boxer four or six) architecture?

A Vee engine is inherently lighter for a given displacement than an inline. An inline has a "crankcase" for every cylinder. A Vee has one "crankcase" for every two cylinders. A boxer is simply a Vee with a 180 degree Vee angle.

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by Big Dave

What makes you think they couldn't make a very-fuel efficient engine on the Gold Wing (boxer four or six) architecture?

There's no reason I know of why they couldn't. My point was that they HAVEN'T, and they have put considerable effort into doing it with the Insight 3-cylinder. And since the idea was to take an existing powertrain and put it into a body designed for high mpg...

A Vee engine is inherently lighter for a given displacement than an inline.

Yeah, but I'm having problems visualizing a V-3 :-)

[SuperTrooper]

Boxer engines have 2 main advantages:

1. They are naturally balanced, so they don't need artificial balancing gear which saps HP.

2. They are low profile so they offer a lower center of gravity vs a V or inline engine. Unless you lay the inline on its side like some BMWs. It seems a boxer engine would allow a lower hoodline in a small car design, although safety regulations make that style more difficult.

[extragoode]

Originally Posted by jamesqf

Yeah, but I'm having problems visualizing a V-3 :-)

Might look something like a rotary engine. 60 degrees between each piston.

Edit: 120 degrees. Math bad.