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Missing image Aero4G11.jpg The Liberty V8 aircraft engine clearly shows the configuration A V8 engine is a V engine with eight cylinders.
OverviewThe V8 is a very common configuration for large automobile engines. V8 engines are rarely less than 3 litres in displacement and in automobile use have gone up to 8.5 litres or so. American cars until the mid 1970s almost universally had V8 engines, and many still insist on them. The V8 is probably the most common engine configuration in the higest echelons of motorsport, especially in the USA where it is required in IRL, ChampCar and NASCAR. Vee anglesThe most-common Vee angle for a V8 by far is 90°. This configuration produces a wide, low engine with optimal firing and vibration characteristics. Since many V6 engines are derived from V8 designs, they often use the 90° angle as well. However, some V8s use different angles. One notable example is the Ford/Yamaha V8 used in the Ford Taurus SHO. It was based on Ford's Duratec V6 and shares that engine's 60° vee angle. This engine will be used by Volvo Cars in 2005. Cross-plane and flat-planeThere are two classic types of V8s which differ by crankshaft:
More information is available here (http://autozine.kyul.net/technical_school/engine/smooth4.htm). American V8 EnginesThe United States can be considered the 'home of the V8' - it has always been more popular there than anywhere else, and it is certainly even now the preferred arrangement for any large engine. With the recent exceptions of the Dodge Viper's V10 and the Ford large truck engine of the same arrangement, there are practically no large engines in the US of post-World War II design that have not been of this type. Cadillac produced the first American V8 engine, 1914's L-Head. It was a complicated hand-built unit, but production continued through the 1940s. Ford were the first company to use V8s en masse. Instead of going to a straight-6 like its competitors when something larger than a straight-4 was needed, Ford went straight to the V8 with its famous Flathead of 1932. This engine powered almost all larger Ford cars until 1953, and was produced until around 1970 by Ford licensees around the world, mostly powering commercial vehicles. After World War II, increasing vehicle size meant that the straight-6 became increasingly underpowered, while lower hoods and more aerodynamic styling meant that the straight-8 was simply too large. General Motors responded to Ford's V8 success with the 1949 introduction of the Oldsmobile Rocket/Cadillac OHV, the first OHV V8 ever produced. Chrysler introduced their FirePower hemi-head V8 the next year. Sales were beyond all expectations, so Buick, Chevrolet, and Pontiac introduced V8s of their own in 1954. A full history of each manufacturer's engines is out of scope in this article, but engine sizes on full-size cars grew throughout the 1950s, 1960s and into the early to mid 1970s. The increasing size of full-size cars meant that smaller models of car were introduced and became more popular, with the result that by the 1960s Chrysler, Ford, and Chevrolet had two V8 models. The larger engines, known as big-block V8s, were used in the full-size cars. Big-blocks generally had displacements in excess of 6 L (360 in³), but in stock form are often not all that efficient. Big-block displacement reached its zenith with the 1970 Cadillac Eldorado's 8.2 L (500 in³) 500. Once the 1970s oil crisis and pollution regulations hit, big-block V8s didn't last too much longer in cars; luxury cars lasted the longest, but by 1977 or so they were gone. In trucks and other larger vehicles, big-block V8s in their historic form lasted until the early 1990s. Smaller engines, known as small-block V8s, were fitted in the mid-size car ranges and generally displaced between 4.4 L (270 in³) and 6.0 L (360 in³), though some grew as large as Ford's 6.7 L (408 in³) 400 Cleveland. As can be seen, there is overlap between big-block and small-block ranges, and an engine between 6.0 L and 6.6 L could belong to either class. Engines like this (much evolved, of course) are still in production. During the 1950s, 60s and 70s, every General Motors division had their own engines, whose merits varied. This enabled each division to have its own unique engine character, but made for much duplication of effort. Most, like the comparatively tiny Buick 215 and familiar Chevrolet 350, were confusingly shared across many divisions. Ford and Chrysler had fewer divisions, and division-specific engines were quickly abandoned in favor of a few shared designs. Today, there are less than a dozen different American V8 engines in production. See also (American V8s)
British V8 enginesThe most common British V8 is the Rover V8, used in countless British performance cars. This is not actually a British design at all but was imported from America, its roots being in General Motors' Oldsmobile/Buick cast-aluminum 215 V8 in 1960. It was of the small (for the US market) size of 3.5 L (215 in³) and very light for a V8. It appeared in production in 1961 on some of that year's Buick, Oldsmobile and Pontiac models, but was soon dropped in favor of more conventional iron-blocked units. As the aluminium block made this engine one of the lightest stock V8s built there was some attempts to use it in racing at Indianapolis. The Australian firm Repco converted this engine for Formula One by reducing it to 3 litres and fitting a single overhead camshaft per bank rather than the shared pushrod arrangement. Repco-powered Brabhams won the F1 championship twice, in 1966 and 1967. Rover were in need of a new, more powerful engine in the mid 1960s, and became aware of this small, lightweight V8. After some negotiation they acquired rights to it and have produced it ever since, its first appearances being in Rover saloons in the late 1960s. As well as appearing in Rover cars, the engine was widely sold to small car builders, and has appeared in all kinds of vehicles. Rover V8s feature in some models from Morgan, TVR , Triumph, Marcos, and MG, among many others. They're also the standard British engine in hot rods, much like the Chevrolet 350 small-block is to American builders. To be done : French V8 enginesCzech V8 enginesTatra used air-cooled V8 engines. German V8 enginesItalian V8 enginesAlfa-RomeoThe Alfa-Romeo Montreal was powered by a V8. FerrariFerrari adopted the V8 configuration in racing in 1962 with the 268 SP. The first V8-powered Ferrari road car was 1974's 308 GT4, with the familiar 308 GTB following closely behind. The company continued to use this Dino V8 engine ever since with the 328, 348, and successors. Ferrari's smallest V8 (and indeed, the smallest ever) was the 2.0 L (1990 cc) unit found in the 1975 208 GT4. The company produced a slightly-larger 2.0 L V8 in the 208 GTB of the 1980s. Five-valve versions of Ferrari's 3.5 L and 3.6 L V8s were found in the Ferrari 355 and Ferrari 360. The old Dino V8 was retired for 2005 with the introduction of a shared Ferrari/Maserati V8 in the F430. LamborghiniLamborghini have always fitted V12s in their top-of-the-line cars, but have built many V8s for their lower models, including the Urraco and Jalpa MaseratiMaserati have used V8s for many of their models, including the Maserati Bora. This engine was initially designed as a racing engine for the Maserati 450S. The company's latest V8, found in the Quattroporte, Coupe, and Spyder, is a new design shared with Ferrari. Spanish V8 enginesSpanish truck company Pegaso made around 100 cars in the 50s and 60s. These cars were powered by a DOHC 32 valve V8, with up to 360 hp (270 kW). V8s in Aviation45° Liberty engine V8. Hispano-Suiza WW1 V8. V8s in MotorcyclesMoto-Guzzi racing V8 engine. External links
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