The Development of The V8 Engine

 

The V8 engine has possibly the biggest cult following of any engine type, and because of this, has been largely popularized throughout the world (however, it is most notable in American motorsports and private collections). The development of this engine has gone through many phases, starting with the development of the 4-stroke engine by Nicholaus Otto and others in the late 19th century.

 

The 4-stroke engine, developed by Otto has become the basis for all modern car engines, but the original design was not kept as it was for very long. Developments in fuel injection technology, as well as supercharging and the stylized mounting systems used to stabilize different types of engines.

 

The most popular engine-balancing configuration puts the cylinders at an angle of 90oto each other, however angles of 75, 72, 60 and 45 degrees are also used, depending on other aspects such as performance needs and weight ratios.

 

The two layouts most commonly used on V8’s are the ‘cross-plane’ which is counter weighted to reduce instability, but is much heavier and has a higher center of gravity as a result; and the ‘flat-plane’ configuration, which has more second order vibration because of how the pistons are situated. The ‘flat-plane’ has higher performance output, but the vibration makes the drive more unstable.

 

Other developments in the internal combustion engine include the use of fuel injection (first used in 1952 and later turned into an electronic process in 1975), forced induction (which pumps air through the cylinders faster, allowing for a more efficient combustion of fuel, such as in the supercharger and turbo induction methods), and the use of lighter and stronger materials such as aluminum and thermo-set plastics (as late as the early 21st century) to lighten the load and make the engine more stable and thus, conducive to performance enhancements.

 

Written By Wesley Geyer

Creative Writer for ATKA SA