Flat-sixteen engine

Porsche 917 experimental Can-Am engine

A flat-16 is a rarely used internal combustion engine, arranged in two banks of 8 horizontally-opposed cylinders.

These engines had two connecting rods per crankpin, so they could also be referred to as a 180 degree V16, rather than a 'boxer' design.[1][2]

Coventry Climax FWMW

The British engine manufacturing company Coventry Climax developed a flat-16 unit, the FWMW, between 1963 and 1965, towards the end of the 1.5-litre Formula One era.[3] The Brabham and Lotus teams designed cars for this engine but it was never raced. This was due to reliability problems in testing[4][5] and it failed to produce enough extra power than the engine it was meant to replace, the V8 FWMV.[3][6]

Porsche 917 / 16 cylinder prototype

Porsche ran some tests with a dual-spark flat-16 version of the 917PA, but it too was never raced, as turbocharging the existing flat-12 produced the required power.

References

  1. https://purl.stanford.edu/zb672kp2685
  2. Exclusive: Porsche to run sixteen cylinder engine at Goodwood (Video). July 17, 2014. Retrieved December 12, 2017.
  3. 1 2 Howard, K., (2003). Climax flat-16. Retrieved 19th April, 2017 from Motor Sport Magazine website.
  4. Kierstein, A., (2013). From the Archives: Coventry Climax flat-16 engine schematic. Retrieved 19th April, 2017.
  5. 'Sweet but unsung Sixteen', (2014). Retrieved 19th April, 2017 from Motor Sport Magazine website.
  6. 'Climax, an engine to be proud of', (n.d.). Retrieved 19th April, 2017.
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