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Originally Posted by mkoesel
So this suggests that in the real world, the engines with the highest specific output are also those with greatest displacement. Does it hold true? Big stonking V10 and V12s of the world are typically making more HP/L or torque/L than Ferrari V8s or Porsche H6s, or super bike engines?
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No, but the point is this....any car needs a minimum amount of torque to make it driveable. The bigger the engine, the easier it is to achieve the minimum torque, and therefore more attention can be directed at getting maximum torque higher up in the rev range. If that makes sense.
Your superbike engine is a valid example. Good enough torque for a motorbike, but nowhere near enough for a car. You quite rightly point out good examples to disprove my theory, however, just because an engine is big in displacement, it doesn't mean it has been squeezed for maximum performance. To many, more displacement is enough.
Mercedes have countered BMW's M3 offering by using a large displacement, but relatively lazy engine. Clearly this example does not support my argument.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mkoesel
Or put two BMW S1000RR engines together and make S65-sized power with 2L, right? Or lots of other similar things that don't usually happen in the real world because simply scaling up a complex mechanical system like this is far from trivial. It can be done and sometimes is, but even so, it hardly validates your point above.
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True, it has to be done with the whole picture in mind, otherwise we would have 100 cylinder radio controlled aircraft engines powering our cars.
Two BMW S1000RR engines would be great for a single seater racing car, but still not enough torque for a road going car, and why it helps to have bigger displacement in order to really focus on the high end torque.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mkoesel
I get it - BTW. In a forum like this it can be a challenge to read through and see an over abundance of largely one-sided discussions. Sometimes we can feel an obligation to look out for the other side of the argument. But if you are hasty you can let emotions get the best if you and it ends up undermining what would otherwise be a fairly clean track record as a voice of reason. Because like most of the regular commenters on bimmerpost, you have a relatively good sense of reason, an apparently solid body of knowledge to draw from, and are a passionate enthusiast who wants to get his message across. A message that, in the end, I know you'd like to be credible so that it is taken seriously, rather than opinionated and error-laiden.
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I would like it to be taken seriously