According to the arrangement of cylinders, an engine is classified primarily into

following categories:

1. Inline
2. ‘V’ shaped
3. ‘W’ shaped
4. Flat / Horizontally opposed
5. Opposed Pistons
6. Radial

However, most commonly used engines in automotive applications are Inline, V, W, and
Flat engine designs.

What is InLine Engine:

InLine Engine is a type of engine design that is very basic and conventional. In this type
of engine construction, the cylinders are placed in a straight line as shown in the
diagram. As all the cylinders are in a straight line, manufacturers sometimes refer to this
engine as the 'Straight Engine'. In line engine can have upto 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 or 8 cylinders.
The manufacturers term am in-line engine with four cylinders as Inline-4 engine. It is
usually denoted by either I4 or L4 (longitudinal 4) in a car's nomenclature.

However, manufacturers classify the six cylinders as straight-6 & for 8 cylinders it
is straight-8 engine respectively as opposed to an inline-6 or inline-8. Many vehicular
applications such as cars, light commercial vehicles, medium & heavy commercial
vehicles and earth moving equipment widely use this design. This is mainly because the
manufacturing cost of the in-line engines is lower than the 'V-engines'.

Inline engine type is most common type of engines in vehicles with engine capacity upto
3.0L. The Inline engine type design is simple. Hence, it is considerably easier and cheaper
to manufacture than a horizontal or a ‘V’ engine. In this design, engine's camshaft is
normally housed in the cylinder block with tappets & push-rod arrangement to operate
them. The manufacturers place the engine valves either in the block next to the pistons
or in the cylinder head.

Most A, B & C segment passenger cars such as hatchbacks, coupes and sedans used
the in-line engines. The cars with In-line engine in A segment are: Maruti Alto 800, Maruti
Celerio, Tata Tiago. Cars with In-line engine in the B segment are: Honda City, Toyota
Corolla, Hyundai Elentra, Verna, Chevrolet Cruise etc.
V Engine Construction:
V engine is a newer generation compact engine design. This engine construction places
the cylinders at an angle; instead of in a straight line with each other. The angle between
the cylinders varies from 60 to 90 degrees. Angle between the cylinders form 'V' shape,
and that is why this engine is called the V engine. With a few exceptions, the V engine is
usually made with an even number of cylinders; such as 2 (twin), 4, 6, 8 or 12 and so on.
This type of design construction considerably reduces height, length & weight of the
engine compared to an Inline engine design type with equal number of cylinders.

V Engine Applications:

The ‘V’ engines have a complex design and hence, carry high cost of manufacturing
compared to an InLine engine of similar capacity. The 2-cylinder ‘V’, also known as ‘V-
Twin’; is typically used for high-end sports-bikes and cruisers. On the other hand, high
end super-bikes use V-4 design. The high-end cars such as saloons, sports-cars
and SUVscommonly employ the ‘V6’ and ‘V8’ and ‘V12’ designs.
Vehicles with engine capacity above 3.0L, especially cars; tend to use V-engine design.
In this design, engine houses its camshaft in the cylinder head known as Overhead
Camshaft (SOHC or DOHC).

Most C segment passenger cars such as large family sedans, SUVs and sports-cars etc.
make use of V-engines. Some of the cars with V type engine include: Toyota Camry 3.0L,
Mercedes Benz E 400 Cabriolet, C63 S AMG, E 63 AMG, G 63 AMG, GL 63 AMG, some
of the BMW 5 series, 6 series & 7 series models and Ferrari 458 Speciale, Spider, 488
GTS, California T models. Cars with V-engine in the SUV segment are: Toyota Land
Cruiser, Land Rover Discovery-4, Range rover, Audi Q5, Q7 etc. available in India.

Advantages of V engine:

1. Smallest of all the eight-cylinder engines

2. Low position of bonnet helps in better aerodynamics
3. Increases primary balance & reduces vibrations
4. Smoother operation for high speed performance
5. Compactness makes it suitable for high-end sports-cars

For e.g. Toyota uses V6 engine for its Camry series cars.

‘W’ Engine:

In this engine construction, the engine has three rows of cylinders placed at an angle.
The angle between the cylinder rows form a 'W' shape and that is why it is a 'W' engine
design.

Typically, it is used in high-speed racing cars. The cars with 18 cylinders are some of Bugatti
show cars - EB118 concept, EB 218 concept, 18/3 Chiron concept - all with an 18-cylinder ‘W-
18’ engine and EB 18.4 Veyron Concept - with a 16-Cylinder ‘W-16’ engine.
Flat / Horizontally Opposed:

The main advantage of flat / horizontally opposed engines is that it allows a lower center
of gravity, thereby helping in improving the vehicle performance. This type of engine is
used in Subaru cars.

All Subaru models such as Impreza, Forester, Tribeca, Legacy, Outback, Baja, BRZ and SVX
use either a flat-four or flat-six engine.
Engines are also classified according to the arrangement of the cylinders (fig. 2-10): in-line with all
cylinders cast in a straight line above the crankshaft; v-type with two banks of cylinders mounted in a V-
shape above the crankshaft; horizontal opposed with cylinders arranged 180 degrees from other with
opposing cylinders sharing a common crankshaft journal; and radial with the cylinders placed in a circle
around the crankshaft.

IN-LINE—In-line is a common arrangement for both automotive and truck applications. It is commonly
built in four- and six-cylinder configurations.

V-TYPE—V-type is also a common arrangement for both automotive and truck applications. The V-type
engine in a six-cylinder configuration is suitable for front-wheel drive cars where the engine is mounted
transversely.

HORIZONTAL OPPOSED—This engine is designed to fit into compartments where height is a

consideration. It is used for air-cooled configurations.

RADIAL—This engine is designed almost exclusively for an aircraft engine.

The cylinders are numbered. The cylinder nearest the front of an in-line engine is number 1. The others
are numbered 2, 3, 4, and so on, from front to rear. In V-type engines, the numbering sequence varies by
manufacturer. You should always consult the manufacturer's manual for the correct order.

The firing order (which is different from the numbering order) of the cylinders of most engines is stamped
on the cylinder block or on the manufacturer’s nameplate. If you are unable to locate the firing order and
no operation or instruction manual is available, turn the engine over by the crankshaft and watch the
order in which the intake valves open.