<VV> Boxer Motor

[JVHRoberts@aol.com]

Ferrari would beg to differ. They call their 6 throw flat 12s boxers. Not to 
start a fight, mind you.. <G>
No doubt Ferrari, et al, use a 6 throw crank for stiffness reasons. A 12 
throw crank gets to be quite flexible with all those journals, and on a 12, 
there's no loss of smoothness, since they are basically a pair of L6s sharing a 
crank. 


In a message dated 3/7/2004 9:57:36 AM Eastern Standard Time, pottsf@msn.com 
writes:
I've dragged us (VV) through this before. Boxer engines are those
180-degree-opposed engines whose opposed pistons move out at the same time
(left side vs right side), and in at the same time. There ARE
180-degree-opposed engines whose opposed pistons move in TANDEM - that is,
when left is moving out, right is moving in (toward the crankshaft). THESE
engines are NOT boxers - they are V engines with 180 degrees between the
banks. At least some Ferrari flat 12s are of this design. V engines have
half as many journals on the crankshaft as they have cylinders. Boxers (like
the Corvair) have as many journals as they have cylinders.
     I owe this understanding to a very informative magazine given to me by
VVer Thomas Stingl, of Karlsruhe, Germany. The explanation was in German,
and the effort of understanding it was so great for me that I will never
forget it.