Why have the inline-8 disappeared???

Length ? Damn thing is longer then a viper engine.

 

!

 

Required too much space, weighed more than a V8. Due to length of crankshaft could not rev as high as V8. Due to lower revs, made less power than V8. Due to greater # of machining operations cost more to make than V8.

In short, it ran its course and went the way of the dinosaurs.

In the 30's THE prestige motors had 12 or 16 cylinders.

 

But why have a straight 8 when you can have a V12?

Now for say an American version of said (ultra lux) cars, that would make some sense...but there are no American cars at that level.

 

To follow on Brian's comment about lower revs, the crank liked to imitate a speghetti noodle at higher revs.

 

The straight 8's of Mercedes of the 50's in the W196 and W196S were functionally 2 4cyl motors end to end in much the same way that the Porsche 917 motor was 2 flat 6's end to end. That being all power output was at the center of the crank. That achieved several goals but most importantly reducing the effective length of the crankshaft from a torsional load perspective allowing the crankshaft to be very light, yet very strong avoiding those issues that plaque typical inline 8 and V12 designs. Both very clever and also very complex motors. The fact that both were such successful race motors and the reliability they achieved are a real testament to the engineering skills of both companies at the time they were developed.

 

Had a 1948 Buick with the "Straight 8". many, many years ago. It was a tank and had the hood that looked the length of a longboard. Did not have to worry about shopping carts though. Drank gas like flushing a toilet.............

 

Aaahh yes, the single speed Dynaflow. My brother had a cherry 1950 Buick that he bought for 40.00 dollars in 1971. A MONSTER.

 

well the veyron has a w16 engine, it has 8 cyclinders on each bank.....makes the engine shorter in the 'w' configuration...

.02

 

Caddilac also did a 16cylinder engine back in the 40s or somewhere around there. Definetly beastly but then again so are the current caddies. Never even heard of an Inline 8 until now.

 

Rifledriver has the correct insight into the how's and why's. The staight eights did allright but the thought of more horsepower and the crankshaft acting like a rubber band just kept engineers looking for something more compact with less flex. Yes the V16's are a novelty and as long as they keep their rpm down to around 5,000 rpm they will probably live, but as a race motor, never! As a luxury cruiser they may fly.

 

The Buick I8 didn't turn many revs. I'm sure trying to spin a modern I8 at high RPM s would present a lot of problems for the engineers.(lots of crankshaft tortional movement.) As someone stated earlier, that Buick I8 was a looong motor. My Dad had one a couple years ago.
Darrell.