20 cylinders, 4.0 liters.
As hard to believe as it may sound, we’ve talked a lot about V16 cars here at Motor1.com. From the 1930 Cadillac V16 to the Cizeta V16T, this rare type of engine is still alive and kicking. But one topic we’ve never discussed so far is… 20-cylinder engines!
Yes, you read that right. Someone is working on what could be the first 20-cylinder engine in the automotive industry and Drivetribe’s latest video is providing a look behind the project. Some of you will probably say there are 20-cylinder engines in existence – that is true but basically, all of them are used in diesel locomotives, haul trucks, electric generators, and marine applications, but not cars.
Plus, the engine we are talking about doesn’t feature a V arrangement of the cylinders. Instead, it marries two V10 engines in a horizontally opposed layout. The creators of that powertrain describe it as an X20 engine because of the four rows with five cylinders each. Wait, this is not the weirdest part.
The engine has two crankshafts which are geared together to a six-speed manual gearbox sourced from a Lamborghini Gallardo. The two V10 engines are sourced from the Connaught Type-D sports car and have a displacement of 2.0 liters. In their original form, the units are supercharged but in this X20 project, so far, they are naturally aspirated.
The project is currently under development by a company called Villiers. Unfortunately, the whole thing doesn’t look anywhere near its completion but we’ll follow the project closely as we’d really like to hear what a 20-cylinder engine sounds like.
Source:
Drivetribe
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