Take a look at this and tell me how accurate it is.

Inline engine:
Advantages
Simple
Easy and cheap to build
Narrow

Disadvantages
Long and tall Particularly in 6 and 8 Cylinder Versions

Slant Engine:
Advantages
Lower hood line than an inline engine
Easy and Cheap to build

Disadvantages
Long and wide

V-motor
Advantages
Shorter than Inline or Slant
Very smoothin 8 and 12 cylinder versions

Disadvantages
More complex to machine
Can have fuel distribution issues
Wide

Flat or Opposed
Advantages
Very short motor in both height and length
Very low center of gravity

Disadvantages
PITA to work on
Split case design
Very wide

Tell me what you all think of this (and be honest)

In stock form, I'd say that's fairly accurate. I would only disagree that only V engines have fuel distribution issues. The older I6 and I8 motors had terrible distribution especially with single carbs. Obviously this is all cured by fuel injection with all engine types.

Here's a nice, smooth V-20 with 13,000hp and 19,000 ft-lbs of torque; does have some packaging issues, though :D

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2002-2/13522/MTUBigBlock.jpg
graemlins/beers.gif

John, that engine looks like a Greenfield Village exhibit . . . where'd you get the pic? It kind of reminds me of the vertical opposed piston deisel we had on our submarine when I was in the Navy.

That sucker had 8 cylinders with 16 pistons -- 2 pistons met in the middle of each cylinder with a crankshaft above and below the block. The two cranks were geared together to keep the timing correct. It was kind of a neat compact design. Made HUGE TQ if I recall and only like 500 HP. It was just used for emergency elec power.

Sorry it took me so long to get back to you....Thanks guys graemlins/thumbsup.gif

It's a new Mercedes/MTU twin-turbocharged V-20 diesel, made for marine and locomotive service; the crankcase design is modular, with four cylinders per module, so just by changing the crank they can be built as an 8-, 12-, 16-, or 20-cylinder engine. graemlins/thumbsup.gif

What would your insurance agent say when you tell him...."Uhhhh, it's a 19,000 CI V-20. It's all stock, though. It gets 25 gallons per mile!"