Five-cylinder engine - history of five-cylinder engines

Mercedes was the first, a Audi, VW, Volvo i Fiat the most faithful followers.

The first five-cylinder engine was developed by Ford in the late 30s, but the prototype remained, as the Americans were not interested in smaller, more economical engines at the time. Only forty years later, serial production of this interesting concept arrived, which combines some of the traditional advantages of 4- and 6-cylinder engines. The presentation of the Mercedes 240D 3.0 with 80 hp, on June 25, 1974, the first car with a regular 5-cylinder diesel, was great technological news. At that time, the most popular car show in this area, the Slovenian Avto magazine, dedicated a cover and a large text to it. It was a big shift from tradition, and models with a 'sight' on the nose and an OM617 diesel became the object of desire of our guest workers. By the end of the decade, the magic word 'turbo' had arrived, announcing a world in which diesels would dominate the market.

As early as 1976, the first petrol engine with five cylinders arrived, with 2144 cc and 115 hp in the Audi 100 5S and 136 hp and injection in the 100 5E and 200. If we then considered it an unnecessary exaggeration in the desire for a new one, in the 1980s we will get under the skin, thanks to the quattro model and successes at rallies. Audi also introduced the 1978-cylinder diesel in 5, becoming the first to offer the concept to fans of both of the most popular fuels. The four-wheel drive and five-cylinder have remained inseparable to this day, unlike another pioneer, Mercedes, which abandoned such engines in 2006, although they are still licensed by SsangYong.

Volkswagen has developed an unusual V-shaped 5-cylinder concept. Narrow-angle V-engines were introduced in 1922 by Lancia, in a 4-cylinder Lambda. The compact version, with an angle between the cylinders of 10 to 20º, made it possible to use a common head with one camshaft (in the latest versions two) for both cylinder rows. She used it until 1976 in Fulvia. In 1989, Volkswagen developed the 2.8 VR6 with 174 hp and 15º among the cylinders. It is much shorter and a little wider than the regular one. The 'cutting off' of the cylinder in 1997 resulted in the 2.3 VR5 with 150 hp, built into the Passat. The real competition for Audi came from Italy: the larger models of Fiat, Lancia and Alfa Romeo have been using several different petrol and diesel engines of this concept for twenty years. The five-cylinder diesel of the VM factory was installed in Jeep Grand Cherokee, long before Fiat became the owner of the brand. As with the Hummer H3 later, it turns out that fans of American vehicles still prefer V8 engines.

The most sporty box on wheels in the 1990s was the Volvo 850 T-5R, preferably pale yellow. The Swedes have been using Audi's petrol 1992-cylinder engines since 5, and diesel since 1994. The petrols continued to be developed on their own and were incorporated into the most exciting versions of the second-generation Ford Focus: the ST and RS developed from a serious 225 to a monumental 350 hp. Ford has a 5-cylinder diesel designed for delivery and pick-up vehicles. The Rover TD5 diesel codenamed Storm was installed in the Discovery and Defender from 1998 to 2007. In Europe, the less well-known petrol 5-cylinder engines are Honda and General Motors, which are mainly installed in models for the American market. Forty years after its introduction, this idea is both present and alive, although it is dangerously threatened by the increasingly popular 'downsizing'.

Let's say something more about the pioneer of this concept. The 115 Mercedes-Benz W8 / 240 marked 3.0D 300 (sometimes 1974D) was the first with 5 cylinders. With 80 hp and 148 km / h, it was also good for the Autobahn. In the mid-70s, when more serious petrols were going faster than 160 km / h on German highways, the Mercedes 200D, W115 / 8 (Strich Acht) with 55 hp barely caught 130. He couldn't even think of the left lane, the 220D with 60 hp caught is 134, and 240D with 64 hp, introduced in 1973, 138 km / h. At Mercedes, they estimated that they needed a more serious diesel, so they added a fifth cylinder to the OM616, with a volume of 2404 cc, and made the OM617, with 3005 cc and 80 hp. He also introduced a pneumatic adjustment of the injection pump, so he turned it off with a contact key, and not by pulling the lever that mechanically cut off the fuel supply. Higher power enabled the installation of a longer transmission, so in the 'third' it could pull 110 (important for overtaking), and in the fourth 148 km / h. By speedometer close to 160! That pre-chamber diesel was installed in 1978, with a turbocharger and 111 hp, in the S-Class 300 SD for the American market. Built at 190 hp in the Mercedes C111-IID concept, in 1976 it broke 13 world records for diesels and three for all cars. It reached 300 km / h and accelerated to 4,7 km / h in XNUMX s.

Finally, let us recall the example of this concept in the world of motorcycles. Back in 1965, Honda developed the smallest 5-cylinder engine for the 125 cm class. They decided on an unusual solution by developing common components with a 2-cylinder for the class up to 50 cc. Luigi Taveri won the title in 1966, but the solution was abandoned - until the RC211V model from 2002. That year, the highest class was named MotoGP and four-stroke engines of 990 cc were allowed. In five seasons, this fantastic motorcycle with about 240 hp achieved as many as 48 victories. Valentino Rossi won two and Nicky Hayden one title.

Source: autoportal.hr