question: How does a V configuration of an engine make it better than a normal engine?
comment: It's mainly about saving space. 8 in a line is long and thin. Two rows of 4 is only about as long as a 4 cylinder engine but twice as wide.
passages: Certain types of Vee engine have been built as inverted engines, most commonly for aircraft. Advantages include better visibility in a single-engined airplane, and lower centre of gravity. Examples include World War II German Daimler-Benz DB 601, Junkers Jumo, and Argus Motoren piston engines.
  
  Section::::Specific configurations.
  
  It is common practice for Vee engines to be described with "V"#"" notation, where "#" is how many cylinders it has:
  
  BULLET::::- V2, commonly referred to as a V-twin
  
  BULLET::::- V3
  
  BULLET::::- V4
  
  BULLET::::- V5
  
  BULLET::::- V6
  
  BULLET::::- V8
  
  BULLET::::- V10
  
  BULLET::::- V12
  
  BULLET::::- V14
  
  BULLET::::- V16
  
  BULLET::::- V18
  
  BULLET::::- V20
  
  BULLET::::- V24
   BULLET::::- In the flatplane V8 and many larger V engines, the piston motion within each bank is similar to that of a straight engine, however in the crossplane V8 and all V10 engines the motion is far more complex.
   Section::::Configurations.
  
  Section::::Configurations.:Crankshaft configuration.
  
  Most V-twin engines have a single crankpin, which is shared by both connecting rods. The connecting rods may sit side-by-side with offset cylinders, or they may be "fork & blade" items with cylinders in the same plane without an offset.
   The Ford V4s use split-pin crankshafts, like many 60° V6s. Just as with a boxer-four, piston pairs from opposite banks reach top-dead-centre at the same time, but with a crankpin split of only 60° instead of 180°, potentially giving a shorter and stronger or stiffer crankshaft. For 60° V6s, the crankpins are usually split the other way causing the paired pistons to reach top-dead-centre 120° apart.
  
  Section::::Four-cylinder engines.:Inline fours.
   This configuration is uncommon, as it is heavier than a V design. The main interest in this design is its ability to share common parts with straight engines. However, V engines with offset banks can also share straight engine parts (except for the crankshaft), and this is therefore a far more common design today when both engine forms are produced from the same basic design.
  
  Section::::Examples.
  
  Section::::Examples.:Petrol.
   To alter V, the SVC 'lowers' the cylinder head closer to the crankshaft. It does this by replacing the typical one-part engine block with a two-part unit, with the crankshaft in the lower block and the cylinders in the upper portion. The two blocks are hinged together at one side (imagine a book, lying flat on a table, with the front cover held an inch or so above the title page). By pivoting the upper block around the hinge point, the V (imagine the air between the front cover of the book and the title page) can be modified. In practice, the SVC adjusts the upper block through a small range of motion, using a hydraulic actuator.
   Some notable exceptions include the Moto Guzzi 500cc (with 120° V angle and 180° crank pin offset) that Stanley Woods rode to win the 1935 Isle of Man TT; the 1983 Honda Shadow 750, claimed as being the first perfectly balanced narrow-angle V-twin by using an offset-dual-pin crankshaft; and the 1987 Suzuki VX 800, 45° V angle with 45° crank pin offset in USA and 75° crank pin offset for the rest of the world.
  
  Section::::Configurations.:V angles.
   Section::::Characteristics.
  
  Usually, each pair of corresponding pistons from each bank of cylinders share one crankpin on the crankshaft, either by master/slave rods or by two ordinary connecting rods side by side. However, some V-twin engine designs have two-pin cranks, while other V configurations include split crank-pins for more even firing. 
   Because of the cylinder arrangement in the VR6 - with two rows of combustion chambers within the same cylinder head, the intake and exhaust ports between the two rows of cylinders are of varying lengths. Without compensation, these varying port lengths would result in the two rows of cylinders producing different amounts of power at a particular engine RPM. Depending on the specific generation of VR6, the difference in port lengths are compensated for by specific tuning of the intake manifold, the camshaft overlap and lift profile, or a combination thereof.
   This process can be applied to a standard racing engine to optimize its power output as well as to a production engine to turn it into a racing engine, to enhance its power output for daily use or to alter its power output characteristics to suit a particular application.
   BULLET::::- If a crankpin serves more than one cylinder, then the corresponding cylinders may have an offset, or may be articulated, to simplify the design of the big end bearing. This design is used in most V engines.
   The Honda NSR500 began and ended its life as a 'screamer', where the pistons were phased similarly to a four-stroke V-four with a 180° crank. However, in 1990 Honda set the crankpin phases of each pair of pistons within each bank to be the same (like a four-stroke 'droner': 360° crank), but with each bank's crankpins offset by 180° to each other (effectively "splitting" the pins and changing the V-angle, in terms of ignition timing). This was called a 'big bang' engine.
   BULLET::::- 2004+ Honda Elysion V6
  
  BULLET::::- 2005–2007 Honda Accord Hybrid ("JNA1")
  
  BULLET::::- 2005+ Honda Odyssey (USDM) EX-L and Touring Models only ("J35")
  
  BULLET::::- 2006–2008 Honda Pilot 2WD Models only ("J35")
  
  BULLET::::- 2008–2017* Honda Accord V6 (except EX-L V6 6MT Coupe) *Starting with 2013 Model, VCM operation is 3- or 6-cylinder mode, no longer 3, 4, 6-cylinder operation.
  
  BULLET::::- 2009+ Honda Pilot (all models)
  
  BULLET::::- 2011–2016 Honda Odyssey (USDM) V6
  
  BULLET::::- 2013 Acura RDX V6
  
  BULLET::::- 2013 Acura RLX *3 or 6 cylinder mode
  
  BULLET::::- 2014 Acura MDX *3 or 6 cylinder mode
   An example is the Buick 231 odd-fire, which has a firing order 1-6-5-4-3-2. As the crankshaft is rotated through the 720° required for all cylinders to fire, the following events occur on 30° boundaries:
  
  Note that the firing order is not solely dictated by the odd or even firing arrangement of the engine, it is an engine specific design choice.
   BULLET::::- A serious issue with large single-sleeve aero-engines is that their maximum reliable rotational speed is limited to about 3,000 RPM, but the M Hewland car engine was raced above 10,000 rpm without toil.
  
  BULLET::::- Improved fuel octanes, above about 87 RON, have assisted poppet-valve engines’ power output more than to the single-sleeve engines’.
   BULLET::::- Torque generation (13.Phase and 14.Plane) and
  
  BULLET::::- Compression (15.Phase and 16.Plane)
  
  Section::::Inherent balance.:Two cylinder engines.
  
  There are three common configurations in two-cylinder engines: parallel-twin, V-twin, and flat twin.
   Section::::Production.
  
  Variable compression engines have existed for decades but only in laboratories for the purposes of studying combustion processes. These designs usually have a second adjustable piston set in the head opposing the working piston.
   Section::::Twins and twingles.
  
  Section::::Twins and twingles.:Parallel twins.
  
  The classic British parallel-twins (BSA, Triumph, Norton, AJS & Matchless) all had 360° crankshafts that, compared to a single, gave twice as many ignition pulses which were evenly spaced. However, the 360 twin had a mechanical primary engine balance that was no better than a single.
   Yamaha created a big bang YZR500 in 1992. The YZR500 had two crankshafts like a U engine and the angle between each pair of cylinders was 90°, like a V4.
   V engine
  
  A V engine, or Vee engine is a common configuration for an internal combustion engine. The cylinders and pistons are aligned, in two separate planes or 'banks', so that they appear to be in a "V" when viewed along the axis of the crankshaft. The Vee configuration generally reduces the overall engine length, height and weight compared with an equivalent inline configuration.
  
  Section::::History.
   On the other hand, secondary balance is far superior to Straight Six because there are no piston pairs moving together, and is superior to V6 because a large part of secondary imbalance is cancelled in the opposing cylinder pairs except for the front-to-back offset. This makes a boxer six particularly suited for high-revving operation.
   Of course cam profiles, engine rpm, engine height constraints and other limitations play a role in this difference as well, but the difference in port design is a major factor.
  
  Section::::Wave dynamics.
   When Fiat began marketing the Fiat 128 in 1969 — with its engine and gearbox situated in an in-line, transverse front-drive layout, combined unequal drive shafts, MacPherson strut suspension and an electrically controlled radiator fan — it became the layout adopted by virtually every other manufacturer in the world for front-wheel drive. The approach of unequal drive shafts was crafted by Dante Giacosa.
   Aircraft with four or more engines have not only a V (often called V under these circumstances), where the critical engine alone is inoperative, but also a V that applies when the engine inboard of the critical engine, on the same wing, is also inoperative. Civil aviation regulations (FAR, CS and equivalent) no longer require a V to be determined, although it is still required for military aircraft with four or more engines. On turbojet and turbofan aircraft, the outboard engines are usually equally critical. Three-engine aircraft such as the MD-11 and BN-2 Trislander do not have a V; a failed centerline engine has no effect on V.
   Section::::History.:Alfa Romeo Alfetta CEM.
  