anyone remember that car and driver a while back, with the comparo between the 760il and the s600? They talk about how 12 can be considered one of the those perfect numbers (along w/1.618, etc), in nature, society, and apparentely cars too. v12s are the absolute smoothest running engines around.

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Hopefully BMW will be able to pull this one off, instead of the 850 flop. As much as i prefer Mercedes over BMW, i have to hand it to them for the M series. aaaand the Z8.

am i the only one to notice how similar the taillights on that bmw are to subaru wrx taillights? same shape

quote:

Originally posted by getfoul Hopefully BMW will be able to pull this one off, instead of the 850 flop. As much as i prefer Mercedes over BMW, i have to hand it to them for the M series. aaaand the Z8.

the m5 WILL be successful... the 850 doesn't really compare... it was an "un-tested/un-tried" series. the m5 is just a motorsport version of the 5... 5-series generally sell well... and this m5 will be a beast so i am not worrying about it.

-keith

DRIVE BY WIRE!!!


i love how everyone is discussing the styling or straightline speed. thats just consequence! drive by wire, the rigidity of the chassis, etc - those are the real innovations here|

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'That's like telling a Kodiak bear to stop fcking older men.'

Fiberoptics

quote:

Originally posted by getfoul In the V12, there is less delay between teh cylinders firing, every 30 degrees in crankshaft rotation, a cylinder is firing. as opposed to every 45 in an 8 or every 90 in a 4.

actually it would go like this:

one cylinder - every 720 degrees.
two cylinders - every 360 degrees.
four cylinders - every 180 degrees, etc ...

four stroke engine means one combustion per 4 strokes, and you have two strokes ( up and down ) for one 360 degree revolution of crank, so one cylinder fires only every 720 not 360 degrees. for a 2-stroke it would indeed be 360 degrees but those are pretty much obsolete.

but your point that V12 will be firing more frequently is valid, i just dont know if that is of much importance.

bah, i neglected the fact that it was a 4 stroke... so basically take what i said and make it bigger lol.

His point is only of importance if you compare the V12 to an Inline-6.
The Inline-6 is already really smooth. It has to do with the design of the crankshaft:


Front view:


Somehow the all the vibrations are canceled out. I'm to lazy to translate it all from German, you'll find a detailed explanation somewhere on the net.

A V12 is nothing but 2 Inline-6 put together.

so what is the advantage of VW's W8 ?

http://www.modernracer.com/volkswagenpassatw8.html

http://www.forbes.com/2002/05/13/0513feat_2.html

It is small and fits into the VW engine-bays.
Space is limited due to the FWD.