A V6, 24-valve, DOHC engine (Nissan VR38 engine)

A V6 engine is a V engine with six cylinders mounted on the crankcase in two banks of three cylinders, usually set at either a right angle or an acute angle to each other, with all six pistons driving a common crankshaft. It is the second most common engine configuration in modern cars after the inline four.^[1]

The V6 is one of the most compact engine configurations, shorter than the inline-4 and in many designs narrower than the V8. Owing to its compact length, the V6 lends itself well to the widely-used transverse engine front-wheel drive layout. It is becoming more common as the space allowed for engines in modern cars is reduced at the same time as power requirements increase, and has largely replaced the inline-6, which is too long to fit in many modern engine compartments. Although it is more complicated^{[citation needed]} and, in some cases, not as smooth as the inline-6, the V6 is more rigid for a given weight, more compact and less prone to torsional vibrations in the crankshaft for a given displacement. The V6 engine has become widely adopted for medium-sized cars, often as an optional engine where an inline-4 is standard, or as a base engine where a V8 is a higher-cost performance option.

Recent forced induction V6 engines have delivered horsepower and torque output comparable to contemporary larger displacement, naturally aspirated V8 engines, while reducing fuel consumption and emissions, such as the Volkswagen Group's 3.0 TFSI which is supercharged and directly injected, and Ford Motor Company's turbocharged and directly injected EcoBoost V6, both of which have been compared to Volkswagen's 4.2 V8 engine.^[1]

Modern V6 engines commonly range in displacement from 2.5 to 4.0 L (150 to 240 cu in), though larger and smaller examples have been produced.

History[link]

Some of the first V6-cars were built in 1905 by Marmon. Marmon was something of a V-Specialist which began with V2-engines, then built V4's and V6's, later V8's and in the 1930s Marmon was one of the few car-makers of the world which ever built a V16 car.^[2]

From 1908 to 1913 the Deutz Gasmotoren Fabrik produced benzene electric trainsets (Hybrid) which used a V6 as generator-engine.^[3]

Another V6-car was designed in 1918 by Leo Goosen for Buick Chief Engineer Walter L. Marr. Only one prototype Buick V6 car was built in 1918 and was long used by the Marr family.^[4]

Lancia V6

The first series production V6 was introduced by Lancia in 1950 with the Lancia Aurelia. Other manufacturers took note and soon other V6 engines were in use. In 1959, GM introduced a heavy-duty 305 in³ (5 L) 60° V6 for use in their pickup trucks and Suburbans, an engine design that was later enlarged to 478 in³ (7.8 L) for heavy truck and bus use.

1962 saw the introduction of the Buick Special, which offered a 90° V6 with uneven firing intervals that shared some parts commonality with a small Buick V8 of the period. Consequently the Buick Special met consumer resistance due to its excessive vibration.^{[citation needed]} In 1983, Nissan produced Japan's first V6 engine with the VG series.^{[citation needed]}

Balance and smoothness[link]

Due to the odd number of cylinders in each bank, V6 designs are inherently unbalanced, regardless of their V-angle. All straight engines with an odd number of cylinders suffer from primary dynamic imbalance, which causes an end-to-end rocking motion. Each cylinder bank in a V6 has an odd number of pistons, so the V6 also suffers from the same problem unless steps are taken to mitigate it. In the horizontally opposed flat-6 layout, the rocking motions of the two straight cylinder banks offset each other, while in the inline-6 layout, the two ends of engine are mirror images of each other and compensate every rocking motion. Concentrating on the first order rocking motion, the V6 can be assumed to consist of two separate straight-3 where counterweights on the crankshaft and a counter rotating balance shaft compensate the first order rocking motion. At mating, the angle between the banks and the angle between the crankshafts can be varied so that the balancer shafts cancel each other 90° V6 (larger counter weights) and the even firing 60° V6 with 60° flying arms (smaller counter weights. The second order rocking motion can be balanced by a single co-rotating balancer shaft.).

A 90° V6 can use almost the same technique that balances an even firing 90° crossplane V8 in primary and secondary order. A flatplane V8 is in primary balance because each 4-cylinder bank is in primary balance. In a crossplane V8, balance is achieved at each cylinder pair, since the primary imbalance of a 90° pair is a special case that can be cancelled with a crankshaft counterweight. Secondary balance is achieved by the staggered arrangement of the crossplane crank. A simple 90° V6 with crankshaft counterweights achieves good balance for similar reasons, although the uneven firing intervals will be perceived as roughness at low RPM, making this an unpopular solution. Therefore, designing a smooth V6 engine is a much more complicated problem than the straight-6, flat-6, and V8 layouts. Although the use of offset crankpins, counterweights, and flying arms has reduced the problem to a minor second-order vibration in modern designs, all V6s can benefit from the addition of auxiliary balance shafts to make them completely smooth.^[5]

When Lancia pioneered the V6 in 1950, they used a 60° angle between the cylinder banks and a six-throw crankshaft to achieve equally spaced firing intervals of 120°. This still has some balance and secondary vibration problems. When Buick designed a 90° V6 based on their 90° V8, they initially used a simpler three-throw crankshaft laid out in the same manner as the V8 with pairs of connecting rods sharing the same crankpin, which resulted in firing intervals alternating between 90° and 150°. This produced a rough-running design which was unacceptable to many customers. Arguably, the roughness is in the exhaust note, rather than noticeable vibration, so the perceived smoothness is rather good at higher RPM. Later, Buick and other manufacturers refined the design by using a split-pin crankshaft which achieved a regular 120° firing interval by staggering adjacent crankpins by 15° in opposite directions to eliminate the uneven firing and make the engine reasonably smooth.^[6] Some manufacturers such as Buick in later versions of their V6 and Mercedes Benz have taken the 90° design a step further by adding a balancing shaft to offset the primary vibrations and produce an almost fully balanced engine.

Some designers have reverted to a 60° angle between cylinder banks, which produces a more compact engine, but have used three-throw crankshafts with flying arms between the crankpins of each throw to achieve even 120° angles between firing intervals. This has the additional advantage that the flying arms can be weighted for balancing purposes.^[6] This still leaves an unbalanced primary couple, which is offset by counterweights on the crankshaft and flywheel to leave a small secondary couple, which can be absorbed by carefully designed engine mounts.^[7]

Six-cylinder designs are also more suitable for larger displacement engines than four-cylinder ones because power strokes of pistons overlap. In a four-cylinder engine, only one piston is on a power stroke at any given time. Each piston comes to a complete stop and reverses direction before the next one starts its power stroke, which results in a gap between power strokes and noticeable vibrations. In a six-cylinder engine (other than odd-firing V6s), the next piston starts its power stroke 60° before the previous one finishes, which results in smoother delivery of power to the flywheel. In addition, because inertial forces are proportional to piston displacement, high-speed six-cylinder engines will suffer less stress and vibration per piston than an equal displacement engine with fewer cylinders.

Comparing engines on the dynamometer, a typical even-fire V6 shows instantaneous torque peaks of 150% above mean torque and valleys of 125% below mean torque, with a small amount of negative torque (engine torque reversals) between power strokes. On the other hand, a typical four-cylinder engine shows peaks of nearly 300% above mean torque and valleys of 200% below mean torque, with 100% negative torque being delivered between strokes. In contrast, a V8 engine shows peaks of less than 100% above and valleys of less than 100% below mean torque, and torque never goes negative. The even-fire V6 thus ranks between the four and the V8, but closer to the V8, in smoothness of power delivery. An odd-fire V6, on the other hand, shows highly irregular torque variations of 200% above and 175% below mean torque, which is significantly worse than an even-fire V6, and in addition the power delivery shows large harmonic vibrations that have been known to destroy the dynamometer.^[8]

V angles[link]

60 degrees[link]

Nissan VG30E engine

The most efficient cylinder bank angle for a V6 is 60 degrees, minimizing size and vibration. While 60° V6 engines are not as well balanced as inline-6 and flat-6 engines, modern techniques for designing and mounting engines have largely disguised their vibrations. Unlike most other angles, 60-degree V6 engines can be made acceptably smooth without the need for balance shafts. When Lancia pioneered the 60° V6 in 1950, a 6-throw crankshaft was used to give equal firing intervals of 120°. However, more modern designs often use a 3-throw crankshaft with what are termed flying arms between the crankpins, which not only give the required 120° separation but also can be used for balancing purposes. Combined with a pair of heavy counterweights on the crankshaft ends, these can eliminate all but a modest secondary imbalance which can easily be damped out by the engine mounts.^[1]

This configuration is a good fit in cars which are too big to be powered by four-cylinder engines, but for which compactness and low cost are important. The most common 60° V6s were built by General Motors (the heavy duty commercial models, as well as a design used in many GM front-wheel-drive cars) and Ford European subsidiaries (Essex V6, Cologne V6 and the more recent Duratec V6). Other 60° V6 engines are the Chrysler 3.3 V6 engine, the Nissan VQ engine, the Mazda K engine, the Alfa Romeo V6 engine, many Toyota V6 engines, and later versions of the Mercedes-Benz V6 engine.

90 degrees[link]

90° V6 engines are also produced, usually so they can use the same production-line tooling set up to produce V8 engines (which normally have a 90° V angle). Although it is relatively easy to derive a 90° V6 from an existing V8 design by simply cutting two cylinders off the engine, this tends to make it wider and more vibration-prone than a 60° V6. The design was first used by Buick when it introduced its 198 CID Fireball V6 as the standard engine in the 1962 Special. Other examples include the Maserati V6 used in the Citroën SM, the PRV V6, Honda's use of it in the Honda NSX. Chevrolet's 4.3 L Vortec 4300 and Chrysler's 3.9 L (238 in³) Magnum V6 and 3.7 L (226 in³) PowerTech V6. The Buick V6 was notable because it introduced the concept of uneven firing, as a result of using the 90° cylinder bank angle and shared-crankpin crankshaft design found in the V8 engine (although the V6 crankshaft does have 3 crank throws set at 120° apart, rather than 90° apart as found in the V8) . Rather than firing every 120° of crankshaft rotation, the cylinders would fire alternately at 90° and 150°, resulting in strong harmonic vibrations at certain engine speeds. These engines were often referred to by mechanics as "shakers", due to the tendency of the engine to bounce around at idle speed.

More modern 90° V6 engine designs avoid these vibration problems by using crankshafts with offset split crankpins to make the firing intervals even, and often add balancing shafts to eliminate the other vibration problems. Examples include the later versions of the Buick V6, and earlier versions of the Mercedes-Benz V6. The Mercedes V6, although designed to be built on the same assembly lines as the V8, used split crankpins, a counter-rotating balancing shaft, and careful acoustic design to make it almost as smooth as the inline-6 it replaced. However, in later versions Mercedes changed to a 60° angle, making the engine more compact and allowing elimination of the balancing shaft. Despite the difference in V angles, the Mercedes 60° V6s are built on the same assembly lines as 90° V8s.^[9]

120 degrees[link]

120° might be described as the natural angle for a V6 since the cylinders fire every 120° of crankshaft rotation. Unlike the 60° or 90° configuration, it allows pairs of pistons to share crank pins in a three-throw crankshaft without requiring flying arms or split crankpins to be even-firing. However, unlike the crossplane crankshaft V8, there is no way to arrange a V6 so that unbalanced forces from the two cylinder banks will completely cancel each other. As a result, the 120° V6 acts like two straight-3s running on the same crankshaft and, like the straight-3, suffers from a primary dynamic imbalance which requires a balance shaft to offset.

The 120° layout also produces an engine which is too wide for most automobile engine compartments, so it is more often used in racing cars where the car is designed around the engine rather than vice-versa, and vibration is not as important. By comparison, the 180° flat-6 boxer engine is only moderately wider than the 120° V6, and unlike the V6 is a fully balanced configuration with no vibration problems, so it is more commonly used in aircraft and in sports/luxury cars where space is not a constraint and smoothness is important.

Spanish truck manufacturer Pegaso built the first production 120° V6 for the Z-207 mid size truck in 1955. The engine, a 7.5-litre alloy Diesel designed under the direction of engineer Wifredo Ricart uses a single balance shaft rotating at the speed of the crankshaft^[10]

Ferrari introduced a very successful 120° V6 racing engine in 1961. The Ferrari Dino 156 engine was shorter and lighter than the 65° Ferrari V6 engines that preceded it, and the simplicity and low center of gravity of the engine was an advantage in racing. It won a large number of Formula One races between 1961 and 1964. However, Enzo Ferrari had a personal dislike of the 120° V6 layout, preferring a 65° angle, and after that time it was replaced by other engines.^[11]

Bombardier designed 120° V220/V300T V6 engines for use in light aircraft. The ignition sequence was symmetrical, with each cylinder firing 120° after the previous cylinder resulting in smooth power delivery. A balance shaft on the bottom of the engine offset the primary dynamic imbalance. The straight, pin-type crankshaft journals in the 120° V-6 layout allowed a shorter and stiffer crankshaft than competing flat-6 engines, while water cooling resulted in better temperature control than air cooling. These engines could run on automotive gasoline rather than avgas. However, the design was shelved in 2006 and there are no plans for production.^[12]

Other angles[link]

Narrower angle V6 engines are very compact but can suffer from severe vibration problems unless very carefully designed. Notable V6 bank angles include:

• The 10.6° and 15° Volkswagen VR6, which is such a narrow angle it can use a single cylinder head and double overhead camshafts for both cylinder banks. With seven main bearings, it is more like a staggered-bank in-line six rather than a normal V6, but is only slightly longer and wider than a straight-4.
• The 45° Electro-Motive 6-cylinder version of their model 567 Diesel locomotive engine. This angle is optimum for the more common 16-cylinder version.
• The 54° GM/Opel V6, designed to be narrower than normal for use in small front-wheel drive cars.
• The 65° Ferrari Dino V6, allowing larger carburetors (for potentially higher power in race tuning) than a 60° angle, while suffering a slight increase in vibrations.
• The 72° Mercedes-Benz Bluetec Diesel V6 utilizes a counter-rotating balance shaft and crankpins offset by 48° to eliminate vibration problems and make the engine even-firing.
• The 75° Isuzu Rodeo and Isuzu Trooper V6 of 3.2 and 3.5 L in both SOHC and DOHC versions.
• The 80° Honda RA168-E Formula One engine in the McLaren MP4/4.

Odd and even firing[link]

Many older V6 engines were based on V8 engine designs, in which a pair of cylinders was cut off the front of V8 without altering the V angle or using a more sophisticated crankshaft to even out the firing interval. Most V8 engines share a common crankpin between opposite cylinders in each bank, and a 90° V8 crankshaft has just four pins shared by eight cylinders, with two pistons per crankpin, allowing a cylinder to fire every 90° to achieve smooth operation.

Early 90° V6 engines derived from V8 engines had three shared crankpins arranged at 120° from each other, similar to an inline 3-cylinder. Since the cylinder banks were arranged at 90° to each other, this resulted in a firing pattern with groups of two cylinders separated by 90° of rotation, and groups separated by 150° of rotation, causing a notorious odd-firing behavior, with cylinders firing at alternating 90° and 150° intervals. The uneven firing intervals resulting in rough-running engines with unpleasant harmonic vibrations at certain engine speeds.

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:

More modern 90° V6 engines avoid this problem by using split crankpins, with adjacent crankpins offset by 15° in opposite directions to achieve an even 120° ignition pattern. Such a 'split' crankpin is weaker than a straight one, but modern metallurgical techniques can produce a crankshaft that is adequately strong.

In 1977, Buick introduced the new "split-pin crankshaft" in the 231. Using a crankpin that is 'split' and offset by 30° of rotation resulted in smooth, even firing every 120°. However, in 1978 Chevrolet introduced a 90° 200/229 V6, which had a compromise 'semi-even firing' design using a crankpin that was offset by only 18°. This resulted in cylinders firing at 108° and 132°, which had the advantage of reducing vibrations to a more acceptable level and did not require strengthening the crankshaft. In 1985, Chevrolet's 4.3 (later the Vortec 4300) changed it to a true even-firing V6 with a 30° offset, requiring larger crank journals to make them adequately strong.

In 1986, the similarly designed 90° PRV engine adopted the same 30° crankshaft offset design to even out its firing. In 1988, Buick introduced a V6 engine that not only had split crankpins, but had a counter-rotating balancing shaft between the cylinder banks to eliminate almost all primary and secondary vibrations, resulting in a very smooth-running engine.

Racing use[link]

Mercedes-Benz V6 DTM engine

The V6 engine was introduced into racing by Lancia in the early 1950s. After good results with privately entered Aurelia saloons Lancia set a works competition department in 1951. Four B20 Coupes were entered in the '51 Mille Miglia and the one driven by Giovanni Bracco and Umberto Maglioli caused quite a stir by finishing second overally after the 4.1-litre Ferrari driven by Villoresi and Cassani, a car which had three times more power than the Lancia. After that encouraging start Lancia decided to carry on with the endurance racing program, first with specially prepared Aurelias (called Da Corsa) and then with specially built prototypes. A D24 with a 3,102 cc (189 cu in) V6 making 230 PS (170 kW) won the 1953 Carrera Panamericana with Juan Manuel Fangio at the wheel.

After that came the Ferrari Dino V6. Alfredo Ferrari (nicknamed Dino), son of Enzo Ferrari, suggested to him the development of a 1.5 L DOHC V6 engine for Formula Two at the end of 1955. The Dino V6 underwent several evolutions, including an increased engine displacement to 2,417 cc (147 cu in), for use in the Ferrari 246 Formula One car in 1958.^[13][14]

The use of a wide 120° bank angle is appealing for racing engine designers as it permits a low center of gravity. This design is even considered superior to the flat-6 in that it leaves more space under the engine for exhaust pipes; thus the crankshaft can be placed lower in the car. The Ferrari 156 built for new Formula One 1.5 L regulations used a Dino V6 engine with this configuration.^[15]

The Dino V6 engine saw a new evolution in 1966 when it was adapted to road use and produced by a Ferrari-Fiat joint-venture for the Fiat Dino and Dino 206 GT (this car was made by Ferrari but sold under the brand Dino). This new version was redesigned by Aurelio Lampredi initially as a 65° 2.0 L (120 cu in) V6 with an aluminum block but was replaced in 1969 by a 2.4 L (150 cu in) cast-iron block version (the Dino car was renamed the 246GT).

The Fiat Dino and Dino 246GT were phased out in 1974, but 500 engines among the last built were delivered to Lancia, who was like Ferrari already under the control of Fiat. Lancia used them for the Lancia Stratos which would become one of the most successful rally cars of the decade.

Alfa Romeo V6

The Alfa Romeo V6 was designed in the 1970s by Giuseppe Busso, the first car to use them being the Alfa Romeo 6. The over-square V6, with aluminium alloy block and heads, has seen continuous use in road vehicles, from the Alfetta GTV6 onwards. A notable use of the Bussone Sei (Busso's big Six) V6 was the Alfa Romeo 155 V6 TI. Turbocharged, it had a peak power of 490 PS (360 kW; 480 hp) at 11,900 rpm. The 164 introduced a 3.0 L (180 cu in) V6, a 2.0 V6 turbocharged in 1991 and in 1992, a 3.0 L DOHC 24-valve version. The Alfa 156 introduced a 2.5 L DOHC 24-valve version in 1997. The engine capacity was later increased to 3.2 L (200 cu in), where it found application in the 156 GTA, 147 GTA, 166, GT, GTV and Spider 916. Production was discontinued in 2005.

Another influential V6 design was the Renault-Gordini CH1 V6, designed by François Castaing and Jean-Pierre Boudy, and introduced in 1973 in the Alpine-Renault A440. The CH1 was a 90° cast-iron-block V6, similar to the mass-produced PRV engine in those two respects but otherwise dissimilar. It has been suggested that marketing purposes made the Renault-Gordini V6 adopt those characteristics of the PRV in the hope of associating the two in the public's mind.

Despite such considerations, this engine won the European 2 L prototype championship in 1974 and several European Formula Two titles. This engine was further developed in a turbocharged 2 L version that competed in Sports car and finally won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1978 with a Renault-Alpine A 442 chassis.

The capacity of this engine was reduced to 1.5 L to power the Formula One Renault RS01. Despite frequent breakdowns that resulted in the nickname of the 'Little Yellow Teapot', the 1.5 L finally saw good results in 1979.

Ferrari followed Renault in the turbo revolution by introducing a turbocharged derivative of the Dino design (a 1.5 L 120° V6) with the Ferrari 126.^[16] However, the 120° design was not considered optimum for the wing cars of the era and later engines used V angles of 90° or less.

Both Renault and Ferrari failed in their attempt to win the Drivers' Championship with V6 Turbo engines. The first turbocharged engine to win the championship was the Straight-4 BMW.

They were followed by a new generation of Formula One engines, the most successful of these being the TAG V6 (designed by Porsche) and the Honda V6. This new generation of engines were characterized by odd V angles (around 80°). The choice of these angles was mainly driven by aerodynamic consideration. Despite their unbalanced designs these engines were both quickly reliable and competitive; this is generally viewed as a consequence of the quick progress of CAD techniques in that era.

In 1989 Shelby tried to bring back the Can-Am series, using the Chrysler 3.3 L (201 cu in) V6 (not yet offered to the general public) as the powerplant in a special racing configuration making 255 hp (190 kW). This was the same year that the Viper concept was shown to the public.

Originally the plan was to produce two versions of this race car, a 255 hp (190 kW) version and a 500 hp (370 kW) model, the 255 hp (190 kW) version being the entry circuit. The cars were designed to be a cheap way for more people to enter auto racing. Since all the cars were identical, the winners were to be the people with the best talent, not the team with the biggest pockets. The engines had Shelby seals on them and could only be repaired by Shelby's shop, ensuring that all the engines are mechanically identical.

Only 100 of these 3.3s were ever built. Of these 100, 76 were put into Shelby Can-Am cars (the only 76 that were ever sold). No significant amount of spare parts were produced, and the unsold engines were used for parts/spares. The Shelby specific parts, such as the upper intake manifold, were never made available to the general public. According to a small article in the USA Today (in 1989), these cars were making 250 hp (190 kW) (stock versions introduced in 1990 produced 150 hp or 110 kW) and hitting 160 mph (260 km/h) on the track. The engine itself was not that far from a standard-production 3.3. The Shelby engine is only making about 50 hp (37 kW) more than the newest 3.3 factory engines from Chrysler. The Can-Am engine has a special Shelby Dodge upper intake manifold, a special Shelby Dodge throttle body, and a special version of the Mopar 3.3 PCM (which had this engine redlining at 6800 rpm).

Nissan also has a quite successful history of using V6's for racing in both IMSA and the JGTC. Development of their V6s for sports cars began in the early 1980s with the VG engine initially used in the Z31 300ZX. The engine began life as a SOHC, turbocharged 3.0L power plant with electronic fuel injection, delivering 230 PS (169 kW). The VG30ET was later revised into the VG30DETT for the Z32 300ZX in 1989. The VG30DETT sported both an additional turbocharger and an extra pair of camshafts, making the engine a genuine DOHC twin-turbo V6 producing 300 PS (221 kW). Nissan used both of these engines in its IMSA racing program throughout the 1980s and 1990s each producing well over 800 hp (600 kW). In the Japan Grand Touring Car Championship, or JGTC, Nissan opted for a turbocharged version of its VQ30 making upwards of 500 hp (370 kW) to compete in the GT500 class.

Motorcycle use[link]

Laverda showed a 996 cc V6-engined motorcycle at the 1977 Milan show.^[17] The motorcycle was raced in the 1978 Bol d'Or.

Marine use[link]

Yamaha OX66 engine, as used in their outboard motor range

V6 engines are popular powerplants in medium to large outboard motors

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Borgeson, Griffith (1998). The Golden Age of the American Racing Car (2nd ed.). Society of Automotive Engineers. ISBN 0-7680-0023-8. 
• Box, Rob De La Rive (1998). The Complete Encyclopedia of Vintage Cars 1886 - 1940 (3rd ed.). Rebo Productions. ISBN 90-366-1517-8. 
• Kane, Jack (2006). "Torsional Output of Piston Engines". 2006 Advanced Engine Technology Conference (AETC): EPI, Inc. http://www.epi-eng.com/ET-PistonExcit.htm. Retrieved 2008-01-14. 
• Ludvigsen, Karl (2001). Classic Racing Engines. Haynes Publishing. ISBN [[Special:BookSources/1-85960-649-1|1-85960-649-1]]. 
• Matschoss, Conrad (1921). Geschichte der Gasmotorenfabrik Deutz. Berlin. 
• Nunney, M J (2007). Light and Heavy Vehicle Technology (4th ed.). Butterworth-Heinemann. ISBN 0-7506-8037-7. 

External links[link]

• Understanding the odd-fire V6
• AutoZine Technical School - V6 Engines

V6 commonly refers to a V6 engine, a V engine with six cylinders in two banks of three

V6 or V-6 may also refer to:

• CATIA V6, a Product Lifecycle Management application from Dassault Systemes
• V6 Grafton Street, a road in Milton Keynes
• V6 (band), a Japanese musical group
• v6 (Perl), an implementation of Perl 6 on Perl 5
• V6 (Quickstep), a dance figure in Quickstep
• Sony MDR-V6, a large diaphragm foldable headphone
• Sixth Edition Unix (Version 6 Unix), The Sixth Edition of the Unix Time-Sharing System
• SSSR-V6 OSOAVIAKhIM, a Soviet airship
• Area V6 of visual cortex, also known as the Dorsomedial area
• the International Telecommunication Union prefix for the Federated States of Micronesia

V.6 may refer to:

• an ITU-T recommendation, approved in November 1988, titled Standardization of data signalling rates for synchronous data transmission on leased telephone-type circuits. It has been withdrawn since

V06 may refer to:

• ATC code V06 General nutrients, a subgroup of the Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical Classification System

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title formed as a letter-number combination. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Martin Brundle Brundle in 2004 Born (1959-06-01) 1 June 1959 (age 53) Formula One World Championship career Nationality British Active years 1984–1989, 1991–1996 Teams Tyrrell, Zakspeed, Williams, Brabham, Benetton, Ligier, McLaren and Jordan Races 165 (158 starts) Championships 0 Wins 0 Podiums 9 Career points 98 Pole positions 0 Fastest laps 0 First race 1984 Brazilian Grand Prix Last race 1996 Japanese Grand Prix

24 Hours of Le Mans career Participating years 1987–1988, 1990, 1997–1999, 2001 Teams Jaguar Nissan Motorsport Toyota Team Europe Team Bentley Best finish 1st (1990) Class wins 1 (1990)

Martin John Brundle (born 1 June 1959 in King's Lynn, Norfolk) is a British racing driver from England, known as a Formula One driver and as an F1 commentator for ITV Sport from 1997 to 2008, the BBC from 2009 to 2011 and Sky Sports from 2012.^[1]

Brundle contested the British Formula Three Championship with Ayrton Senna in 1983, finishing a close second, and the two progressed to Formula One the next year. Brundle failed to score a victory at the top level of single seaters, but he has been very successful in other disciplines. He was the 1988 World Sportscar Champion, with a record points haul, and won the 1990 Le Mans 24 hour Race for Jaguar in an XJR-12.

Career[link]

Early racing career[link]

Brundle had an unorthodox route to Formula One.^[2] He began his racing career at the age of 12, competing in grass track racing,^[3] in the Norfolk village of Pott Row.^[2] In 1975, he moved to Hot Rod racing and received 'Star grade' status. In 1979, he started single seaters with Formula Ford. During this time, he also raced Tom Walkinshaw's BMW race cars, achieving second against a field of international drivers at Snetterton. He won the BMW championship in 1980 and partnered Sir Stirling Moss in the BP/Audi team of 1981. In 1982, he moved up to Formula 3 achieving five poles and two wins in his debut season. He won the Grovewood Award as the most promising Commonwealth driver.^[3] The next year, he battled Ayrton Senna for the F3 championship, which Brundle eventually lost on the final laps of the last race.^[4] In 1984, he was promoted to Formula One.

Formula One (1984–1987)[link]

His Formula One career began with Tyrrell in 1984.^[5] He put in a number of aggressive and fast drives, finishing fifth in his first race at Brazil and then second at Detroit.^[5] At the Dallas Grand Prix, Brundle broke his ankles and both feet in a crash ^[4] during a practice session. Then Tyrrell were disqualified from the world championship in 1984 because of a technical infringement, wiping his achievements for that season from the record books.

For the next two seasons he remained with Tyrrell, but without a works engine supply the team struggled against the works engine teams. In 1987 he switched to Zakspeed, but managed only two points, the car unable to compete with the frontrunners. These two points were the only ones in the team's history.

Brundle at the 1990 IMSA Del Mar Grand Prix.

Sportscars and Brabham (1988–1991)[link]

Brundle started his famous link with Jaguar in 1982, driving touring cars.^[4] Four years of F1 racing for underfunded teams led him to seek a new challenge, and thus he took a year out and competed in the 1988 World Sportscar Championship and won the world sports car title,^[6] with a record points haul. He also won the Daytona 24 Hours the same year, for Jaguar. He became the test driver for Williams and stood in for Nigel Mansell at the 1988 Belgian Grand Prix,^[6] after Mansell was struck down with chickenpox.

In 1989 he returned to F1 full-time with the returning Brabham squad, but the former champions were unable to recapture their early 1980s success and Brundle opted to move back into the sports car arena for 1990. The Le Mans victory came that year and rejuvenated his career, but still a top-line race seat in Formula One eluded him. As well as contesting races in sports prototypes, Brundle also contested the American IROC series in 1990, taking a victory at the temporary circuit at Burke Lakefront Airport (the only IROC victory for a British driver) and coming 3rd in the overall standings. In 1991 he rejoined Brabham, but the squad had fallen even further down the grid and results were sparse.

Formula One (1992–1996)[link]

Seasoned observers noticed Brundle's drives into the points in the uncompetitive Brabham Yamaha in 1991, which was the last points finish for the Brabham team. This helped Brundle get a 1992 switch to Benetton, with whom he would finally claim a recognised podium finish and consistent points finishes with some gritty drives.

In 1992 he had a productive season, with a strong finish to the year. He came close to a win at Canada, where having overtaken Schumacher and closing on leader Gerhard Berger, the transmission failed.^[5] He never outqualified team-mate Michael Schumacher, but made up places with excellent starts (sixth to third at Silverstone), outraced the German at Imola, Montreal, Magny-Cours and Silverstone, and scored a notable second place at Monza. At Spa, Brundle went by when Schumacher went off the track. Schumacher noticed blisters on his team-mate's tyres on his return to the circuit and came in for slicks, a move that won him the race. Had Brundle not been distracted he would have pitted as planned at the end of that lap, with victory the most likely result. 1992 was his best F1 season,^[3] and is regarded in F1 as the closest any team mate came to matching Schumacher, prior to his 2010 comeback partnering Nico Rosberg.

To the shock of the F1 paddock,^[6] Brundle found himself dropped from Benetton for 1993, Italian Riccardo Patrese taking his place. He came very close to a seat with world champions Williams, but in the end Damon Hill got the drive instead. Still in demand within F1, Brundle raced for Ligier in 1993. More points finishes and a fine third at Imola were achieved in a car without active suspension. With finishing 7th in the World Drivers Championship behind the two Williams drivers Alain Prost (1st) and Damon Hill (3rd), McLaren team leader Ayrton Senna (2nd), the Benetton drivers Michael Schumacher (4th) and Riccardo Patrese (5th) and the Ferrari driver Jean Alesi (6th), Brundle was the most successful driver who did not have an active suspension system in his car and Ligier were the most successful team without an active suspension.

Brundle driving for Ligier at the 1995 British Grand Prix.

For 1994 Brundle was in the frame for the vacant McLaren seat alongside Mika Häkkinen. McLaren were hopeful of re-signing Alain Prost, who had retired at the end of 1993 after winning his fourth championship title, but decided not to renege on his retirement in March, and Brundle got the drive, beating out McLaren test driver Philippe Alliot. He was confirmed less than two weeks before the season-opening 1994 Brazilian Grand Prix.^[7]

Joining the team was a case of bad timing in many ways. McLaren were on a downturn and throughout 1994 were unable to win. The team's Peugeot engines were unreliable, as was to be expected from a debuting engine supplier. At Silverstone Brundle's engine appeared to explode just as the starting lights turned green. In reality the culprit was a clutch that cracked spilling its lubricants on top of the hot engine causing a spectacular fire. Nevertheless, when the car was reliable, Brundle put in strong performances that season, most notably at Monaco where he finished second to Schumacher.

Having had poor luck and with Mansell signed to McLaren for 1995, Brundle once more raced for Ligier that year, although not for the full season. To appease Mugen-Honda he had to share the second seat with Aguri Suzuki, a move denounced by many commentators and fans. He impressed however, a strong fourth at Magny-Cours and what would be his last F1 podium, at Spa, being the highlights. In 1996 he teamed up with Rubens Barrichello at Jordan and enjoyed a good season, despite a slow start and a spectacular crash at Melbourne's inaugural GP, with regular points, fourth his best result. He finished fifth in the 1996 Japanese Grand Prix, which was his last Grand Prix in Formula One.

Brundle achieved 9 podiums, and scored a total of 98 championship points, with a best championship finish of 6th in 1992. He was especially strong on street circuits and similarly slow-speed, twisty courses — Monaco, Adelaide and the Hungaroring each produced 4 points finishes for him.^[5] He holds the dubious distinction of having the longest Formula One career (158 Grand Prix starts) without a race victory, a pole position or a fastest lap.

Post Formula One[link]

Commentator[link]

Brundle's helmet on display in the Williams team's museum.

Brundle had hoped to stay in F1 beyond 1996, but could not find a seat. He was offered a seat at Sauber in 1997 following the dropping of Nicola Larini, but decided against it. Brundle did however return to Le Mans. Drives for Nissan, Toyota and Bentley impressed, but a second victory failed to materialise. Brundle's last Le Mans outing came in 2001, after which he focused on his role with the British Racing Drivers' Club (BRDC).

Having largely retired from motor racing, Brundle became a highly regarded commentator on British television network ITV, whom he joined when they began Formula One coverage in 1997, initially alongside Murray Walker, and from 2002 James Allen. Brundle joined the BBC's commentary team alongside Jonathan Legard when they won the rights to show F1 from 2009. Before the start of the 2011 season, the BBC announced that Brundle was being promoted to lead commentator and would be joined by fellow former F1 driver, David Coulthard.^[8] He signed for Sky Sports' coverage at the end of 2011 following the BBC's decision to relinquish their rights to show half of the following season's races live due to budgetary constraints.^[9]

For his television work Brundle has won the RTS Television Sports Award for best Sports Pundit in 1998, 1999, 2005 and 2006. In 2005 the judges described him as:

"...an outstanding operator at the very peak of his game – with an extraordinary ability to simplify and entertain in an often complex sport. He also exhibited a fearless authority on some of the most sensitive issues – not least his gimlet-eyed pursuit of Formula one boss Bernie Ecclestone on the grid at Indianapolis".^[10]

The production company responsible for ITV's F1 coverage, North One Television, also won the Sports Innovation Award for its Insight features, presented by Brundle. Discussing the return of Formula One to the BBC in 2009, The Times described Brundle "as the greatest TV analyst in this or any other sport."^[11]

Before becoming a regular commentator, Brundle was also part of the 1995 BBC commentary team whenever Aguri Suzuki was driving the Ligier-Mugen Honda, such as the 1995 San Marino Grand Prix.

With Steve Rider busy covering the England versus Kazakhstan 2010 FIFA World Cup Group 6 qualification match, Brundle co-commentated and presented coverage of the 2008 Japanese Grand Prix at Fuji Speedway.

Motorsport activities[link]

Brundle took the wheel of a Jaguar F1 car for the Formula One demonstration in London prior to the 2004 British Grand Prix and drove a BMW Sauber during a demonstration in 2006. Also in 2006, Brundle drove a 2005 Red Bull Racing car around Silverstone as part of ITV's 'F1 Insight' feature. This was followed up in 2007 with Brundle and colleague Blundell both driving Williams F1 cars to demonstrate overtaking.

In 2008 he came out of retirement to drive in the Formula Palmer Audi Championship alongside his son Alex, who was a series regular. He scored three top-eight finishes from the three races in which he took part.^[12] Alex will compete in the FIA Formula Two Championship for 2009.

Brundle came out of retirement again to race for United Autosports in the 2011 Daytona 24 Hours, sharing a Ford-powered Riley with Zak Brown, Mark Patterson and former Ligier and Brabham teammate Blundell; the team finished fourth overall.^[13]

In June 2011, shortly before the 2011 European Grand Prix, Brundle completed a one-off Formula One test for the series' tyre supplier Pirelli at Jerez. He completed a total of 70 laps on all of their tyre compounds, with the results and events of the day aired before the 2011 Hungarian Grand Prix.

Brundle is scheduled to return to Le Mans in 2012, teaming up with son Alex to race a Greaves Motorsport-run Zytek-Nissan LMP2. It will be his first appearance at the French classic in over a decade.^[14]

Other activities[link]

Brundle has also been involved in driver management. At present, he is David Coulthard's manager (as well as his former co-commentator). He also co-owned a management company, 2MB Sports Management, alongside Mark Blundell until January 2009, when he announced his intention to step down in order to focus on his television responsibilities and his son's career.^[15] Their clients include McLaren test driver Gary Paffett and British Formula Three champion Mike Conway.

Brundle also presented a documentary on British television in 1998 called Great Escapes, which showed generally live recordings, and occasionally reconstructions, of stories where human beings managed to somehow survive in face of various dangers or perils. It ran for one series on ITV.

In 2004 he released his first book Working the Wheel. The title is a reference to his 1996 crash in Melbourne.^{[citation needed]}

On Friday 13 February 2009, Brundle presented BBC Look East's 6.30pm bulletin, with Susie Fowler-Watt, reproducing his famous gridwalk.^[16]

Criticism of Max Mosley and the FIA[link]

In September 2007 he suggested that the treatment of McLaren "had the feel of a witch hunt" in his Sunday Times column.^[17] As a result of these comments Brundle and the Sunday Times received a French writ from Max Mosley and the FIA for libel. In the same column on December 9, 2007 he accused the FIA of double standards and of issuing the writ at the same time as clearing Renault of spying as a warning to other journalists:

The timing of the writ is significant, in my view, given the FIA’s decision to find Renault guilty of having significant McLaren designs and information within their systems, but not administering any penalty. It is a warning sign to other journalists and publications to choose their words carefully over that decision. I’m tired of what I perceive as the "spin" and tactics of the FIA press office, as are many other journalists. I expect my accreditation pass for next year will be hindered in some way to make my coverage of F1 more difficult and to punish me. Or they will write to ITV again to say that my commentary is not up to standard despite my unprecedented six Royal Television Society Awards for sports broadcasting. So be it.^[18]

Brundle also asserted his right to voice his opinion about Formula One:

As a former Formula One driver, I have earnt the right to have an opinion about the sport, and probably know as much about it as anybody else. I have attended approaching 400 grands prix, 158 as a driver. I have spilt blood, broken bones, shed tears, generated tanker loads of sweat, tasted the champagne glories and plumbed the depths of misery. I have never been more passionate about F1 and will always share my opinions in an honest and open way, knowing readers will make up their own minds.^[18]

In March 2008 Brundle voiced his opinion regarding the position of Max Mosley following the News of The World's allegation that Mosley had engaged in sexual acts with five prostitutes in a scenario that involved Nazi role-playing;^[19] saying "It's not appropriate behaviour for the head of any global body such as the FIA."^[20] In April Brundle argued:

"The specific detail of the scandal surrounding him is largely irrelevant, in my view. The sporting regulation he has used over the years to keep teams in check relates to bringing the sport into disrepute. If you live by the sword, you die by the sword. Sitting on the fence on this issue for any of us inside the sport is not an option. We must condone or condemn the situation he finds himself in. Mosley's position as president is untenable.^[21]

Pikey probe[link]

Brundle was the subject of 14 complaints to Ofcom and 22 to ITV, for using the term "pikeys" during ITV's coverage of the 2008 Canadian Grand Prix. In a live pre-race interview with Bernie Ecclestone, Brundle referred to 'pikeys' making repairs to the surface at turn 10 of the track by laying down fresh tarmac. ITV later apologised for the incident.

The word is considered insulting by the traveller community. The Oxford English Dictionary traced its use to 1837 by The Times, referring to "strangers harvesting in the Isle of Sheppey". Later that century it meant a "turnpike traveller" or vagabond. Latterly, it has become a derogatory term for Irish Travellers and Gypsies.^[22][23]

Brundle and ITV were later cleared by Ofcom, as Brundle was not aware of the racial or cultural implications of the word, and ITV did apologise and explain the situation to him.^[24]

Helmet[link]

Brundle's helmet was white with two red stripes and a blue stripe between the two red stripes (inspired by the British flag) from the chin to the back of the helmet. In 1996, there were added a golden ring (with either 'Bensons and Hedges' or 'Brundle' written) and a blue drawing resembling a B upside down.^[25]

Personal[link]

The son of a motor car dealer, he and his brother Robin took over the family car dealership from their father. The business closed in 2003 after losing the local Toyota and Peugeot franchises.^[26] Robin is also a racing driver, who today competes in historic racing events, and is managing director of Lola Cars.

Brundle is married to Liz ^[2] and they have a daughter, Charlie, and a son, Alex.^[27] Alex competed in 2006 in the Formula Palmer Audi Autumn Trophy .^[28] Brundle has always lived within a 5-mile radius of King's Lynn,^[2] and currently lives in Gayton, Norfolk.

Racing record[link]

Complete Formula One results[link]

(key)

¹ Tyrrell were disqualified from the entire world championship for 1984 due to a technical infringement.

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results[link]

Year	Class	No	Tyres	Car	Team	Co-Drivers	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
1987	C1	6	D	Jaguar XJR-8LM Jaguar 6.9L V12	Silk Cut Jaguar Tom Walkinshaw Racing	John Nielsen	231	DNF	DNF
1988	C1	1	D	Jaguar XJR-9LM Jaguar 7.0L V12	Silk Cut Jaguar Tom Walkinshaw Racing	John Nielsen Price Cobb	306	DNF	DNF
1990	C1	1	G	Jaguar XJR-12 Jaguar 7.0L V12	Silk Cut Jaguar Tom Walkinshaw Racing	Alain Ferté David Leslie	220	DNF	DNF
	C1	3	G	Jaguar XJR-12 Jaguar 7.0L V12	Silk Cut Jaguar Tom Walkinshaw Racing	John Nielsen Price Cobb	359	1st	1st
1997	GT1	21	B	Nissan R390 GT1 Nissan VRH35L 3.5L Turbo V8	Nissan Motorsport TWR	Jörg Müller Wayne Taylor	139	DNF	DNF
1998	GT1	28	M	Toyota GT-One Toyota R36V 3.6L Turbo V8	Toyota Motorsports Toyota Team Europe	Emmanuel Collard Eric Hélary	191	DNF	DNF
1999	LMGTP	1	M	Toyota GT-One Toyota R36V 3.6L Turbo V8	Toyota Motorsports Toyota Team Europe	Emmanuel Collard Vincenzo Sospiri	90	DNF	DNF
2001	LMGTP	7	D	Bentley EXP Speed 8 Bentley (Audi) 3.6L Turbo V8	Team Bentley	Stéphane Ortelli Guy Smith	56	DNF	DNF

References[link]