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In
automotive engineering a multi-valve or multivalve
engine
An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy.
Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power ...
is one where each
cylinder
A cylinder (from ) has traditionally been a three-dimensional solid, one of the most basic of curvilinear geometric shapes. In elementary geometry, it is considered a prism with a circle as its base.
A cylinder may also be defined as an infin ...
has more than two
valves
A valve is a device or natural object that regulates, directs or controls the flow of a fluid (gases, liquids, fluidized solids, or slurries) by opening, closing, or partially obstructing various passageways. Valves are technically fitting ...
. A multi-valve engine has better breathing and may be able to operate at higher
revolutions per minute
Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or with the notation min−1) is a unit of rotational speed or rotational frequency for rotating machines.
Standards
ISO 80000-3:2019 defines a unit of rotation as the dimension ...
(RPM) than a two-valve engine, delivering more
power
Power most often refers to:
* Power (physics), meaning "rate of doing work"
** Engine power, the power put out by an engine
** Electric power
* Power (social and political), the ability to influence people or events
** Abusive power
Power may a ...
.
Multi-valve rationale
Multi-valve engine design
A multi-valve engine design has three, four, or five
valves
A valve is a device or natural object that regulates, directs or controls the flow of a fluid (gases, liquids, fluidized solids, or slurries) by opening, closing, or partially obstructing various passageways. Valves are technically fitting ...
per cylinder to achieve improved performance. Any four-stroke
internal combustion engine
An internal combustion engine (ICE or IC engine) is a heat engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidizer (usually air) in a combustion chamber that is an integral part of the working fluid flow circuit. In an internal c ...
needs at least two valves per cylinder: one for ''intake'' of air (and often fuel
[), and another for ''exhaust'' of combustion gases. Adding more valves increases valve area and improves the flow of intake and exhaust gases, thereby enhancing ]combustion
Combustion, or burning, is a high-temperature exothermic redox chemical reaction between a fuel (the reductant) and an oxidant, usually atmospheric oxygen, that produces oxidized, often gaseous products, in a mixture termed as smoke. Combus ...
, volumetric efficiency Volumetric efficiency (VE) in internal combustion engine engineering is defined as the ratio of the mass density of the air-fuel mixture drawn into the cylinder at atmospheric pressure (during the intake stroke) to the mass density of the same volu ...
, and power output
Power most often refers to:
* Power (physics), meaning "rate of doing work"
** Engine power, the power put out by an engine
** Electric power
* Power (social and political), the ability to influence people or events
** Abusive power
Power may ...
. Multi-valve geometry allows the spark plug to be ideally located within the combustion chamber for optimal flame propagation. Multi-valve engines tend to have smaller valves that have lower reciprocating mass
Engine balance refers to how the forces (resulting from combustion or rotating/reciprocating components) are balanced within an internal combustion engine or steam engine. The most commonly used terms are ''primary balance'' and ''secondary bala ...
, which can reduce wear on each cam lobe, and allow more power from higher RPM
Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or with the notation min−1) is a unit of rotational speed or rotational frequency for rotating machines.
Standards
ISO 80000-3:2019 defines a unit of rotation as the dimensionl ...
without the danger of valve bounce. Some engines are designed to open each intake valve at a slightly different time, which increases turbulence, improving the mixing of air and fuel at low engine speeds. More valves also provide additional cooling to the cylinder head. The disadvantages of multi-valve engines are an increase in manufacturing cost and a potential increase in oil consumption due to the greater number of valve stem seals. Some SOHC multi-valve engines (such as the Mazda B8-ME) use a single fork-shaped rocker arm to drive two valves (generally the exhaust valves) so that fewer cam lobes will be needed in order to reduce manufacturing costs.
* Three-valve cylinder head
This has a single large exhaust valve and two smaller intake valves. A three-valve layout allows better breathing than a two-valve head, but the large exhaust valve results in an RPM limit no higher than a two-valve head. The manufacturing cost for this design can be lower than for a four-valve design. The three-valve design was common in the late 1980s and early 1990s; and from 2004 the main valve arrangement used in Ford F-Series
The Ford F-Series is a series of light-duty trucks marketed and manufactured by Ford Motor Company, Ford since the 1948 model year. Slotted above the Ford Ranger (Americas), Ford Ranger in the Ford truck model range, the F-Series is market ...
trucks, and Ford SUVs. The Ducati ST3
The Ducati ST series is a set of Italian sport touring motorcycles manufactured by Ducati from 1997 through 2007. In order of release, the series comprised five distinct models: the ST2, ST4, ST4S, ST3, and ST3S. Intended to compete with other spor ...
V-twin
A V-twin engine, also called a V2 engine, is a two-cylinder piston engine where the cylinders share a common crankshaft and are arranged in a V configuration.
Although widely associated with motorcycles (installed either transversely or longi ...
had 3-valve heads.
* Four-valve cylinder head
This is the most common type of multi-valve head, with two exhaust valves and two similar (or slightly larger) inlet valves. This design allows similar breathing as compared to a three-valve head, and as the small exhaust valves allow high RPM, this design is very suitable for high power outputs.
* Five-valve cylinder head
Less common is the five-valve head, with two exhaust valves and three inlet valves. All five valves are similar in size. This design allows excellent breathing, and, as every valve is small, high RPM and very high power outputs are theoretically available. Although, compared to a four-valve engine, a five-valve design should have a higher maximum RPM, and the three inlet ports should give efficient cylinder-filling and high gas turbulence (both desirable traits), it has been questioned whether a five-valve configuration gives a cost-effective benefit over four-valve designs. The rise of direct injection may also make five-valve heads more difficult to engineer, as the injector must take up some space on the head. After making five-valve Genesis engines for several years, Yamaha Yamaha may refer to:
* Yamaha Corporation, a Japanese company with a wide range of products and services, established in 1887. The company is the largest shareholder of Yamaha Motor Company (below).
** Yamaha Music Foundation, an organization estab ...
has since reverted back to the cheaper four-valve design.
Examples of the five-valve engines are the various 1.8 L 20vT engines manufactured by AUDI AG, the later versions of the Ferrari Dino V8, and the 1.6 L 20-valve 4A-GE engine made by Toyota in collaboration with Yamaha.
* Beyond five valves
For a cylindrical bore and equal-area sized valves, increasing the number of valves beyond five ''decreases'' the total valve area. The following table shows the effective areas of differing valve quantities as proportion of cylinder bore. These percentages are based on simple geometry and do not take into account orifices for spark plugs or injectors, but these voids will usually be sited in the "dead space" unavailable for valves. Also, in practice, intake valves are often larger than exhaust valves in heads with an even number of valves-per-cylinder:
* 2 = 50%
* 3 = 64%
* 4 = 68%
* 5 = 68%
* 6 = 66%
* 7 = 64%
* 8 = 61%
Alternative technologies
Turbocharging
In an internal combustion engine, a turbocharger (often called a turbo) is a forced induction device that is powered by the flow of exhaust gases. It uses this energy to compress the intake gas, forcing more air into the engine in order to pr ...
and supercharging
In an internal combustion engine, a supercharger compresses the intake gas, forcing more air into the engine in order to produce more power for a given displacement.
The current categorisation is that a supercharger is a form of forced induc ...
are technologies that also improve engine breathing, and can be used instead of, or in conjunction with, multi-valve engines. The same applies to variable valve timing
In internal combustion engines, variable valve timing (VVT) is the process of altering the timing of a valve lift event, and is often used to improve performance, fuel economy or emissions. It is increasingly being used in combination with var ...
and variable-length intake manifolds. Rotary valves
A rotary valve (also called rotary-motion valve) is a type of valve in which the rotation of a passage or passages in a transverse plug regulates the flow of liquid or gas through the attached pipes. The common stopcock is the simplest form of rot ...
also offer improved engine breathing and high rev performance but these were never very successful. Cylinder head porting, as part of engine tuning
Engine tuning is the adjustment or modification of the internal combustion engine or Engine Control Unit (ECU) to yield optimal performance and increase the engine's power output, economy, or durability. These goals may be mutually exclusive; ...
, is also used to improve engine performance.
Cars and trucks
Before 1914
The 1908 Ariès VT race cars had 1.4 litre supercharged single cylinder engines with four valve per cylinder desmodromic systems. (Source
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The 1910 Isotta-Fraschini Tipo KM had a 10.6 litre inline 4 with single overhead camshaft and four valves per cylinder and it had one of the first engines with fully enclosed overhead valve gear (source: Isotta Fraschini Tipo KM]
an
The first motorcar in the world to have an engine with two overhead camshafts and four valves per cylinder was the 1912 Peugeot
Peugeot (, , ) is a French brand of automobiles owned by Stellantis.
The family business that preceded the current Peugeot companies was founded in 1810, with a steel foundry that soon started making hand tools and kitchen equipment, and the ...
L76 Grand Prix race car designed by Ernest Henry. Its 7.6-litre monobloc straight-4 with modern hemispherical combustion chambers produced (19.5 HP/Liter(0.32 bhp per cubic inch)). In April 1913, on the Brooklands racetrack in England, a specially built L76 called ''"la Torpille"'' (torpedo) beat the world speed record of 170 km/h. Robert Peugeot also commissioned the young Ettore Bugatti
Ettore Arco Isidoro Bugatti (15 September 1881 – 21 August 1947) was an Italian-born French automobile designer and manufacturer. He is remembered as the founder and proprietor of the automobile manufacturing company Automobiles E. Bugatti, wh ...
to develop a GP racing car for the 1912 Grand Prix. This chain-driven Bugatti Type 18 had a 5-litre straight-4 with SOHC and three valves per cylinder (two inlet, one exhaust). It produced appr. at 2800 rpm (0.30 bhp per cubic inch) and could reach . The three-valve head would later be used for some of Bugatti's most famous cars, including the 1922 Type 29 Grand Prix racer and the legendary Type 35 of 1924. Both Type 29 and Type 35 had a 2-liter SOHC 24-valve NA straight-8 that produced per cubic inch.
Between 1914 and 1945
A.L.F.A. 40/60 GP was a fully working early racing car prototype made by the company now called Alfa Romeo
Alfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A. () is an Italian luxury car manufacturer and a subsidiary of Stellantis. The company was founded on 24 June 1910, in Milan, Italy. "Alfa" is an acronym of its founding name, "Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili." "A ...
. Only one example was built in 1914, which was later modified in 1921. This design of Giuseppe Merosi
Giuseppe Merosi (8 December 1872 – 27 March 1956) was an Italian automobile engineer and designer.
Born in Piacenza, Merosi worked as a building surveyor, before he decided to explore his gift for automotive engineering. He first earned expe ...
was the first Alfa Romeo DOHC
An overhead camshaft (OHC) engine is a piston engine where the camshaft is located in the cylinder head above the combustion chamber. This contrasts with earlier overhead valve engines (OHV), where the camshaft is located below the combustion cha ...
engine. It had four valves per cylinder, 90-degree valve angle and twin-spark ignition. The GP engine had a displacement of 4.5-liter (4490 cc) and produced at 2950 rpm (14.7 kW/liter), and after modifications in 1921 at 3000 rpm. The top speed of this car was 88-93 mph (140–149 km/h). It wasn't until the 1920s when these DOHC
An overhead camshaft (OHC) engine is a piston engine where the camshaft is located in the cylinder head above the combustion chamber. This contrasts with earlier overhead valve engines (OHV), where the camshaft is located below the combustion cha ...
engines came to Alfa road cars like the Alfa Romeo 6C.
In 1916 US automotive magazine ''Automobile Topics'' described a four-cylinder, four-valve-per-cylinder car engine made by Linthwaite-Hussey Motor Co. of Los Angeles, CA, USA: ''"Firm offers two models of high-speed motor with twin intakes and exhausts."''.
Early multi-valve engines in T-head configuration were the 1917 ''Stutz'' straight-4, White Motor Car Model GL 327 CID Dual Valve Mononblock four, and 1919 ''Pierce-Arrow'' straight-6 engines. The standard flathead engines of that day were not very efficient and designers tried to improve engine performance by using multiple valves. The Stutz Motor Company
The Stutz Motor Car Company, was an American producer of high-end sports and luxury cars based in Indianapolis, Indiana. Production began in 1911 and ended in 1935.
Stutz was known as a producer of fast cars including America's first spo ...
used a modified T-head with 16 valves, twin-spark ignition and aluminium pistons to produce 80 bhp (59 kW) at 2400 rpm from a 360.8 cid (5.8-liter) straight-4 (0.22 bhp per cubic inch). Over 2300 of these powerful early multi-valve engines were built. Stutz not only used them in their famous Bearcat sportscar but in their standard touring cars as well. The mono block White Motor Car engine developed 72 horsepower and less than 150 were built, only three are known to exist today. In 1919 Pierce-Arrow
The Pierce-Arrow Motor Car Company was an American motor vehicle manufacturer based in Buffalo, New York, which was active from 1901 to 1938. Although best known for its expensive luxury cars, Pierce-Arrow also manufactured commercial trucks ...
introduced its 524.8 cid (8.6-liter) straight-6 with 24 valves. The engine produced 48.6 bhp (0.09 bhp per cubic inch) and ran very quietly, which was an asset to the bootleggers of that era.
Multi-valve engines continued to be popular in racing and sports engines. Robert M. Roof, the chief engineer for Laurel Motors, designed his multi-valve ''Roof Racing Overheads'' early in the 20th century. Type A 16-valve heads were successful in the teens, Type B was offered in 1918 and Type C 16-valve in 1923. Frank Lockhart drove a Type C overhead cam car to victory in Indiana in 1926.
Bugatti also had developed a 1.5-liter OHV straight-4 with four valves per cylinder as far back as 1914 but did not use this engine until after World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. It produced appr. 30 bhp (22.4 kW) at 2700 rpm (15.4 kW/liter or 0.34 bhp/cid). In the 1920 Voiturettes Grand Prix at Le Mans driver Ernest Friderich finished first in a Bugatti Type 13
The Bugatti Type 13 was the first true Bugatti car. Production of the Type 13, and later Types 15, 17, 22, and 23, began with the company's founding in 1910 and lasted through 1920, with 435 examples produced. Most road cars used an eight-valve ...
with the 16-valve engine, averaging 91.96 km/h. Even more successful was Bugattis clean sweep of the first four places at Brescia in 1921. In honour of this memorable victory all 16-valve-engined Bugattis were dubbed ''Brescia''. From 1920 through 1926 about 2000 were built.
Peugeot
Peugeot (, , ) is a French brand of automobiles owned by Stellantis.
The family business that preceded the current Peugeot companies was founded in 1810, with a steel foundry that soon started making hand tools and kitchen equipment, and the ...
had a triple overhead cam 5-valve Grand Prix car in 1921.
Bentley used multi-valve engines from the beginning. The Bentley 3 Litre
The Bentley 3 Litre was a car chassis manufactured by Bentley. The company's first, it was developed from 1919 and made available to customers' coachbuilders from 1921 to 1929. The Bentley was very much larger than the 1368 cc Bugattis that d ...
, introduced in 1921, used a monobloc straight-4 with aluminium pistons, pent-roof combustion chamber
In engine design, the penta engine (or penta ''head'') is an arrangement of the upper portion of the cylinder and valves that is common in engines using four valves per cylinder. Among the advantages is a faster burn time of the air-fuel mix.
It ...
s, twin spark ignition, SOHC, and four valves per cylinder. It produced appr. 70 bhp (0.38 bhp per cubic inch). The 1927 Bentley 4½ Litre
The Bentley 4½ Litre is a British car based on a rolling chassis built by Bentley Motors. Walter Owen Bentley replaced the Bentley 3 Litre with a more powerful car by increasing its engine displacement to . A racing variant was known as the Blo ...
was of similar engine design. The NA racing model offered 130 bhp (0.48 bhp per cubic inch) and the 1929 supercharged 4½ Litre (Blower Bentley) reached 240 bhp (0.89 bhp per cubic inch). The 1926 Bentley 6½ Litre added two cylinders to the monobloc straight-4. This multi-valve straight-6 offered 180-200 bhp (0.45-0.50 bhp per cubic inch). The 1930 Bentley 8 Litre
The Bentley 8 Litre was a large inline 6-cylinder super-luxury car made in various configurations by Bentley Motors Limited at Cricklewood, London. Announced 15 September 1930, it was also the last completely new model by Bentley before the c ...
multi-valve straight-6 produced appr. 220 bhp (0.45 bhp per cubic inch).
In 1931 the Stutz Motor Company
The Stutz Motor Car Company, was an American producer of high-end sports and luxury cars based in Indianapolis, Indiana. Production began in 1911 and ended in 1935.
Stutz was known as a producer of fast cars including America's first spo ...
introduced a 322 cid (5.3-liter) dual camshaft 32-valve straight-8 with 156 bhp (116 kW) at 3900 rpm, called DV-32. The engine offered 0.48 bhp per cubic inch. About 100 of these multi-valve engines were built. Stutz also used them in their top-of-the-line sportscar, the DV-32 Super Bearcat that could reach 100 mph (160 km/h).
The 1935 Duesenberg SJ Mormon Meteor's engine was a 419.6 cid (6.9-liter) straight-8 with DOHC, 4 valves per cylinder and a supercharger. It achieved 400 bhp (298.3 kW) at 5,000 rpm and 0.95 bhp per cubic inch.
The 1937 Mercedes-Benz W125
The Mercedes-Benz W125 was a Grand Prix racing car designed by Rudolf Uhlenhaut to race during the 1937 Grand Prix season. The car was used by Rudolf Caracciola to win the 1937 European Championship and W125 drivers also finished in the second, t ...
racing car used a supercharged 5.7-liter straight-8 with DOHC and four valves per cylinder. The engine produced 592-646 bhp (441.5-475 kW) at 5800 rpm and achieved 1.71-1.87 bhp per cubic inch (77.8-85.1 kW/liter). The W125 top speed was appr. 200 mph (322 km/h).
After 1945
The 1967 Cosworth DFV
The DFV is an internal combustion engine that was originally produced by Cosworth for Formula One motor racing. The name is an abbreviation of ''Double Four Valve'', the engine being a V8 development of the earlier four-cylinder FVA, which had fo ...
F1 engine, a NA 3.0-liter V8 producing appr. at 9,000 rpm (101.9 kW/liter), featured four valves per cylinder. For many years it was the dominant engine in Formula One, and it was also used in other categories, including CART, Formula 3000
Formula 3000 (F3000) was a type of open wheel, single seater formula racing, occupying the tier immediately below Formula One and above Formula Three. It was so named because the cars were powered by 3.0 L engines.
Formula 3000 championships
...
and Sportscar racing
Sports car racing is a form of motorsport road racing which utilises sports cars that have two seats and enclosed wheels. They may be purpose-built prototypes or grand tourers based on road-going models. Broadly speaking, sports car racing is ...
.
Debuting at the 1968 Japanese Grand Prix in the original 3.0-liter version the Toyota 7
The Toyota 7 was a series of racing cars developed by Toyota Motor Company in cooperation with Yamaha Motor Corporation. Designed primarily for use in FIA Group 7 competition, it was Toyota's first purpose-built racing car project.
Design 7 (415 ...
engine participated in endurance races as a 5.0-liter (4,968 cc) non-turbo V8 with DOHC and 32-valves. It produced at 8,000 rpm (88.8 kW/liter) and at 6,400 rpm.
There is much discussion about which was the first 'mass-produced' car to use an engine with four valves per cylinder. For six cylinder engines, and considering special versions of mass-produced cars, the first appears to have been the 1969 Nissan Skyline
The is a brand of automobile originally produced by the Prince Motor Company starting in 1957, and then by Nissan after the two companies merged in 1967. After the merger, the Skyline and its larger counterpart, the Nissan Gloria, were sold i ...
, using the Nissan S20 six cylinder DOHC four-valve engine. This engine was also fitted to Nissan Fairlady
The Datsun Sports (called Datsun Fairlady in the Japanese and Australian markets), was a series of roadsters produced by Nissan in the 1960s. The series was a predecessor to the Z-car in the Fairlady line, and offered a competitor to the European ...
Z432 racing edition.
For a four cylinder engine, the first mass-produced car using a four valves per cylinder engine was the British Ford Escort RS1600
The Ford Escort is a small family car that was manufactured by Ford of Europe from 1968 until 2000. In total there were six generations, spread across three basic platforms beginning with the original rear-wheel drive Mk.1/Mk.2 (1968–1980) ...
, this car used the Cosworth BDA engine which was a Ford 'Kent' block with a Cosworth 16 valve twin cam cylinder head. The car went on to become a rallying legend in the 1970s winning many domestic and World Championship events. Other cars claiming to be first are the Jensen Healey, launched in 1972 which used a Lotus 907 belt-driven DOHC 16-valve 2-liter straight-4 producing 140 bhp (54.6 kW/liter, 1.20 bhp/cid). All of these, although mass-produced, are also of relatively limited production, so it is argued that the first widely available and popularly priced mass-production car with a four valve per cylinder engine was the 1973 Triumph Dolomite Sprint
The Triumph Dolomite small saloon car was produced by the Triumph Motor Company division of the British Leyland Corporation in Canley, Coventry between October 1972 and August 1980.
Background
The Dolomite was the final addition to Triumph's ...
. This Triumph used an in-house developed SOHC 16-valve 1,998 cc (122 ci) straight-4 engine that produced 127 bhp (47.6 kW/liter, 1.10 bhp/cid) at introduction.
The 1975 Chevrolet Cosworth Vega featured a DOHC multi-valve head designed by Cosworth Engineering
Cosworth is a British automotive engineering company founded in London in 1958, specialising in high-performance internal combustion engines, powertrain, and electronics for auto racing, automobile racing (motorsport) and mainstream Automotiv ...
in the UK. This 122-cubic-inch straight-4 produced at 5600 rpm (0.90 bhp/cid; 41.0 kW/liter) and at 4800 rpm.
The 1976 Fiat 131 Abarth
Fiat Automobiles S.p.A. (, , ; originally FIAT, it, Fabbrica Italiana Automobili di Torino, lit=Italian Automobiles Factory of Turin) is an Italian automobile manufacturer, formerly part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, and since 2021 a subsidiar ...
(51.6 kW/liter), 1976 Lotus Esprit
The Lotus Esprit is a British sports car that was built by Lotus Cars at their Hethel factory in England between 1976 and 2004. It was among the first of designer Giorgetto Giugiaro's polygonal "folded paper" designs.
Background
In 1970 Tony ...
with Lotus 907 engine (54.6 kW/liter, 1.20 bhp/cid), and 1978 BMW M1 with BMW M88 engine (58.7 kW/liter, 1.29 bhp/cid) all used four valves per cylinder. The BMW M88/3 engine was used in the 1983 BMW M6
The BMW M6 is a high-performance version of the 6 Series marketed under the BMW M sub-brand from 1983 to 2018 (with a break from 1990 to 2004).
Introduced in the coupe body style, the M6 was also built in convertible and fastback sedan ('Gran ...
35CSi and in the 1985 BMW M5
The BMW M5 is a high performance variant of the BMW 5 Series marketed under the BMW M sub-brand. It is considered an iconic vehicle in the sports sedan category. The majority of M5s have been produced in the sedan (saloon) body style, but in so ...
.
The 1978 Porsche 935/78 racer used a twin turbo 3.2-liter flat-6
A flat-six engine, also known as a horizontally opposed-six, is a six-cylinder piston engine with three cylinders on each side of a central crankshaft. The most common type of flat-six engine is the boxer-six engine, where each pair of opposed cy ...
(845 bhp/630 kW@8,200 rpm; 784 Nm/578 ft.lbs@6,600 rpm). The water-cooled engine featured four valves per cylinder and output a massive 196.2 kW/liter. Porsche had to abandon its traditional aircooling because the multi-valve DOHC hampered aircooling of the spark plugs. Only two cars were built.
Ferrari developed their '' Quattrovalvole'' (or QV) engines in the 80s. Four valves per cylinder were added for the 1982 308 and Mondial ''Quattrovalvole'', bringing power back up to the pre- FI high of . A very unusual Dino Quattrovalvole was used in the 1986 Lancia Thema 8.32. It was based on the 308 QV's engine, but used a split-plane crankshaft rather than the Ferrari-type flat-plane. The engine was constructed by Ducati rather than Ferrari, and was produced from 1986 through 1991. The Quattrovalvole was also used by Lancia for their attempt at the World Sportscar Championship
The World Sportscar Championship was the world series run for sports car racing by the FIA from 1953 to 1992.
The championship evolved from a small collection of the most important sportscar, endurance, and road racing events in Europe and ...
with the LC2. The engine was twin-turbocharged and destroked to 2.65 litres, but produced in qualifying trim. The engine was later increased to 3.0 litres and increased power output to . The 1984 Ferrari Testarossa
The Ferrari Testarossa (Type F110) is a 12-cylinder mid-engine sports car manufactured by Ferrari, which went into production in 1984 as the successor to the Ferrari Berlinetta Boxer. The Pininfarina-designed car was originally produced from ...
had a 4.9-liter flat-12
A flat-twelve engine, also known as a horizontally opposed-twelve, is a twelve-cylinder piston engine with six cylinders on each side of a central crankshaft.
Flat-twelve engines are less common than V12 engines, but they have been used in vario ...
with four valves per cylinder. Almost 7,200 Testarossa were produced between 1984 and 1991.
In 1985 Lamborghini released a Countach ''Quattrovalvole'', producing from a 5.2-liter (5167 cc) Lamborghini V12
The Lamborghini V12 refers to the flagship V12 engine used by Lamborghini. Lamborghini has had two generations of V12 engines through their history, both of which were developed in-house. The first-generation Lamborghini V12 was a sixty degree (60 ...
engine (64.8 kW/liter).
The Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.3-16
The Mercedes-Benz W201 was the internal designation for the Mercedes 190 series sedans, a range of front-engine, rear drive, five passenger, four-door sedans manufactured over a single generation, from 1982 to 1993 as the company's first compac ...
with 16-valve engine debuted at the Frankfurt Auto Show in September 1983 after it set a world record at Nardo, Italy, recording a combined average speed of over the endurance test. The engine was based on the 2.3-liter 8-valve 136 hp (101 kW) unit already fitted to the 190- and E-Class series. Cosworth developed the DOHC light alloy cast cylinder head with four large valves per cylinder. In roadgoing trim, the 190 E 2.3-16 produced 49 hp (36 kW) and 41 ft•lbf (55 N•m) of torque more than the basic single overhead cam 2.3 straight-4 engine on which it was based offering at 6,200 rpm (59.2 kW/liter) and at 4,500 rpm. In 1988 an enlarged 2.5-liter engine replaced the 2.3-liter. It offered double valve timing chains to fix the easily snapping single chains on early 2.3 engines, and increased peak output by 17 bhp (12.5 kW) with a slight increase in torque. For homologation Evolution I (1989) and Evolution II (1990) models were produced that had a redesigned engine to allow for a higher rev limit and improved top-end power capabilities. The Evo II engine offered from 2463 cc (70.2 kW/liter).
Saab
Saab or SAAB may refer to:
Brands and enterprises
* Saab Group, a Swedish aerospace and defence company, formerly known as SAAB, and later as Saab AB
** Datasaab, a former computer company, started as spin off from Saab AB
* Saab Automobile, a fo ...
introduced a 16-valve head to their 2.0-liter (1985 cc) straight-4 in 1984 and offered the engine with and without turbocharger (65.5 kW/liter and 47.9 kW/liter respectively) in the Saab 900
The Saab 900 is a mid-sized automobile which was produced by Saab from 1978 until 1998 in two generations; the first from 1978 to 1993, and the second from 1994 to 1998.
The first-generation car was based on the Saab 99 chassis, though with a ...
and Saab 9000
The Saab 9000 is an automobile produced by the Swedish company Saab from 1984 to 1998. Representing the company's foray into the executive car scene, it was developed as a result of the successes of the turbocharged 99 and 900 models. The 9000 re ...
.
The 2.0-liter Nissan FJ20 was one of the earliest straight-4 mass-produced Japanese engines to have both a DOHC 16-valve configuration (four valves per cylinder, two intake, two exhaust) and electronic fuel injection
Manifold injection is a mixture formation system for internal combustion engines with external mixture formation. It is commonly used in engines with spark ignition that use petrol as fuel, such as the Otto engine, and the Wankel engine. In a mani ...
(EFI) when released in October 1981 in the sixth generation Nissan Skyline
The is a brand of automobile originally produced by the Prince Motor Company starting in 1957, and then by Nissan after the two companies merged in 1967. After the merger, the Skyline and its larger counterpart, the Nissan Gloria, were sold i ...
. Peak output was at 6,000 rpm and at 4,800 rpm. The FJ20 was also offered with a turbocharger, producing at 6,400 rpm and at 4,800 rpm.
Following Nissan's lead, Toyota released the 1.6-liter (1,587 cc) 4A-GE engine in 1983. The cylinder head was developed by Yamaha Motor Corporation
is a Japanese multinational manufacturer of motorcycles, marine products such as boats and outboard motors, and other motorized products. The company was established in 1955 upon separation from Yamaha Corporation (however, Yamaha Corporation ...
and was built at Toyota's Shimayama plant. While originally conceived of as a two-valve design, Toyota and Yamaha changed the 4A-GE to a four-valve after a year of evaluation. It produced 115-140 bhp (86-104 kW) at 6,600 rpm (54.2-65.5 kW/liter) and at 5,800 rpm. To compensate for the reduced air speed of a multi-valve engine at low rpms, the first-to-second generation engines included the T-VIS Toyota Variable Induction System, or T-VIS, is a variable intake system designed by Toyota to improve the low-end performance of multi-valve engines.
T-VIS is intended to improve the low-end torque of high-performance, four-stroke internal combusti ...
intake system.
In 1986 Volkswagen
Volkswagen (),English: , . abbreviated as VW (), is a German motor vehicle manufacturer headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1937 by the German Labour Front under the Nazi Party and revived into a global brand post-W ...
introduced a multi-valved Golf GTI 16V. The 16-valve 1.8-liter straight-4 produced 139 PS (102 kW; 137 bhp) or 56.7 kW/liter, almost 25% up from the 45.6 kW/liter for the previous 8-valve Golf GTI engine.
The GM Quad 4 multi-valve engine family debuted early 1987. The Quad 4 was the first mainstream multi-valve engine to be produced by GM after the Chevrolet Cosworth Vega. The NA Quad 4 achieved per cubic inch (49.1 kW/liter). Such engines soon became common as Japanese manufacturers adopted the multi-valve concept.
Three valves
The 1975 Honda Civic introduced Honda's 1.5-liter SOHC 12-valve straight-4 engines. Nissan's 1988–1992 SOHC KA24E engine had three valves per cylinder (two intakes, one exhaust) as well. Nissan upgraded to DOHC after 1992 for some of their sports cars, including the 240SX.
In 1988, Renault released a 12 valve version of its Douvrin 4 cylinder 2.0l SOHC.
Mercedes and Ford produced three-valve V6 and V8 engines, Ford claiming an 80% improvement in high RPM breathing without the added cost of a DOHC valve train
A valvetrain or valve train is a mechanical system that controls the operation of the intake and exhaust valves in an internal combustion engine. The intake valves control the flow of air/fuel mixture (or air alone for direct-injected engines) ...
. The Ford design uses one spark plug per cylinder located in the centre, but the Mercedes design uses two spark plugs per cylinder located on opposite sides, leaving the centre free to add a direct-to-cylinder fuel injector at a later date.
The 1989 Citroën XM
The Citroën XM is a front-engine, front-drive, five-passenger, five-door hatchback noted for its hydropneumatic suspension. Manufactured and marketed by Citroën from 1989 to 2000, with a minor facelift in 1994, XM production reached 333,405 ov ...
was the first 3-valve diesel-engined car.
Four valves
Examples of SOHC four-valve engines include the Honda
is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan.
Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a producti ...
F-series engines, D-series engines, all J-series engines, the R-series ''R series''
* Adventure R series – paramotors for gliders
* BL R-series engine – gasoline car engines
* Dennis R series – coach chassis
* Ford R series – busses
* International Harvester R series – trucks
* Mack R series – heavy-duty ...
engines, the Mazda B8-ME, and the Chrysler 3.5 L V6 engine.
The V12 engine
A V12 engine is a twelve-cylinder piston engine where two banks of six cylinders are arranged in a V configuration around a common crankshaft. V12 engines are more common than V10 engines. However, they are less common than V8 engines.
The f ...
s of many World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
fighter aircraft also used a SOHC configuration with four valves for each cylinder.
The 1993 Mercedes-Benz C-Class
The Mercedes-Benz C-Class is a series of compact executive cars produced by Mercedes-Benz Group AG. Introduced in 1993 as a replacement for the 190 (W201) range, the C-Class was the smallest model in the marque's line-up until the W168 A-Class ...
(OM604 engine) was the first 4-valve diesel-engined car.
Five valves
Peugeot
Peugeot (, , ) is a French brand of automobiles owned by Stellantis.
The family business that preceded the current Peugeot companies was founded in 1810, with a steel foundry that soon started making hand tools and kitchen equipment, and the ...
had a triple overhead cam five-valve Grand Prix car in 1921.
In April 1988 an Audi 200 Turbo Quattro powered by an experimental 2.2-liter turbocharged 25-valve straight-5 rated at 478 kW/650 PS@6,200 rpm (217.3 kW/liter) set two world speed records at Nardo, Italy: 326.403 km/h (202.8 mph) for 1,000 km (625 miles) and 324.509 km/h (201.6 mph) for 500 miles.
Mitsubishi were the first to market a car engine with five valves per cylinder, with the 548 cc '' 3G81'' engine in their Minica Dangan ZZ kei car in 1989.
Yamaha Yamaha may refer to:
* Yamaha Corporation, a Japanese company with a wide range of products and services, established in 1887. The company is the largest shareholder of Yamaha Motor Company (below).
** Yamaha Music Foundation, an organization estab ...
designed the five-valve cylinder head for the 20-valve 4A-GE engines made by Toyota for use in some Toyota Corolla models in Japan. Yamaha also developed five-valve Formula One engines, the 1989 OX88 V8, 1991 OX99 V12, 1993 OX10 V10 and 1996 OX11 V10, but none of these were very successful.
For their YZ250F and YZ450F motocross bikes, Yamaha developed five-valve engines.
Bugatti ( EB 110), Ferrari (F355
The Ferrari F355 (Type F129) is a sports car manufactured by Italian car manufacturer Ferrari produced from May 1994 until 1999. The car is a heavily revised Ferrari 348 with notable exterior and performance changes. The F355 was succeeded by th ...
, 360 and F50), Volkswagen
Volkswagen (),English: , . abbreviated as VW (), is a German motor vehicle manufacturer headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1937 by the German Labour Front under the Nazi Party and revived into a global brand post-W ...
- Audi
Audi AG () is a German automotive manufacturer of luxury vehicles headquartered in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany. As a subsidiary of its parent company, the Volkswagen Group, Audi produces vehicles in nine production facilities worldwide.
Th ...
(Audi Quattro
The Audi Quattro is a road and rally car, produced by the German automobile manufacturer Audi, part of the Volkswagen Group. It was first shown at the 1980 Geneva Motor Show on 3 March. Production continued through 1991.
Background
The wo ...
) - Skoda
Škoda means ''pity'' in the Czech and Slovak languages. It may also refer to:
Czech brands and enterprises
* Škoda Auto, automobile and previously bicycle manufacturer in Mladá Boleslav
** Škoda Motorsport, the division of Škoda Auto respons ...
( Octavia vRS) and Toyota
is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...
( 4A-GE 20V) have all produced five-valve-engined vehicles.
Six valves
In 1985, Maserati made an experimental 2.0-liter turbo V6 engine with six valves per cylinder (three intakes, three exhaust). It achieved at 7,200 rpm (97.5 kW/liter).
Pushrod
Although most multi-valve engines have overhead camshafts, either SOHC or DOHC
An overhead camshaft (OHC) engine is a piston engine where the camshaft is located in the cylinder head above the combustion chamber. This contrasts with earlier overhead valve engines (OHV), where the camshaft is located below the combustion cha ...
, a multivalve engine may be a pushrod overhead valve engine (OHV) design. General Motors, GM has revealed a three-valve version of its GM LS engine, Generation IV V8 which uses pushrods to actuate forked rockers, and all Duramax V8 engines have four valves per cylinder with pushrods. Moreover, Cummins makes a four-valve OHV straight-six engine, straight six Diesel engine, diesel, the Cummins B Series engine, Cummins B Series (now known as ISB). Ford also uses pushrods in its 6.7L Power Stroke
engine using four pushrods, four rockers and four valves per cylinder. The 6.0 and 6.4 Powerstroke engine built by Navistar also used pushrods with four-valve heads. Pushrod multi-valve systems are common on diesels because they need to be able to meet emissions standards, but also produce more low-end torque. The Harley-Davidson ''Milwaukee Eight'' engine, introduced in 2016, uses four-valves per cylinder driven by pushrods and a single in-block camshaft.
Turbocharged
The 1980 Lotus Esprit#Essex Turbo Esprit .281980.29, Lotus Essex Turbo Esprit (with Lotus 900 series#Type 910 and 910S, type 910 2.2-liter inline four engine) was the first production car to use a multi-valve Turbocharger, turbocharged engine.
Motorcycles
Examples of motorcycles with multivalve-engines include:
* 1914 Peugeot
Peugeot (, , ) is a French brand of automobiles owned by Stellantis.
The family business that preceded the current Peugeot companies was founded in 1810, with a steel foundry that soon started making hand tools and kitchen equipment, and the ...
Grand Prix racer, 500 cc DOHC 8-valve parallel twin (top speed over 122 km/h).
* 1915 Indian (motorcycle), Indian Board track racing, board track racer, 61-cid (1.0-liter) OHV 8-valve V-twin.
* 1921 Triumph Ricardo 499 cc OHV 4-valve single-cylinder machine, copied by Rudge-Whitworth with their 1924 Rudge-Whitworth#Rudge Four, Rudge Four 350 cc OHV 4-valve single-cylinder machine, and 1929 Rudge Ulster 500 cc OHV 4-valve single-cylinder machine.
* 1923 Anzani, British Anzani 1098cc OHV 8-Valve V-twin, used in Morgan cars, Morgan three-wheelers and McEvoy Motorcycles, McEvoy motorcycles
* 1972 Honda XL250 "pent-roof" SOHC 4-valve single-cylinder machine (the first mass-produced 4-valve motorcycle).
* 1973 Yamaha TX500 "pent-roof" 500cc DOHC 8-valve parallel-twin (the first mass-produced DOHC 4-valve per cylinder motorcycle)
* 1977 Honda CB400 SOHC 6-valve parallel-twin.
* 1978 Honda CX series, Honda CX500, a 498 cc SOHC, pushrod actuated OHV, 4-valve per cylinder V-twin; 1982 Honda CX500#CX500 Turbo, CX500 Turbo was the first factory multi-valve Turbocharger, turbocharged motorcycle.
* 1978 Honda CBX1000, a 1,047 cc DOHC 24-valve straight-6 ().
* 1979 -1992: Honda NR, Honda NR series, racing & production motorcycles with 8-valve-per-cylinder "oval-piston" V4 engines (actually 32-valve V8s with adjoining cylinders merged).
* 1985 Yamaha FZ750 motorcycle with DOHC 20-valve straight-4 Yamaha Yamaha may refer to:
* Yamaha Corporation, a Japanese company with a wide range of products and services, established in 1887. The company is the largest shareholder of Yamaha Motor Company (below).
** Yamaha Music Foundation, an organization estab ...
Yamaha Genesis engine, "Genesis" engine.
* 1991-2010 Yamaha TDM and Yamaha TRX850, TRX parallel twin motorcycles with 5 valves per cylinder
* 1998–2006 Yamaha YZF-R1 superbike with redesigned (more compact) Yamaha Genesis engine, "Genesis" engine. 2006 model delivered at 12,500 rpm (130.3 kW/liter).
The Yamaha XT660 single once had five valves per cylinder, but a subsequent redesign reduced the valve-count to four. The Aprilia Pegaso 650 single also started out with five valves, but current models only have four. The jointly developed BMW F650 single always had four valves.
Aircraft
Ettore Bugatti
Ettore Arco Isidoro Bugatti (15 September 1881 – 21 August 1947) was an Italian-born French automobile designer and manufacturer. He is remembered as the founder and proprietor of the automobile manufacturing company Automobiles E. Bugatti, wh ...
designed several multi-valve aircraft engines. The 1916 Bugatti U-16 1484.3 cid (24.32 L) SOHC 16-cylinder, consisting of two parallel 8-cylinder banks, offered 410 bhp (305 kW) at 2,000 rpm (12.5 kW/liter or 0.28 bhp/cid). Each cylinder had two vertical inlet valves and a single vertical exhaust valve, all driven by rocking levers from the camshaft. Other advanced World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
aircraft engines, such as the 1916 Maybach Mb.IVa that produced at altitude and the 1916 Benz Bz.IV with aluminium pistons and the 1918 Napier Lion (a 450 bhp 24-liter DOHC 12-cylinder), used two intake valves and two exhaust valves.
Long after the King-Bugatti "U-16" aviation engine used them, shortly before World War II, the Junkers aviation firm began production of the Third Reich's most-produced military aviation engine (68,000+ produced), the 1936-designed, 35-litre displacement, inverted-V12, liquid-cooled Junkers Jumo 211, which used a three-valve cylinder head design inherited from Junkers' first inverted V12 design, the 1932-origin Junkers Jumo 210 — this was carried through into the later, more powerful 1940-origin Junkers Jumo 213, produced through 1945, the production versions of which (the Jumo 213A and -E subtypes) retained the Jumo 211's three-valve cylinder head design.
The V12 engine
A V12 engine is a twelve-cylinder piston engine where two banks of six cylinders are arranged in a V configuration around a common crankshaft. V12 engines are more common than V10 engines. However, they are less common than V8 engines.
The f ...
s of many World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
fighter aircraft used a SOHC configuration with four valves for each cylinder.
An example of a modern multi-valve piston-engine for small aircraft is the Austro Engine Austro Engine E4, AE300. This liquid-cooled turbocharged 2.0-liter (1,991 cc) DOHC 16-valve straight-4 diesel engine uses common rail direct fuel injection and delivers at 3,880 rpm (62.0 kW/liter). The propeller is driven by an integrated gearbox (ratio 1.69:1) with torsional vibration damper. Total power unit weight is .
Boats
In 1905 car builder Delahaye had experimented with a DOHC
An overhead camshaft (OHC) engine is a piston engine where the camshaft is located in the cylinder head above the combustion chamber. This contrasts with earlier overhead valve engines (OHV), where the camshaft is located below the combustion cha ...
marine racing engine with six valves per cylinder. This Delahaye Titan engine was a massive 5190 cid (85.0-liter) four-cylinder that produced 350 bhp (0.07 bhp/cid). It allowed the motor boat ''Le Dubonnet'' piloted by Emile Dubonnet to set a new world's speed record on water, reaching on the lake at Juvisy, near Paris, France.
An example of modern multi-valve engines for small boats is the Volvo Penta, Volvo Penta IPS Series. These joystick-operated seawater-cooled inboard diesel engines use combined charging (turbo and supercharger, except IPS450) with aftercooler, common rail fuel injection and DOHCs with hydraulic 4-valve technology. Propshaft power ranges from (highest efficiency 59.7 kW/liter for IPS400 3.7-liter straight-4 diesel). Multiple units can be combined.
References
[In direct injection engines - such as diesels and later petrol engines - fuel is delivered to the chamber directly via the injector rather than through a valve. In carburetted engines and indirect-injection engines the fuel is mixed with the air outside of the cylinder and both enter together via the intake valve. ]
External links
Kinematic Models for Design Digital Library (KMODDL)
- Movies and photos of hundreds of working mechanical-systems models at Cornell University. Also includes a
e-book library
of classic texts on mechanical design and engineering.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Multi-Valve
Engine technology
Engine valves