The V3 engine is a

V engine A V engine, sometimes called a Vee engine, is a common configuration for internal combustion engines. It consists of two cylinder banks—usually with the same number of cylinders in each bank—connected to a common crankshaft. These cylinder ...

with two cylinders in one bank and one cylinder in the other bank. It is a rare configuration, which has been mostly used in

two-stroke engine A two-stroke (or two-stroke cycle) engine is a type of internal combustion engine that completes a power cycle with two strokes (up and down movements) of the piston during one power cycle, this power cycle being completed in one revolution of t ...

s for motorcycles competing in

Grand Prix motorcycle racing Grand Prix motorcycle racing is the premier class of motorcycle road racing events held on road circuits sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM). Independent motorcycle racing events have been held since the start ...

. The first example was the 1955 DKW 350. The 1968 ''Suzuki RP68'' was intended to compete in the 1968 season, however a rule change mandating single-cylinder engines meant that the RP68 never raced. Honda later revived the layout for the 1982–1984 Honda NS5000/NSR500 Grand Prix racing motorcycles. The 1983–1984

Honda MVX250F The Honda MVX250F is a Honda motorcycle with a water-cooled two-stroke V3 engine. New Zealand was one of the few countries in the world outside Japan where the MVX 250 was sold brand new through Honda motorcycle dealerships. The engine is mounte ...

and 1985-1987

Honda NS400R The Honda NS400R was a street-legal road-oriented two-stroke sport bike produced by Honda Motor Co., Ltd between 1985 and 1987. The NS400R was inspired by Honda's NS500 (also known as the RS500R) 500cc GP-bike ridden by Freddie Spencer Frederi ...

sports bikes also used V3 engines. A related layout was the

W3 engine A W engine is a type of piston engine where three or four cylinder banks use the same crankshaft, resembling the letter W when viewed from the front. W engines with three banks of cylinders are also called "broad arrow" engines, due to their sha ...

, although this placed all three cylinders in the same plane, but none of them in the same bank. This was used for the 1905–1915

four-stroke A four-stroke (also four-cycle) engine is an internal combustion (IC) engine in which the piston completes four separate strokes while turning the crankshaft. A stroke refers to the full travel of the piston along the cylinder, in either directio ...

Anzani Anzani was an engine manufacturer founded by the Italian Alessandro Anzani (1877–1956), which produced proprietary engines for aircraft, cars, boats, and motorcycles in factories in Britain, France and Italy. Overview From his native Italy, An ...

engine, which was used in motorcycle and aircraft applications.

References

{{Piston engine configurations 3

See also

References