Or am I mistaken here? In the latest issue, they refer to the A3's engine as a "VR6" AND a "V6." And checking in with Road & Track's website tonight, they are calling the new Tahoe a "Chevy Yukon." LOL

All six plug wire in an almost straight line"?? Didn't look like a V6 to me..
I suspected it might be a VR6 so I went searching to confirm it. Stange engine. I tend to think of it as a folded straight six, since it resembles a straight more than a coventional vee, here the intakes are in the center, and exhaust ports to the outside of each bank.
My dealer has one in the lot, and I'll go for a test driver once I'm sure I can get a good trailer hitch (I'll probably have to order it from the UK). I won't waste the dealer's time until the hitch is a sure thing.

of the plug wires on the engine cover has nothing to do with whether or not it's a v or a straight.
This is insane! Why are you resisting the fact!?
The engine has a 15 deg 'vee' angle between the left and the right bank. What is a 'folded straight six'?
It's true that it has one cylinder head, like a 'straight' engine. But it's technically a 'vee' engine. Don't argue with this, it's the fact.

The bore however is at a 15degree angle as pointed out.

The original VR6s had the plugs in the front and back of the motor. That was when they were just 12Vs.. When they went to a 24V they had to move the plugs to the center so it could be between the valves. If you pull the coils out of the head you will notice they are actualy angled.. They just happen to be in a row.

where exactly would you propose they fit an audi V6 beneath the hood... with all of the other crap that has to be under there?

The VR6 is a compact, large displacement engine designed in an exacting fashion to fit 6 cylinders transversely into an engine bay meant for an inline 4.

The audi V6 engines are split at 90 degrees, the VR6 is split at 10-15 degrees. The audi V6 engines have TWO cylider heads and TWO exhaust manifolds, the VR6 has one cylinder head and one exhaust manifold.

From the Corrado to the MKIII GTI and Jetta VR6, passat VR6 to the MKIV GTI VR6 and R32 along with the Touareg, porsche cayenne, audi Q7 and audi TT... these are VR6 powered cars... There are also VR5 engines which are 5 cylinder variants of the VR6, there was a B5 Passat VR5 and MKIV VR5 golf/passat.

There are two distinct families of 6 cylinder engines used by VW/Audi. VR6 and V6, the two are not one in the same, they look completely different, sound VERY different and were designed for two different purposes.

Reihe is German for inline.

VR is both a V engine and an inline engine in one.

Got it?

has stated it's a VR6. And even in the Autoweek article, they go back and forth calling it a V6 and VR6. So why would Audi waste time on two 3.2 V6's? I know, the long and sideways issue.

The VR6 was designed to fit into compact cars. A 90 deg V6 has more performance potential (for thermic reasons).

The world outside Germany doesn't really understand VR, so, to make it simple, they call it a V6 (which it is). VR just would be more specific.

hit me back if you would like a copy of the article pdf

and a great section about the DSG

cary@carygott.com