Future direction: Audi Engines...

[daveak05]

Who here is in favor of the recent move towards twin turbo or supercharged V6's vs larger and larger V8's and V10"s? Count one vote affirmative! Larger and larger displacement in an attempt to offest more and more weight is a losing proposition...in bulk, handling, and efficiency, IMHO!

[.:slowS4:. UT]

That's what I want for years!!!!

[ESFO]

Plus the rich, melodious exhaust note you can only get from a high compression, well tuned V8 and I'm set! But if they put turbos on the 4.2 in the RS5 I'd hit that real hard.

[bostonS6]

[joe1234]

[Bob W.]

turbos are fun for a while, but ultimately the lag, heat soak (esp. in my climate), and reliability issues get old.

[daveak05]

I hear ya on the turbo lag, heat and reliability issues. My point is that most car companies, including Audi, are making a move to smaller turbo or SC engines, even for their performance variants. So it's going to happen.

On the other hand, I didn't like seeing engine size keep increasing just to keep up with the HP wars.

[daveak05]

I agree about V8 and larger exhaust note. There's no duplicating that sound with smaller displacement engines.

Anyway, enjoy it while you can...even the next gen Mustang is rumored to have a twin turbo 3.7 Ecotech engine in the works, with the V8 being enlarged again to 5.0(from 4.6) and offered as an option, but not standard on the GT and above. But this isn't set in concrete yet, from what I've seen and heard.

[Bob W.]

would Audi/M-B/BMW/Lexus have developed huge, thirsty V8s had they known oil would hit nearly $140/barrel? Probably not, but these things are planned years in advance. So what do they do now? Plan for $300 oil (i.e. smaller engines with better fuel economy), or plan for a stabilization or slight reduction in oil prices?

Did you see the latest Top Gear? They did an interesting road test with a Prius and a new M3. Basically they had the Prius drive as quickly as it could around the road course for 10 laps. The BMW followed behind it (at the same pace as the Prius). After 10 laps they checked the mileage: Prius 18.2mpg, M3 19.5mpg. So their point was that it's not engine efficiency, but rather driving style that determines fuel economy.

[daveak05]

forced by rising oil prices, and not just Audi. Most car companies are moving to V6 power instead of V8. They are developing larger displacement V6's in lieu of V8's.

If you remember back to very early 80's, the same thing happened. You couldn't get a V8 in almost anything but a full size truck, the Mustang GT, and the few very large American sedans.

I don't know about the logic of that Prius/M3 comparison. You simply can't get good gas mileage out of large V8's, not to mention V10's. Driving moderately around town is actually the worst case scenario for the V8's. Just look at their City EPA numbers...mid teens.

GM was actually an early leader in cylinder de-activation technology for their V8's. Now others, including Honda are pushing it. But I don't like the idea of having an engine shut down half its cylinders. I'd rather have smaller displacement and lighter weight, with the HP being increased thru design, tuning, and turbo or SC.

JMO...