Does the amount of cylinders directly impact speed? For example,

Yes

This is why an old Jaguar XJ is exactly 3 times faster than a Lotus Elise

You moron

>>17129443
The output of an engine is limited by
primarily balance because an engine with low innate balance has a severe limit on its RPMs which is basically an effective hard cap on its capacity to make power
2/3 cylinders have bad innate balance because no matter what firing order they tend to rock end to end
This matters far less on small (>1500cc) engines because the have far less mass ratting around to cause damage to their rotating assembly
Inline 4cyls have primary balance, but they have a secondary imbalance that causes a different more manageable vibration so they can be used up to about 2.5l before that becomes an issue
Inline 6s have perfect balance so they can be scaled up near infintely without issue. Hence why a lot of semi diesels are i6s. Their main issue is length. A large displacement I6 is a rather long motor which limits its usefulness in applications beyond large trucks and cars with long hoodspace.
I8s and beyond are impractical because the crank is so long that it flexs at higher rpms and can be damaged because of it.
V4s are imbalanced and rather awkward
cont

the number of cylinders affects top speed

>>17129482
how many cylinders would you need to travel at the speed of light?

>>17129476
fuck u nigger

>>17129481
>>17129482
Both of these are true.
A car with more cylinders will have a higher peak and higher top speed. However the balance and rotating mass are big issues. You also run into different issues with OHV vs OHC.

Kind of but not really. It affects how many RPM you get, but that alone doesn't dictate speed and of course some engines will just get more revs or produce more energy per rev than others regardless of a difference in cylinder number.

>>17129481
V6s are popular because they fit in most engine bays and can be both powerful enough to move most cars and suvs and compact enough to fit in even compact cars
They aren't as balanced as i6s and tend to not have quite as impressive output and a lower redline, but the tradeoffs are worth it
v8s have perfect balance as well with a crossplane crank (shape like an x with every other crank pin set 90 degrees off of the others) and can scale up to rather large displacements
V10s require balance shafts but can match V8 displacements with smaller rotating assembly parts so they can have a similar displacement with a theoretical higher RPM
v12s are the same except they require no balance shafts. The issue with v12s is both length and the massive number of moving parts makes frictional losses become a serious factor.
I5s are like a retarded crossbreed of i4s and i6s, more balanced than 4 and not perfectly balanced like a 6. Notably, they generally are less cumbersome to fit in a transverse configuration so you see them in FWD cars (Volvos and Audis)
Boxers are balanced but odd to fit in front engine cars since their width can limit steering travel since they take up so much space in the front of the car

>>17129482
Wrong, you are thinking of gearing

File: 1429854564065.jpg (45KB, 282x327px) Image search: [Google]

45KB, 282x327px

>>17129476

>>17129443
>Does the amount of cylinders directly impact speed?
Misunderstanding of how cars work.
What you should be looking for is Power:Weight ratio + Power:Gear Ratio

>>17129503
Another thing with amount of cylinders is power delivery. In a 2 cylinder car it'll feel like you're "putting" along with short bursts of power followed by no power. In a v6 there are more cylinders, so their ignition strokes overlap more and acceleration feels a lot smoother. The smoothest is rotary though.

>>17129489
like at least 3

>>17129516
Can you explain this in layman's terms?

>>17129503
and the final most extreme example would be the rotary

Since its practically impossible to redline a rotary to death since their not throwing a relatively heavy piston attached to a rather thin conrod violently back and forth, the main issue limiting a rotaries power output is less balance (and consequently max RPM) but more their ability to flow air through the motor.
Excessive porting for high flow guts their low end torque and makes them rather hard to drive as a regular car but gives them an amazing high RPM power band
They lack torque but this can be overcome with proper gearing

All of these things have an impact on power output that thats only one leg of the top speed triangle
Top speed is primarly defined by their Gearing/Power (How many times the wheels can spin per rotation of the engine at its max power while still being able to overcome frictional and aerodynamic drag)

>>17129521
6-speed has higher top speed than 5-speed. A car that's lighter with the same horsepower will go faster. A car that's heavier with much more horsepower/Torque to offset this (i.e. Dodge Challenger) will be fast as well.

>>17129536
yea cars go fast

>>17129536
>6-speed has higher top speed than 5-speed
that all depends on the gear ratio doesn't it? like if said 6th and 5th gear have the same ratio, would they not have the same top speed?

>>17129536
Also to add: the different gears have different ratios, and if you lower the ratio of a six speed it can have the same top speed as a 5-speed (Some people refer to the ratio as "gearing") but there isn't much point to this.

>>17129542
He said "Laymans Terms"

>>17129542
Proof?

>>17129542
>>17129559
*Citation needed*

Lmao

>>17129536
by your logic a 6spd miata should be able to outrun a 240mph 4spd nascar cup car

its not the number of gears, its the effective gearing

said miata would be closely geared and given a shorter final drive due to its smaller power band and lower torque and the fact that its designed to be driven on the street in varying conditions

the cup car on the other hand operates in much different conditions.
in the cup cars 4spd 1-2 are extremely widely geared because they are the gears that get you from 0-120
They only can do this because the cars have massive torque being a racing v8
3-4 are much more close because they are the near top end acceleration and top end (cruising) gears
The final drive on a nascar car is also much taller since they are facing a much higher aerodynamic load

>>17129571
He said Laymans terms you fuck. If you take the same car and give it a six speed instead of 5 it allows the car to have a higher top speed than the 5 speed, assuming the gearing isn't whacked out for acceleration purposes.

>>17129577
no you retard

if the final drive and top gear of both transmissions is of the same ratio they would both have the same top speed

Techincally the 5spd would most likely be a little lighter but thats besides the point

Number of gears doesn't matter, the actual ratio's of those gears do

>>17129587
You're right we've been doing it all wrong, one gear transmission master race. How could I have been so blind?

>>17129481
>V4's até imbalanced
>Porsche wins Le Mans twice with a V4
Enjoy being dumb

>>17129499
So if I made a 1.5l v12, it'd be fast?

>>17129630
F1 had 1.5L V12, so there's that.

>>17129630
if you could get air into it at 15k rpm and had desmodromic valves so valvefloat wouldn't be an issue, hell yeah

That thing would scream like a goddamn banshee

>>17129548
Yes, and most times, 6 is actually slower than 5 because there is a lot of drag at those speeds, and you would be heavily lacking torque in final gear.

>>17129630
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferrari_Colombo_engine

2 valves per cylinder, no fancy BS.

>>17129503
>>17129499
>>17129481
What discipline.of engineering is this? Automotive or mechanical?

>>17129443
yes. v8s are inferior to v6s

>>17129649
Damn that thing is wicked

>>17129728
lel

>>17129722
just general trends. I couldnt be bothered to read the posts but basically car manufactures make small engine for slow car. medium engine for medium speed car, big engine for fast car, Usually four cylinder, six cylinder, and 8 cylinder. But you could make a 2 cylinder that is waaaaay more powerful than a big ole v8 if you wanted to

>>17129803
>tfw you will never have a 12L opposed two cylinder engine