Ford Taunus V4 engine in Saab Sonett III.

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (July 2012)

A V4 engine is a V form engine with four cylinders and three main bearings.

Automobile use [edit]

The V4 engine has not been widely used in cars, with Lancia, Ford and ZAZ the only companies to manufacture such an engine.^[1]

Lancia produced several narrow-angle V4 engines from the 1920s through 1960s for cars like the Lambda, Augusta, Artena, Aprilia, Ardea, Appia, and Fulvia.

Ford of Europe produced two totally different V4 engines with a balance shaft, one in the UK and one in Germany:

• The British Ford Essex V4 engine
• The German Ford Taunus V4 engine (also used by Saab, the Matra 530 and in the 1962 Ford Mustang I rear-engine concept roadster)

The Ukrainian manufacturer ZAZ used an air-cooled V4 with a balance shaft, produced by MeMZ and used in Zaporozhets and LuAZ cars.

Motorcycle use [edit]

Cutaway view of the V4 engine of a Yamaha V-Max

Longitudinal V4 engine in a Honda ST1100 with its fairing removed

In the 1930 Matchless Silver Hawk used a narrow-angle V4, while Puch used a very wide-angle V4. V4 engines are more recently found in motorcycles, typically transversely mounted. Models with V4 engines include:

• Aprilia RSV4
• Ducati Desmosedici
• Honda Magna
• Honda NR
• Honda RC212V
• Honda ST1100 and ST1300 (Pan-European) with longitudinally mounted V4 engine.
• Honda VF and VFR
• Motus MST
• Suzuki Madura
• Yamaha Venture
• Yamaha V-Max
• Yamaha YZR500

Other uses [edit]

Another use of the V4 engine is in outboard motors. They are two-stroke cycle and generally carbureted. Some of the largest manufacturers are Johnson, Evinrude and Yamaha. This type of engine is popular because of its small size, while still producing 140 hp (104 kW), or more.

References [edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: V4 engines