BOXER ENGINES: INTRODUCTION: We all know various engine setups and designs. The INLINE and the V engines are the most common in this automotive world . There's also a different kind of engine that holds up its heritage from the end of the 18th century till date ,that's THE BOXER ENGINE!!. WHY SO THE NAME BOXER?? Boxer engines are powerful,efficient and way loud than the other engines ,they are also called as Horizontally opposed engines .The name boxer is given due its odd firing order of pistons and its arrangement . In a inline engine the pistons are straight but in a Boxer engine the pistons are faced opposite to each other and also their movement is similar to a boxer ,using his hands to fight . That's super cool right . WHO GOT THIS FIRST? Its none other than our Great German inventor and engine pioneer Karl Fiedrich Benz. He is widely recogni
BOXER ENGINES:
INTRODUCTION:
We all know various engine setups and designs. The INLINE and the V engines are the most common in this automotive world . There's also a different kind of engine that holds up its heritage from the end of the 18th century till date ,that's THE BOXER ENGINE!!.
WHY SO THE NAME BOXER??
Boxer engines are powerful,efficient and way loud than the other engines ,they are also called as Horizontally opposed engines .The name boxer is given due its odd firing order of pistons and its arrangement .
In a inline engine the pistons are straight but in a Boxer engine the pistons are faced opposite to each other and also their movement is similar to a boxer ,using his hands to fight . That's super cool right .
WHO GOT THIS FIRST?
Its none other than our Great German inventor and engine pioneer Karl Fiedrich Benz. He is widely recognized as the Inventor of a Gasoline powered engine.He patterned it in the year 1896 . He also named it as a CONTRA engine due to the contrary motion of the pistons.
Benz produced some people movers in the early 19th century with a flat twin cylinder engines.
At present Only PORSCHE and SUBARU are using this.That's why we can easily distinguish a 911 from any car crowd .Those unique exhaust sounds come from those BOXERS under the Hood.
WHY IT IS BETTER?
We know that the BOXERS are very smooth due to its reduced vibration and due to its natural arrangement.
In a typical "V" shaped engine the piston is placed at an angle ,slightly less than 90 degrees this causes an unblance in the arrangement due to offsets .
The lopsided weight distribution causes RIPPLE effect ,hence it causes an unbalance which leads to vibration and loss of power.
To correct this ,BALANCE SHAFTS are used and also adding counterweights to the camshafts can be done . But this adds weight to the engine.
Practically BOXERS doesn't need any one of them, they are naturally balanced by their design.
The pistons are placed in a manner such that the primary and the secondary forces of the pistons cancel each other.
The pistons are also much cooler as they are placed away from each other .
THE FLAT V:
Flat V is also a BOXER engine with a slightly different configuration .This engine is also called as the 180 degree Flat engine.
The major difference is only at the crank pins or connector pins or crank Journals collectively called as crank pins .
In a boxer engine there will be one pin connecting each piston to the crank shaft.
But in a Flat V there will be a pin connecting TWO pistons at a same time , technically the flat V has lesser pins for connection.
As there is only one pin for two pistons the pin must be very strong because they are dealing with a large amount of force . Hence it'll increase the production cost making the BOXERS cheap.
PRO'S AND CON'S OF THE BOXER ENGINE:
ADVANTAGES:
The BOXER engine can be placed low on the cars chassis making it one of the perfectly balanced Design . Due to its placement in the car ,the car gains a LOW center of gravity and offers a great reduction in vibration . Also there is more room for the cabin .Hence the cars with a Boxer engine is spacious . Also the engine bay has lot of space, we can place other components above the engine .That's why SUBARU places their Cold air Intake above the engine and also their intercoolers.
(Image Courtesy:Subaru)
For designers the engine width is not a concern, they can place the engine mid way through the chassis and make the car very much stable than the others with a rear or front engined Cars .
For designers the engine width is not a concern, they can place the engine mid way through the chassis and make the car very much stable than the others with a rear or front engined Cars .
A Flat engine in a mid engined cars is a combo made in heaven, they provide the perfect handling than any other configuration.
Thats why SUBARU uses the BOXER engine in all of its models . Even PORSCHE loves the BOXERS . At least we all would have rode a PORSCHE 911 in Need For Speed.
Also speaking with the safety prespective, technically they are safe, during a crash the engine will not be pushed on the driver like on a front engined car . Who needs a big metal load crushing our body?
DISADVANTAGES:
Every invention in this world has some defects , Even humans Too. BOXERS are not exception too this case .
Boxers are very tough to work with ,we need a lot of skills to do so . Even the secondary and the primary forces cancels eachother due to the unbalanced movement due to the reciprocating torque that causes some unbalance .
In boxer engines ,they have over 6 cylinders which creates a Rocking Couple .
Due to its separation of cylinders they need Two sets of over head CAMS , Intake VALVES, EXHAUST manifolds, Head gasket etc . Everything is doubled in the case of Boxer which makes it further more complex.
Also they host a complex timing chain arrangement and connections.
They are LOUDER but according to my point hearing to those sting bee sounds is just awesome!!
PORSCHE'S AND SUBARU'S:
We all know Porsche and Subaru are using the boxer engines for a long time. Porsche design team also mentioned about the usage of their flat engines , also Subaru are using them from 1966 from their Subaru 1000 .They made the WRX as a good rally car .
SOME NOTABLE PORSCHE'S WITH BOXERS:
Porsche 356
Porsche 911
Porsche 911 (classic)
Porsche 911 GT1
Porsche 911 GT2
Porsche 911 GT3
Porsche 912
Porsche 914
Porsche 914-6 GT
Porsche 930
Porsche 934
Porsche 935
Porsche 959
Porsche 964
Porsche 981
Porsche 982
Porsche 986
Porsche 987
Porsche 991
Porsche 992
Porsche 993
Porsche 996
Porsche 997
Porsche Boxster/Cayman
Porsche Tapiro
Porsche 550
Porsche 597
Porsche 645
Porsche 718
Porsche 787
Porsche 804
Porsche 904
Porsche 906
Porsche 908
SOME NOTABLE SUBARU'S WITH BOXERS:
Subaru 1000
Subaru Alcyone SVX
Subaru Ascent
Subaru BRAT
Subaru Exiga
Subaru Forester
Subaru G
Subaru Impreza
Subaru Legacy
Subaru Leone
Subaru Levorg
Subaru Outback
Subaru SRD-1
Subaru Tribeca
Subaru XT
Subaru WRX
CONCLUSION:
The boxer engine is a special engine to study .The cars with boxer engines are also great in handling and performance . But at present due to Modern trends of electric cars the combustion engine is reaching its last days . The usage of boxer engine has also been reduced.Hope all got some information about this Mechanism of Boxer engines.Mention your thoughts in the comments.
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