Horizontally opposed engine was invented and patented by German karl benz in 1895. In fact, many car companies have produced this engine, Volkswagen Beetle &; T 1, BMW, Toyota, lancia, alpha? Romeo and Citroen models have been horizontally opposed, but with the development of automobile engine technology, many car companies have made choices and gradually changed to L, V, W and other cylinder arrangements. Of course, we can't look at any kind of technology simply by looking at the technology itself, but we should look at the technical background, market demand and model characteristics of car companies comprehensively.
German Porsche and Japanese Subaru, two unrelated brands, are discussed together just because of horizontally opposed engine. At present, only Porsche and Subaru hold their ground on horizontally opposed engine. However, some people say that horizontally opposed engine is expensive and brittle. Why are these two car companies still insisting?
First, let's talk about horizontally opposed engine. As the name implies, the pistons of the horizontal engine are evenly distributed on both sides of the crankshaft, and the pistons move horizontally when working. Horizontally opposed engine is a bit obvious, because the engine is lying in the engine room, and the installation position can be lower. It goes without saying that the mobility can be improved, and the vertical space can also be improved. Because the piston moves relatively and horizontally, the balance is high and the vibration is particularly small.
The structure of horizontally opposed engine is particularly complex, with high precision and high technology content, and the manufacturing cost and maintenance cost will increase. For most car companies that pursue sales, it is obviously a bit unacceptable. On the other hand, due to its horizontal structure and gravity, one side of the cylinder is not easy to be fully lubricated by engine oil, and the piston is unevenly worn.
The advantage of horizontally opposed engine is very outstanding, which can be summed up in one word: Ping. Because the cylinders of this machine are arranged parallel to the ground, the concept of cylinders on both sides is equivalent to flattening the "V-type engine", that is, the included angle of 90 degrees becomes 180 degrees! Therefore, the H-type machine can effectively reduce the center of gravity of the engine, which is very important for sports cars.
It's not a difficult technique. Several engines of Honda BMW motorcycles, as well as the stern engines of Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki, Xiyunlai and Mercury, all have horizontal reciprocating pistons, which feel that Subaru and Porsche have been blown away. The fact is that more harm than good. Almost all car dealers gave up this technology, and Porsche continued to use it just to install bigger cars. I don't know that high-end goods such as cars must be different from other luxury goods. There must be design and comparison, otherwise why are they so expensive!
Subaru is like a science and engineering man who is partial to technology and will not compromise with domestic consumers. People in China prefer cars with beautiful appearance, luxurious interior, spacious space and good acceleration performance, but Subaru does badly in this respect. Coupled with the import of the whole vehicle and all parts, the cost performance of car purchase is low, and it is understandable that it is not sold well in China!