A W16 engine is a sixteen-cylinder

piston engine A reciprocating engine, more often known as a piston engine, is a heat engine that uses one or more Reciprocating motion, reciprocating pistons to convert high temperature and high pressure into a Circular motion, rotating motion. This article ...

with four banks of four cylinders in a W configuration. W16 engines are rarely produced, with the notable exception of the Volkswagen Group 8.0 WR16 engine, which has been used since 2005 in the

Bugatti Veyron The Bugatti Veyron EB 16.4 is a mid-engine sports car designed and developed in Germany by the Volkswagen Group and Bugatti, and manufactured in Molsheim, France by French automobile manufacturer Bugatti. It was named after the racing driver Pi ...

Bugatti Chiron The Bugatti Chiron is a mid-engine two-seater sports car designed and developed in Germany by Bugatti Engineering GmbH. It was manufactured in Molsheim, France, by French automobile manufacturer Bugatti Automobiles, Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S. T ...

and their related models. __TOC__

Volkswagen Group

The W16 engine that Volkswagen Group uses in its Bugatti Veyron and Chiron has a displacement of and four

turbocharger In an internal combustion engine, a turbocharger (also known as a turbo or a turbosupercharger) is a forced induction device that is powered by the flow of exhaust gases. It uses this energy to compress the intake air, forcing more air into th ...

s. It is effectively two narrow-angle VR8 engines (based on the VR6 design) mated at an included angle of 90 degrees on a common crankshaft. The most powerful version of this engine, installed in the Bugatti Bolide, generates at 7,000 rpm. At the 1999 Geneva Auto Salon,

Bentley Bentley Motors Limited is a British designer, manufacturer and marketer of Luxury vehicle, luxury cars and Sport utility vehicle, SUVs. Headquartered in Crewe, England, the company was founded by W. O. Bentley (1888–1971) in 1919 in Crickle ...

presented Hunaudières, a concept two-seated mid-engined car with an 8-litre W16 engine. The engine was the basis for the

. Another concept car from Volkswagen Group to have the W16 engine is the Audi Rosemeyer, introduced in 2000 and shown at various auto salons. The engine fitted to Rosemeyer is the only W16 variation to have five valves per cylinder.

Other manufacturers

In 1916, a rotary valve W16 engine was built in France by Gaston Mougeotte. The

Jimenez Novia The Jimenez Novia W16 is a French one off sports car built in 1995 by Ramon Jimenez, a French motorcycle racer from Vaucluse. It reportedly cost £600,000 ($855,000) and took ten years to develop. It features an aerodynamic body with center lockin ...

, a one-off sports car built in 1995, used a W16 engine with two crankshafts. Built by combining four Yamaha FZR1000 inline-four motorcycle engines, the engine has a displacement of , eight camshafts and five valves per cylinder, and produces .

References

{{Piston engine configurations Piston engine configurations 16 16-cylinder engines