3 Litre W9 Engine

I'm intrigued by this 9 cylinder engine designed by Thomas Johansson of Sweden for his MSc thesis.

Mike Spinelli at Jalopnik compares it to a Radial engine. Interesting.

If this was a W3, would it be a Radial engine? Must a Radial engine have the cylinders equally spaced around a circle? In Radial engines I've seen, the master connecting rod on cylinder #1 attaches to the crankshaft, then the other connecting rods attach to the master. Here, each piston has its own complete connecting rod.

And if the W3 was a Radial, then would this W9 be a compound Radial engine. The masive compound radial engines I've seen at the Hiller Aviation Museum have 'banks' of cylinders that spiral. The banks of cylinders on the W9 are straight.


Thanks Jalopnik
Categories:Cars