![]() ![]() Unlike the United States, which had had the Ford Model T for over 20 years before that point, Germany still didn't have a car that the average citizen could afford at that time, only 1 in 50 Germans owned a car.Īs you can probably guess, the car that Porsche ended up designing was none other than the iconic Volkswagen Beetle, which used a 995 cc boxer-four that made 25 horsepower. In the 1930s, at the behest of Adolf Hitler, Ferdinand Porsche set about designing a new car that could serve as a true car of the people. ![]() The Mercedes-Benz company made the decision to focus on developing inline engines for their cars, and Benz's design was forgotten about for a few decades. However, no one ended up using this design at the time. Both of these engines were two-cylinder units. This first boxer engine was dubbed the "kontra" (kontra being the German word for against) and came in two different versions a 1.7-liter version that made 5 horsepower, and a 2.7-liter version that made 8. It was invented all the way back in 1897 by Karl Benz, who you probably also know as being the inventor of the car itself. The boxer engine was actually one of the earliest engine designs to exist. In these engines, as the piston on one side moves in, the other piston always moves out. This is in contrast with other flat engines, where the opposing pistons share a crankpin. ![]() The difference between a boxer engine and other flat engines, however, is that the opposing pistons in a boxer engine have separate crankpins, which allows the opposing pistons to move inwards and outwards at the same time. However, it's not entirely accurate to do so while all boxer engines are flat engines, not all flat engines are boxer engines.Ī flat engine always has its pistons mounted horizontally on either side of the crankshaft. You're probably already familiar with what a boxer engine is if you're reading this article, but on the off chance you're uninitiated, let's take a quick second to go over this particular engine design.īoxer engines are flat engines, and the terms "boxer engine" and "flat engine" are often used interchangeably. In this article, we'll be talking all about the history of boxer engines, including where they first appeared and which cars they can still be found in today. It's most common to see engines using an inline or V-shaped layout for their cylinders, but a small number of cars have used boxer engines over the years. While all gas-powered internal combustion engines work basically the same way, there are several different engine designs found in today's cars. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |