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Some V configurations are well-balanced and smooth, while others are less smoothly running than their equivalent straight counterparts. Some designs, such as the V8, V12 and V16 are smooth running and balanced, while others, such as the V2, V4, V6 and V10 show increased vibration and generally require balancing shafts. Some exceptions occur with certain crankshaft configurations.

Various angles of V are used in different engines; depending on the number of cylinders, there may be angles that work better than others for stability. Very narrow angles of V combine some of the advantages of the V engine and the straight engine (primarily in the form of compactness) as well as disadvantages; the concept is an old one pioneered by Lancia, but recently espoused by Volkswagen.

It is common for V engines to be described with V# notation, where # is how many cylinders it has:

• V-twin
• V4
• V6
• V8
• V10
• V12
• V16
• V18
• V20A V20 is an internal combustion engine in V configuration, having 20 cylinders. Engines of this number of cylinders are not common. A V20 configuration is used by several large diesel engines. In railroad locomotive use, V20 engines were used in the 1960s
• V24

See also

• Flat engineA flat engine or boxer engine or horizontally opposed engine is a type of engine where the pistons lie horizontally opposed, with pairs of cylinders on the left and the right, as opposed to most modern engines where the alternating pistons are positioned
• Straight engine
• W engineThe W engine is an engine configuration in which the cylinder banks resemble the letter W in the same way a V engine resembles the letter V . There have been two entirely different implementations of this concept. The classical W engine uses three banks o