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The classical W engine uses three banks of cylinders. The 1917 Napier Lion aircraft had a first W12 engine. Later, a W12 design was also pursued by Audi, who later abandoned the project. An experimental W18 engine was produced by Volkswagen for Bugatti's EB 118 and EB 218 concept cars, but the design was determined infeasable.
Volkswagen created the first successful automotive W engine with the introduction of their W12. It combined two narrow-angle VR6 engines around a single crankshaft for a total of four banks of cylinders. However, the narrow (15°) angle between bank pairs makes this engine resemble a V12 in that it has just two cylinder heads and two sets of camshafts. VW went on to produce a W16 prototype which produced 623 horsepower (465 kW) for the BentleyFor other uses of Bentley, see Bentley (disambiguation). Bentley is a British based manufacturer of luxury automobiles and large sportscars. Bentley Motors was founded in England on January 18, 1919 by Walter Owen Bentley, known as W. Bentley or just "W. Hunaudières concept car. A quad- turbocharged version of this engine will go into production in 2005 powering the 1001hp Bugatti Veyron 16.4The Bugatti Veyron 16. 4 (known as the EB 16/4 Veyron in concept stages) will be the most powerful and expensive car in the world when it reaches production. It is named for famed Bugatti racing driver, Pierre Veyron who won the 24 hours of Le Mans in 193. A W8A W8 is an 8-cylinder piston engine consisting of four banks of two cylinders, or two juxtaposed V4 engine blocks, coupled to one crankshaft. Volkswagen Group currently produces a W8 engine, based on its W12 which uses two narrow-angle VR6 engines. The na engine was also produced for use in the VW PassatThe Volkswagen Passat is a family car built by Volkswagen AG. It falls between the VW Golf/ Jetta and VW Phaeton in the current VW production line-up. It is produced in VW's plant in Emden. 1973 The original Passat was launched in 1973. It was essentially. The major advantage of these engines is packaging, i.e., they contain high numbers of cylinders but are relatively compact.Volkswagen's VR6 and W-engines
Piston engine configurations