What is the VR6?
• On the GTI-VR6 list we hack on the the inline versus vee thread now and again. I threw together an interesting little diagram showing the actual geometry of the VR6 and a blown up version of what it might possibly imply about crank geometry. Here’s the diagram. The bits of interest are that not only is the vee extremely narrow (as shown on the left) but the vee also meets below the center of the crank, as shown on the left and expanded upon on the right. The VR6 has the firing order of a straight six but is barely longer than an inline four. The drawing on the right shows an exaggerated version of what’s on the left, and what I was investigating was the fact that the piston acceleration profiles for the left and right banks are different. The right bank moves slower through the middle part of the stroke than the left bank because of the angles of the connecting rod relative to the center axis of the pistons. An interesting trick, and yet the engine is supremely smooth. More on this t
