Porsche 919 LMP1 - Why a V4 petrol?

[mollytherocker]

Just curious.

The car did well today at Silverstone and it looks like its quick out of the box.

But why specifically a V4? And could we see it in a road car?

[mollytherocker]

NJH said:

Flat engines tend to have a higher CofG than V engines because the exhaust has to go somewhere and this results in the crank being several inches higher.

Good lord, I have never thought of it like that. I had assumed that flat engines always have a lower CofG!

[mollytherocker]

Ok, so the V4 is;

Light;
Short, which is great for packaging, especially as theres the turbo and hybrid system to get in there;
Makes it more mid engined, assuming you believe this is a good thing;
Fuel efficient;
Has less moving parts and therefore maybe more reliable?

Perhaps it does make sense afterall.

[mollytherocker]

spyderman8 said:

The base model (special order only in the UK) does indeed have a 4-cylinder engine. Specs here:

http://www.porsche.com/uk/models/macan/macan/featu...

So, is it the same block then? If so, it will be the only Porsche with a race bred engine!!!!