The other day me and a friend of mine (he is a somewhat of a car guy, me: not so much), and in discussing our different engines he seemed to give the impression that an inline-4 engine was always and absolutely superior to V6's. The argument/discussion focused more on power/acceleration, and while I'm sure his focus SVT is faster than my mercury milan, he argued that an I4 would always beat a V6, in the majority of scenarios. Since this I've done some research myself and have of course discovered for myself things like V6 engines having higher torque and horsepower at lower RPMs, and also the obvious fact that a wide range of variables (make, model, engine size, etc) come into play in terms of overall performance. My friend is a bit strong-headed, so I wanted to ask actual car people about his claim that I4s are unilaterally superior to V6s. Thank you.
Also: I tried searching for a thread similar to this and didn't find one, so I apologize if this is a common topic here.
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Hmm I wouldnt say a I4 is better than a I6, H6 or V6.
Each has its pros and cons.
I4
Pro:
-Smaller (less weight)
-cheaper (inline = 1 intake manifold and 1 exhaust manifold)
-typicaly better fuel economy (less displacement)
-good power to weight ratio (not always true but some engines such as the K20Z3 in the Civic Si, have impressive volumetric efficiency)
Con:
-Displacemnt is limited to about 2.4L.(I4 becomes unbalanced above 2L and requires a balance shaft)
-Total engine displacemnt is only divided across 4 cylinders (more mass per cylinder = more stress on connecting rod)
-Not as smooth as a V6 (more steps per cylce = smoother output)
Forced induction will artificialy increase the displacement of the engine increasing its power to weight ratio. This is true for all engine configurations, not just I4.
Something to note is for equivalent power 4 & 6 cylnders the peak torque on a 4 cylnder will be lower and much higher than the 6. This gives the illusion that the 4 cylinder is much slower, but really since the 4 cylinder has a higher redline most likely the transmision will have a higher final drive to compensate. So really at the wheels the torque will be fairly close as equivalent speeds.
It all depends on how the engine was designed. I believe overall a 6 cylinder has more potential for power due to its higher displacemnt capacity. But for equivalent power engines it just comes down to personal preference, some people prefer a screaming 4 cylinder to a V6.
Hope this information helps.