Piston engine with ten cylinders in V configuration
A
V10 engine
is a ten-
cylinder
piston engine
where two banks of five cylinders are arranged in a
V configuration
around a common
crankshaft
. V10 engines are much less common than
V8
and
V12 engines
. Several V10 diesel engines have been produced since 1965, and V10 petrol engines for road cars were first produced in 1991 with the release of the
Dodge Viper
.
Design
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The V10 configuration does not have perfect
engine balance
, since an unbalanced
rocking couple
is caused by each
cylinder bank
functioning as a
straight-five engine
. Therefore,
balance shafts
are sometimes used to reduce the vibrations in a V10 engine.
[1]
Diesel engines
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One of the first known V10 engines was used in the 1936
Busch-Sulzer ICRR 9201
prototype locomotive, of which three examples were produced in the
United States
.
[2]
The 1965?1984
Leopard 1
armored tank was powered by the
MTU MB 838 CaM 500
37.4 L (2,282 cu in) V10 diesel engine.
[3]
[4]
Daimler-Benz
produced three V10 diesel engine models (OM403, OM423 and OM443) for
Mercedes-Benz NG
and
Neoplan
buses in 1970s?1980s.
Four Japanese commercial vehicle manufacturers (
Isuzu
,
Hino
,
Mitsubishi Fuso
and
Nissan Diesel
) produced V10 diesel engines for their heavy duty trucks and coaches in 1970s?2000s.
The 1983?present
Tatra 815
truck is available with a 15.8 L (964 cu in) V10 engine.
[5]
The
Volkswagen V10 TDI
is a turbocharged V10 engine which was produced from 2002 to 2010 for use in the
Volkswagen Phaeton
luxury sedan and
Volkswagen Touareg
SUV.
Petrol engines
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Production vehicles
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V10 engines are less common than V8 and V12 engines, a V12 is only slightly more complicated and runs more smoothly, while a V8 is less complex and more economical. Nevertheless, modern engineering has made it possible to use V10 engines for applications where a V8 would produce insufficient power and a V12 would be too complicated or bulky. V10s have been used in select luxury cars, sports cars and commercial vehicles.
[1]
An early V10 petrol engine was used in the 1987
Lamborghini P140
, however this prototype sports car did not reach production.
[6]
Dodge
developed an early V10, originally designing a version of its
LA series small block
for use in trucks. The Dodge engine saw its first production use in substantially revised form in the
Dodge Viper
while the truck version of the engine was used starting in 1994 in the
Dodge Ram
. It discontinued in that application after 2003. However, 2003 also saw the introduction of the
Dodge Ram SRT-10
, a performance model meant to rival Ford's successful V8 powered
F-150 SVT Lightning
. The
Viper engine
(a 90-degree engine with odd firing order to obviate the need for a balance shaft) was improved during its production run, and produced as much as 477
kW
(640
hp
; 649
PS
) in a standard state of tune from an 8.4 L version. The Viper engine was also used by
Bristol
in the two-seat
Fighter
coupe
, and in other low-volume vehicles.
Ford also developed a heavy-duty V10 version of their
Triton
engine to replace the
460 big block
in truck applications. It was introduced in the
E-Series/Econoline
full-size
van
, and also saw duty in the
F-Series Super Duty
line and the
Ford Excursion
SUV, and was offered by Ford through the 2019 model year.
For the
Lexus LFA
, the engineers selected a V10 engine over an equivalent displacement V8 because they could not get the V8 to rev as high as a V10,
[7]
and over a V12 for its lower reciprocating mass,
[8]
[7]
allowing for more rapid engine response.
[9]
European
marques
were slower to adopt the V10 configuration. However, high-revving V10 power-plants were incorporated into supercars from
Lamborghini
and
Porsche
.
BMW
and
Audi
developed V10s for high performance cars such as
BMW M5
,
BMW M6
,
Audi S6
,
Audi RS6
,
Audi S8
and
Audi R8
, mostly based upon their
executive cars
.
Volkswagen
also developed a V10, but as a
turbo-diesel
. A variant of the
Volkswagen Phaeton
was the first production sedan to contain a V10 of any kind.
Examples of petrol V10 production engines include:
Motor racing
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One of the first known V10 engines designed for motor racing was a 3.5 L (214 cu in) prototype
Formula One
engine built by
Alfa Romeo
in 1986.
[15]
Originally intended for the
Ligier
Formula One team, this partnership collapsed without the engine being used in any races. Alfa Romeo fitted the engine to two
Alfa Romeo 164 Pro Car
prototypes in 1988, however these cars also did not compete in any races.
[15]
The most widespread use of V10 racing engines has been in Formula One. Following a ban on turbocharged engines after 1988, the first V10 Formula One cars were the 1989
McLaren MP4/5
and
Williams FW12
. V10 engines were used by the majority of teams by the
1996 season
, following reduction in displacement from 3.5 to 3.0 L (214 to 183 cu in). The V10 seemed the best compromise between the lower weight of a V8 and the higher power of a V12.
Renault F1
used a flatter 110° angle in
2002
and
2003
, but reverted to a more conventional 72° following the change in rules which dictated that an engine must last two race weekends. In a further change to the rules, V10s were banned for the
2006 season
onwards in favor of 2.4 L V8s.
In sports car racing, the first V10 engine was used by the
Peugeot 905
in the two final races of the
1990 season
. This was followed by the
Judd GV10 engine
being used by several teams during the
1991 season
and the
Toyota TS010
that debuted in the last race of the season. The
Audi R15 TDI
was a
Le Mans Prototype
(LMP) racing car that used a turbocharged diesel V10 engine and competed in various endurance races in 2009 and 2010. The
Audi R15 TDI
set the current distance record for the
2010 24 Hours of Le Mans
.
[16]
Commercial vehicle use
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Until early 2021,
Blue Bird Corporation
offered its
Vision school bus
with two V10 engine options, both
Ford Triton
units.
[17]
See also
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References
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