The reason for Ford Falcon Straight Six Engine?

Question

Does anybody know the reason behind Ford using a Straight six engine in their Ford Falcon's, rather than using a typical V engine or even a boxer engine. Please help, I am stumped on this one.

Answer 1

An Inline 6 is still used by Ford of Australia because:



1.) It is perfectly balanced and silky-smooth:



It is more balanced than a V6 because: the two ends of the engine balance each other out: Cyl.1 balances Cyl.6, 2 balances 5, 3 balances 4. Also in a Inline 6, a cylinder starts a new power stroke every 120 degrees instead of 180 in a inline 4. Therefore there are 60 degrees of overlap, resulting in a smoother power delivery. In a V engine, the cylinders are angled apart, and every stroke pushes the engine side to side, which doesn't happen in a inline engine.



2. Inlines are longer, which is why they have gone away in America. Since the Falcon is a fairly large car, its engine compartment can still handle a inline 6. V6 only came about when small cars needed 6 cylinders and an inline couldn't fit.



3. IF IT AIN'T BROKE, DON'T FIX IT!

Answer 2

Ford Falcon Engine

Answer 3

there's pros and cons for both inline and V configuration engines. Inline engines obviously tend to be fairly long in comparison to a V engine which restricts bonnet and engine bay design. However a V engine has the additional weight and complexity of two cylinder heads as opposed to one and for overhead cam engines a V engine needs double the amount of camshafts eg quad cam V6 compared to a double overhead cam inline.



And the Ford inline 6 was making some seriously impressive power figures, so if it works effectively why change it ? As mentioned the next Falcon will be using the imported V6 - primary motive behind that I believe, is the current Ford engine doesn't meet the latest Euro emissions standards, so rather than redesigning the existing enging Ford has opted to import a suitable engine from overseas, which happens to be a V6.

Answer 4

Au Falcon Engine

Answer 5

The straight six is a much smoother running engine than a V-6. Because a V-6 has an odd number of cylinders on each side, it is more difficult to control the vibration. The straight six engine has a smoother torque curve and it's also less complicated as the valves are all lined up instead of being divided into two banks.

Answer 6

This Site Might Help You.



RE:

The reason for Ford Falcon Straight Six Engine?

Does anybody know the reason behind Ford using a Straight six engine in their Ford Falcon's, rather than using a typical V engine or even a boxer engine. Please help, I am stumped on this one.

Answer 7

The Falcon was introduced in 1960 with the six. It was originally an "Economy Car". The old 223 six was too tall to fit under the hood. The 260 V8 fit but just barely and was not in keeping with the economy mode. The 144 ci six was a new design, with the intake manifold cast into the head. It had a small one barrel carburetor. It produced enough less torque to allow lighter transmissions and rearend.

It was later enlarged to 200 ci but is not related to the 300.

Old Fart Ford Racer

Answer 8

Falcon came out as a smaller car with better fuel economy, some got 30 mpg while the other cars would get 12 mpg.

The 144,170.200cid engines were very good engines

Answer 9

Most six cylinder cars in the 60s and before were Inline six cylinder.It was a good design.The main reason they are not used today,is that they are longer than v-6 engines and will not fit in most engine compartments.

Answer 10

The layout is almost the same but they came out with the straight six a long time ago way before the v6. It is cheaper to build and it has more power than a v6.

Answer 11

the straight six has been around for a long time, with the same basic motor layout, just changing in displacement over the years. cost is cheaper to keep using the same motor design over and over, than designing a new motor. plus the motor is well proven over the years. the latest one with twin turbos makes like around 360hp very close the the V8 numbers, with more torque than V8

Answer 12

so the car would never die.