Regarding engine installation:noname wrote:Inline would be also taller. Longer, taller, CoG placed higher... packaging would be more compromised than with v6, but I do not expect weight penalty.wuzak wrote:An inline 4 is longer than a V6 with the same bore and stroke. And inline 6 is much longer.
Are you sure about the subframe on the current engines?
Subframes are nicely integrated, but they are well visible. Triangle-like structures, oversized bottoms or bulkhead interfaces. One would not need them in non-stressed engine.
http://www.theverge.com/2016/2/18/11031 ... ngineering
http://www.f1technical.net/forum/viewto ... &start=705
If the inline engine is mounted transversely, you could regain the installation stiffness. A preferable forward-facing height-to-width ratio is resumed, as in the v-layout. The inline engine could also be tilted forward or back to address the CoG penalty. The rear bulkhead of the monocoque could be shaped to accept the non-vertical mounting interface.
A downside would be that engine power would have to be transmitted through an extra 90 degree turn, depending on how the drivetrain was designed. A combined transverse engine, transverse transmission and, of course, transverse output differential, would eliminate this and save you a second 90 deg turn compared to the current cars' layout.
However, aerodynamics dictate that narrowness of the powertrain will still be desired at the rear of the car, meaning a continuation of long, smoothly tapered gearboxes. Designing that without an internal longitudinal driveshaft, as in the current cars, while maintaining the transverse layout would require a long belt, chain, or train of spur gears, which seem suboptimal compared to a driveshaft in this context.
I agree with the other posts regarding the appeal of a non-stressed engine. I'll add that isolating the engine from chassis torsion & impacts may benefit the engine's lifespan. A CF subframe, as others mentioned, or a longer monocoque could bridge the span to the gearbox.
FWIW the transmission in some of the current cars, Mercedes at least, is already designed in a somewhat similar way. The core, metallic component gearbox is not the load bearing structure, or at least not much of it—it is nested within the overall CF bellhousing. The same logic could be applied to the engine.