‘ The VR6 got its name from the German for shortened inline engine – Verkürzt Reihenmotor – and 6 for its number of cylinders’
‘ The VR6 got its name from the German for shortened inline engine – Verkürzt Reihenmotor – and 6 for its number of cylinders’
VW’ s internal nickname for the new engine programme,‘ Project Suicide’, didn’ t exude optimism. But there was no need for the pessimism because, from the origins of one of its experimental diesels, was born a new engine that solved Volkswagen’ s problems. The new engine, called the VR6, got its name from the German for shortened inline engine – Verkürzt Reihenmotor – and 6 for its number of cylinders. The first VR6 had a capacity of 2792cc from a bore of 81mm and a 90.3mm stroke, and, to keep it compact, a scant 15 ° angle between each trio of cylinders positioned in V shape.
It was a helpful coincidence that the German word for shortened starts with a V, then, but don’ t think of the VR6 as a normal V engine. While the cylinders are in a V, albeit a narrow-angle V, it has just one cross flow head which means air goes in one side of the engine and exhaust gases out of the other. Making it a much easier engine to package than a normal V with exhausts on both sides.
The VR6 wasn’ t the first narrow-angle V engine; Lancia had produced a narrow-angle V12 in 1919 and fitted an 11 ° V8 to its Tipo 8 in 1920 – these engines had their inlets on each side and the exhaust exited out of the top, in the centre of the head. A more conventional single cross-flow head narrow-angle V engine, a V4, was put into production by Lancia, the final version of which was designed for the front-wheel drive Fulvia. This one, its shortness beneficial so it could be mounted longitudinally with a transaxle behind it to drive the Fulvia’ s front wheels, helped Lancia win the Italian Rally Championship every year from 1965 to 1973 and the 1972 International Championship for Manufacturers – a title that preceded the World Rally Championship.
Volkswagen’ s VR6 is similar in concept to that Lancia motor, only with two more cylinders and designed to be
The solid and dependable B3 Passat became a true upmarket contender once it was fitted with a VR6
20 The Engine Rebuilder Issue 05