The Smooth-but-Bulky Reality of Inline-Six Engines
Inline-six engines are prized for smoothness and torque, but their long, tall block creates packaging and center-of-gravity challenges, can hinder crash safety and transverse installation, and introduces crankshaft torsional vibrations that require dampers. Longer, more convoluted intake runners can cause uneven air/fuel distribution across cylinders, and timing-chain maintenance can be expensive, factors that help explain why inline-sixes remain common mainly in rear-drive and truck applications rather than modern transverse layouts.