Post
by roon » Tue Jan 09, 2018 7:41 pm
Hot vee in the 2014 engine formula was likely not pursued because of CoG disadvantages. CF pressure vessels lighter than Inconel, or whatever alloy, exhaust pipes. The people that make these cars for a living have a say in writing the rules, so for the same reason they championed a 90* bank angle (structurally ideal; firing order/spacing/sound of less concern to the designer) they would have been against a hot vee, although it's currently a more aesthetically intriguing solution. But too much weight up high, perhaps also concern about locating the H motor between six exhaust headers.
Porsche, Audi, BMW and Merc all make hot vee TT V8s currently, and some do single and twin turbo hot vee V6s. I don't think any of the big German brands make a V8 for production cars larger than 4 liters anymore.