>>28415788
>You're literally saying "this component list provides balance", which is ALL engines
no, not all.

the typical i4 engine is not balanced. it CAN be, if you add balancer shafts, but most don't. doing so adds cost and robs hp/mpg, which is the exact opposite of what i4 cars are about, being cheap and efficient.
same for v6s. they CAN be balanced, but most of the time, they aren't. it took decades for the busso v6 (not to be confused with the bussy v6) to evovle to the point where its perfectly balanced.
the v8 is a funny situation. crossplane crank v8s usually are balanced (via counterweights), but flat plane cranks are almost always not

with the i6 you get perfect balance out of the box. you don't need balancer shafts, you don't need large counterweights. you don't need to waste engineering time or R&D budget or hp/mpg to address the fundamental flaws in the engine configuration. oh, also, crank case volume stays constant throughout the rotation, so no pumping loses either.
its balanced for free, because you put 6 in a line. its perfect.

now, don't get me wrong, i fully appreciate other engine types.
the i4 is nothing to love, but its cheap and its simple and it gets the job done. not gracefully, but it'll get you from a to b. prior to EVs becoming practical and affordable, it was the obvious choice for cheap, efficient trasport.
the v6 is compromised, but hey, sometimes you need to compromise. you don't always have the space for an inline 6, like eg if you wanna do 6cyls in transverse for the high trims of an fwd commuter. a v6 is still better than an i4, so fine, go for it.
and ofc flat plane crank v8s sound amazing, and the sort of cars that have them aren't exactly focused on refinement, so again, no problemo.

but at the end of the day, if you ignore all those other considerations and you just want the BEST engine config, well, its the v12 obviously. which is just 2 i6s glued together.
but if you can't afford a v12, then its the i6.

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