Quote:
Originally Posted by Charley Lillard
I don't think flat plane crank engines will make as much torque down low as a traditional engine does so 1/4 mile times might suffer.
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I honestly believe that is a myth.
If you built two engines with the same heads, same camshaft specs for lift and duration, etc., and the only difference was the flat plane crank (and therefore the firing order) I doubt you would have any loss of torque with the flat plane crank.
Ferrari just happens to build smaller V8s with a higher redline, so they make more power up top.
The only difference is the firing order, and that the flat plane crank never fires two cylinders from the same bank in succession (such as when 5 fires right before 7 on the SBC).
So, where does the myth come from? There are myriad articles in the internet about how a 90 degree crank fires every 90 degrees, but a flat plane crank v8 only fires every 180 degrees. Those same idiots claim that is why the flat plane V8 can make huge numbers at a ridiculously high rpm. They forgot to take into account that the BLOCK is still a 90 degree block.
Think about it; if the flat plane crank V8 only fired every 180 degrees, there would only be two cylinders firing every revolution. It is still a four cycle engine, not an 8 cycle. The crank still travels 360 degrees per rotation, requiring four firings (360 divided by 4 = 90) every revolution.
Every four cylinder tractor has a flat plane crank. They are all built for torque.