Re: V-8 engine design flaws

Posted by Craig Hendrickson On 2010/1/23 17:47:01

First, compare the Packard V-8 to its contemporaries. In that comparison, it comes off rather well. Compared to later evolved or new designs, not so much.

Besides the oil pump, I think the biggest drawback in retrospect from a performance point of view are the siamesed center exhaust ports. Because of the head bolts in the way, there is no way to increase that port size much. A change of valve layout would have been necessary ala Pontiac Ram Air V.

There are other limitations that have been pointed out before and are too numerous to relist here, but in normal driving only the oil pump has proven to be a long term "flaw." Packard could have easily corrected that later on.

Craig