Re: What if Packard developed an overhead cam short stroke straight eight?

Posted by bkazmer On 2014/3/3 10:02:07

The packaging issues of an OHC straight eight (long and tall) would not have been a big deal in the bodies of the era. As pointed out , the high rpm advantages would not have been that noticeable on a luxury car. Packard's 9 main bearing designs of 1940 and 1954 kept the crankshaft whip under control.

However, the inherent distance problems of a straight eight remain - it's a difficult set up for breathing. Equal fuel distribution would have meant a multicarb set up, and as Buick found out that had issues.

So in the era, the OHV V8 made sense, even though it initially offered no power increase.

A supercharged inline 6 is an interesting idea. Imagine someone transplanting one into an XK120!