Musikmann

Hi Andrew,

I was on a windy West Virginia road and saw a newish Benz behind me. I was curious as to what model it was, so I pulled over and let the couple around me. Well, it was a C230 Kompressor and the guy left me in the dust. For the brief time that I had him in sight, he had a lot of pickup and hardly ever applied the brakes. Needless to say, I was impressed.

Musikmann

p.s. haha, I was in my 1994 3.0L Plymouth Acclaim, not my 'tank'.

1985mb

Thanks for the vote of confidence. Cheers, mate

I do work somewhere in that industry, broadly speaking, but I don't cover automotive as part of my work. That's purely personal interest. Although anecdotally I do hear of plenty of big dollar bets being placed on or against GM stock and bonds, which is a turnaround or "distressed" story. Toyota, on the other hand, is doing financially very well and you're paying the premium, in part, for their impressive growth and financial performance.

You have to be very careful with investments, though. A lot of research, a sound investment thesis and consideration of both the "upside" and the "downside". E.g., someone could buy GM stock or bonds and be right that they will eventually turn it around. In the meantime, however, they could be crushed by Delphi going on strike. On the other hand, Toyota's stock price could reflect an assumption of x% growth over the next 1, 2, 3 or 5 years. They could continue to do very well but if they deliver (x-2)% growth, the stock may decline or just stay flat.

I don't think your initial question was stupid at all. I think it's very interesting how MB went from the 24v I6 to the 18v V6 to the 24v6. I'd still like to learn more about that.

alpinweiss

It seems most manufacturers are going to a 4 valve per cylinder configuration. I am sure an argument can be made for other configurations though, since there are still many other choices out there. It seems to me the scorecard is as follows:

2 valves per cylinder. Mostly low budget or low performance applications. Spark plug (or Diesel injector) is forced off to one side of cylinder. These are often pushrod engines. Good for big and heavy engines (stationary generators, etc.), but mostly obsolete for automotive use.

3 valves per cylinder. This has some advantages in terms of emissions and simplicity. Spark plug (or Diesel injector) can be placed near center. The 3 valve configuration has now mostly fallen into disfavor.

4 valves per cylinder. This seems to be the current favorite. More mechanically complex than above configurations. Requires double overhead cams, or a single cam with lots of rocker arms. Spark plug (or Diesel injector) can be placed in exact center of cylinder for best combustion. Combustion chamber can be nearly optimally shaped.

5 valves per cylinder. Used by Audi (also VW) in 1.8T engines. Advantages include lighter weight valves. The increased complexity probably overshadows this advantage, since the 5 valve configuration has been superseded by a 4 valve design.

Remember that camshafts and other related mechanical parts will soon become obsolete. Electronically operated valves are coming, and may be production-ready in just a few years. MB and BMW already have working prototypes.

Musikmann

Thank you for this nice, and learned, explanation.

Musikmann