VW engines are weird

[slo town]

Nice color Passat you got there! I have that powertrain combo in white though. Absolute blast to drive. The quick shifts still amaze me and the VR6 sounds really good. Did you get the ECS delete kit when it was on sale? I’m apparently out of luck on those because they don’t fit the pre facelift models.

Color is Reef Blue. I did not do the ECS delete. I'm hesitant with those types of mods.

I'm a suspension guy. Literally two weeks after buying our Passat (new) I put on a set of H&R OEM Sport springs, a set of Bilstein B6 struts/shocks, a larger H&R rear anti-roll bar, and 19x8 BBS SX wheels with Michelin PS4s.

The DSG is as amazing as the engine. Super fast upshifts and downshifts, and the rev matching in manual mode downshifting is perfect.

Scott

 

[slo town]

I thought this one is 10.6 degrees?

It might be. Over the various VR6 generations they made subtle changes to the V angle.

Scott

 

[JimPghPA]

The V can make you think V6 but yeah some are inline. The timing arrangements make perfect sense when you're trying to fit a longer inline engine transversely. There is unused space above the transmission. Volvo took that approach as well and it allowed them to go from a 5 cylinder to a 6 cylinder in the XC90.

It's not inline, it's two row of three cylinders but one row is moved back some, and then the cylinders moved close so as to kinda inter-mess. There are a few different versions of the VR6 and they have Different angles of the center line of the two banks of 3 cylinders. Its a very compact cylinder layout. Actually, a really neat design. Cooling can be a problem for some of the cylinders.

 

[grampi]

It's not just their engines, VWs in general are weird...

 

[fantastic]

It's not inline, it's two row of three cylinders but one row is moved back some, and then the cylinders moved close so as to kinda inter-mess. There are a few different versions of the VR6 and they have Different angles of the center line of the two banks of 3 cylinders. Its a very compact cylinder layout. Actually, a really neat design. Cooling can be a problem for some of the cylinders.

It's an "IV" (inline V)
OP has brought out a very good point to this style of engine. Strange indeed.

 

[meep]

Frankly, I think it’s brilliant. Incredible packing for 6-cylinder torque and smoothness in basically a 4 cylinder footprint. Why hasn’t anyone cloned the concept? I hear they are a blast to drive and have a great snarl to them. Also, way better balance than say the i5 the VW and Volvo played with. (I quite like the Volvo i5, but smooth came at the price of sloppy engine mounts).

 

[4wd]

TDI4’s are simpler and plenty of output …

 

[JimPghPA]

Hay, if you think this is a neat way to pack 6 cylinders, some exotic vehicles have used what are essentially two of these squeezed side by side to make a compact 12 cylinder engine. And then use 2 spark-plugs per cylinder and it ends up with 24 spark-plugs. Them's the kinda vehicles that if you have to ask, how much does it cost, you can't afford it.

 

[Exhaustgases]

Yes good idea if all is designed and built correctly. Nice compact engine.

 

[vwmaniaman]

I personally have owned a VW since my first 1955 Beetle. They have gotten more complex over the years since then and I still value simple designs. I still own 4 different models of VW's , but I don't drive them a lot anymore. They are garaged though and all could be used daily. My wife is amazed that I can still drive a stick shift because all of mine are manual transmission equipped.

 

[97prizm]

This is a VW Atlas. I didn't realize that these are VR6 engines until I saw only one valve cover lol I thought that the VW V6 engines were actually V6's since they don't say VR6 on them. Side note, rear timing is stupid.

View attachment 338989

They were designed to be a 6 cylinder but more compact. I want to say the rear timing chain is an Audi thing as I think a few models had this.