What is a boxer engine?
 

Well, the description didn't say that it have to be exactly for honda engines. I hear this alot and really need to know.

What is a Boxer engine that I hear on subaru commercials. A website with all the info will do best.

If you feel the need to flame as so many do, please ignore the post.

Re: What is a boxer engine? (SeaQuake)
 

A flat engine or boxer engine or horizontally opposed engine is a type of engine where the pistons lie horizontally opposed, with pairs of cylinders on the left and the right, as opposed to most modern engines where the alternating pistons are positioned in a "V"-angle. Some experts distinguish between V-at-180° engines and real boxer engines. The real boxer has one crank pin per piston while in the V-at-180° engine two pistons share the same crank pin. Real boxer engines can run perfectly smooth and free of vibrations with a four-stroke cycle, regardless of number of cylinders.

The benefit of using a boxer engine versus a V engine is that it provides perfect balance because each piston's movement is exactly counterbalanced by the corresponding piston movement of the opposite side. Boxer-engined automobiles also generally have a lower center of gravity, giving better stability and control. However, boxer engines are also wider than normal engines and are more expensive to build than traditional engines and, thus, are not widely used by automobile manufacturers.

The flat configuration fits very well with air cooling and aircraft engine. Air-cooled designs such as in the VW Beetle used a flat-4, as did the Porsche 356 and 912. Both the older and newer models of the 911 use a flat-6 while the Subaru use the flat-4 and flat-6 design extensively, although referring to it as an "H engine". Farrari used a flat-12 on theTestarossa. Air-cooled flat-twin were used by Citroën in their model 2CV and its derivatives, while the Citroën GS used a flat-4, and a flat-6 was proposed for the Citroën DS but rejected due to impractability. BMW uses a flat-twin in many of their motorbikes.


Modified by SeaQuake at 10:06 AM 6/19/2005

looks like you answered your own question. Thats a good wrtie-up btw.

A boxer is a flat 6 3 opposing cylinders, flat four is like the air-cooled vws with 2 opposing cylinders

Re: What is a boxer engine? (SeaQuake)
 

I should also note that the boxer engine was given the name it has because the piston motion in a given cylinder bank is said to resemble the motion of a boxer's fists. I'm not kidding.