W8 engine


A W8 engine is an eight-cylinder piston engine with four banks of two cylinders each, arranged in a W configuration.
In practice, the W8 engine is created from two narrow-angle VR4 engines mounted at an angle of 72 degrees from each other on a common crankshaft.
W8 engines are much less common than V8 engines, and the only W8 engine to reach production was manufactured by Volkswagen from 2001–2004.

Volkswagen W8 engine

The sole W8 engine to reach production was the Volkswagen Group W8 engine, which was available in the Volkswagen Passat from September 2001 to September 2004. Production was minimal at only 11,000 units.
This engine had a displacement of, had a peak power rating of at 6,000 rpm and a peak torque rating of at 2,750 rpm. Power and torque outputs were lower than competitors V8 engines with similar capacity, however the W8 engine was praised for its smoothness.
Sales of the W8-engined Passat models were poor, and production was discontinued when the next generation of Passat switched from a longitudinal engine to a transverse engine layout, which made packaging of the wide W8 engine difficult. The W8 was effectively replaced by the Volkswagen 3.6-litre VR6 petrol engine.