Engine Weights

[themmc]

(please move if this isn't quite the right place)

Does anyone know the dry weights of the current range of VW Group petrol engines? Really the smaller ones in the Golf and Polo.

I've found all kinds of other details just not the weight.

(This is just curiosity as I was talking to one of the guys at work who owns a light plane and we were talking about engines and why light aircraft engines are still such old designs).

[stickshift3000]

I'm pretty sure reliability has something to do with it....

Most light plane engines are still air-cooled for numerous reasons. it would be annoying if the plane went down because the radiator got damaged!

[themmc]

I'm pretty sure reliability has something to do with it....

Most light plane engines are still air-cooled for numerous reasons. it would be annoying if the plane went down because the radiator got damaged!

Yes, aircooled, with carbs and use leaded fuel. Understand it's a different environment, but I was curious about the weight of the engines in our cars only.

[gldgti]

OP - there are a few companies around making "high tech" light plane aero engines nowadays, including turbo diesel engines.

Modern small car engines are pretty amazing in many ways but they arent getting any lighter, despite the widespread switch to aluminium blocks. The bare minimum of equipment to make a modern car engine run at all adds a lot of weight (wiring, sensors, pumps etc, a lot of which is necessary with the new direct injection petrol engines).

I have often thought that an older VW diesel engine would make a good aero engine - mainly because the fuel system is very simple and very reliable (even more so than a carburettor) and in terms of torque at the crank at the kinds of engine speeds that most light planes like to use, they are very good, and very economical. I think most of the modifications necessary would be around making the whole assembly lighter. Also, the older 4cylinder VW engine blueprint, because of its widespread use, has some dry-sump aftermarket parts available, which would make that part of the job easier.

My Grandfather built a Jodel D18, and its flying around nowadays with a VW engine - a beetle engine that is! It has some modifications (forged internals) and other things but its a beetle engine at the heart. It makes about 85hp at 3000rpm, and max rpm is about 3600 by necessity because of the propeller.

Without a gearbox, anything more than those rpm is pretty useless... and a gearbox just adds more weight. In the end it comes down to specifics and getting a power plant together that fulfills the requirements best.

[ryana89]

Aircraft engine's have always been very interesting to me.

I did some work experiece for a short period of time where I got the chance to work on and around various planes.
One such used Lycoming O-360, a 5.9Litre 4cylinder aircooled engine strapped to the back of a plane!

I've also seen Subaru motor's used in the mustering choppers, aswell as on light aircraft.