Combustion engines with an odd number of cylinders are not unheard of but are not particularly common, either. Honda‘s just trotted out an inter

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2024-11-30 00:00:33

Combustion engines with an odd number of cylinders are not unheard of but are not particularly common, either. Honda‘s just trotted out an interesting one: A V3, so, two pistons on one side and one on the other, with an electric compressor that’s effectively a turbocharger driven consistently by electricity instead of exhaust gas.

Usually, when you hear about an odd-cylinder engine, its pistons are in a straight row, like with a Volvo five-cylinder or a Triumph Triple inline three-cylinder engine. This one’s a V—the first Honda V3 we’ve heard of in a few decades.

The big motor vehicle technology show in America right now is SEMA in Las Vegas. But over in Europe, eyes are on the Milan Motorcycle Shows (Official Name: International Motorcycle and Accessories Exhibition aka EICMA). This Honda V3 engine concept was announced there.

It looks like the main advantage of an engine design like this is that it allows for a bump in displacement without much widening—it’s fairly skinny, despite Honda’s stating that it’s “being newly developed for larger displacement machines.” That could translate to combining better handling and bike manageability with bigger power.

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