Automobile engine designs with W-configurations and double-digit cylinder-counts rank among the most complicated car engines ever made. While other automakers have more-or-less accomplished combining those two design features, Porsche’s new W-shaped-design, for which it was recently awarded a patent, is unique. Porsche had this to say about its design from the patent filing with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO):
“An internal combustion engine according to the invention with a W-cylinder arrangement comprises a first cylinder bank with a first cylinder head bank, a second cylinder bank with a second cylinder head bank and a third cylinder bank with a third cylinder head bank, wherein the cylinder banks are arranged at an angle to one another. Each cylinder bank has a specific number of cylinders, and each cylinder head bank also has cylinder heads according to the number of cylinders.”
While Porsche doesn’t explicitly specify the cylinder count for its new design, drawings included with the patent filing clearly show six spark plug wires attached to at least one bank of cylinders. Multiply that by three — the number of cylinder banks shown — and we can envision a W18 engine design. Porsche’s design is unique among W-engines in that it features three separate cylinder banks, each with its own cylinder head, sharing a single crankshaft, with 60-degrees of separation. Each cylinder bank has intake and exhaust ports and is capable of supporting an exhaust gas turbocharger, allowing a total of three turbos.
Can you buy a 3-turbo W18-powered Porsche?
While Porsche’s unique W18 engine design has some advantages, there are pros and cons to any W-engine design. One downside to engineering and producing the new design is cost. An exotic engine design like this would require a special car with a very narrow market. There’s also a chance that Porsche will never follow through with the build even though it received the patent, as automakers patent wild stuff all the time and never follow through with them.
Unfortunately, that means the answer is no, you cannot buy a Porsche equipped with a triple-turbo W18 engine. At least not yet, and maybe never. However, there is still hope that an exciting innovation in gasoline-power could come from Porsche, which recently shifted its focus away from future EV plans.
