Why Is The Straight-8 Nearly DEAD

Each engine has its pros and every single one also has its cons. At the beginning of the previous century, there were a lot of benefits while using the straight-8 cylinder engine in various applications and was a popular power unit for the automotive business. However, technological development is unstoppable and meant that the inline-8 is losing its place in the world of engines.

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- Credits -
“Vente Artcurial : Alfa Romeo 8C 2900 B Touring Berlinetta (1939)” by Matthieu Turel

“1931 Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 Zagato Spider - FISKENS” by Fiskens TV

“Test running of a Packard 356” by rodneyracer

“Pontiac straight eight idle and rev” by Phil Andrews

“PACKARD ENGINE BUILD PART 1(CARNAGE)” by Chad Hightower

“Straight 8 engine animation” by TheRenalicious

“Maserati Tipo 8CM - 1934” by Pietro Pecco

“ISOTTA FRASCHINI TIPO 8 1923 sound in milan” by andrea91aa25

“1929 Duesenberg Model J Disappearing Top Convertible Coupe” by RM Sotheby's

“1931 Duesenburg Model J Gas Station Fill Up” by alsancle

“Salt Cat Racing - The BIG Engine - Straight 8, 367 C.I.” by frank

“Auburn 851 Boattail with a Lycoming straight 8 flathead powerplant” by P Marks

“Buick straight 8 fire up headers 97 carbs” by Bryan Blake

“Pontiac Straight 8 268 1951 vlakken” by Arjan Massar

“Best Cars Sounds Mercedes-Benz W25 and W125” by Marcel Sommer

“1937 Mercedes W125” by propellskalle

“The legendary Mercedes W25 Silberpfeil - Klausenpassrennen 2013” by sg94er

“Silberpfeil Mercedes W25 Historic” by Juergen Haederle

“MR1: The Straight Eight” by MOONRCKT

“1929 Cord L-29 Walk-Around” by The Vintage

“1963 Flxible Starliner Paint Job” by Ben Willmore

“1953 Packard Thunderbolt Straight 8 - As Purchased” by Roscoe Thompson

“Oldsmobile 350 - Solid Roller - Aluminum Head test stand startup” by David Smith

“Daimler Ferret B60 Rolls Royce” by James

“8 cylinder 6.5 rolls royce petrol engine 300 yards per gallon.” by PaulRay

“Scania D815” by Claes Hellsten

“Maris Pearl inline 8 cylinder diesel engine running MVI 1603” by BenSlivka

“Rolls Royce Diesel C8TFL Testrun” by NorthernZ90

“1959 Saladin Armored Vehicle” by FurrowAuction

“Scania-Vabis D811 Test Run” by Greta kebab

“1951 Buick Super Eight exhaust sound” by Mark302

“Brian Thomas - Blown Straight 8 Packard - Fresh View” by Thomas Staab

[njinthemj]

Before my father was born, my grandpa had a Buick straight 8. He put mothballs in the fuel, but wasn't the fastest driver. When my father's at home birth developed complications, grandpa put grandma in the Buick and hit the highway. Their friends were following in another car. All they could see in front of them was 2 feet of fire shooting out the exhaust of the Buick, untill they were out of sight.

[stellingbanjodude]

The Buick straight 8 had a reputation in the southern US for “ wearing out a Buick, then wearing out a sawmill. “

[danielrickel]

Hard enough to find an inline 6 in production now days let alone an 8 unfortunately. The low end torque is unbeatable on an inline 6 I wish someone would build an inline 8 pickup.

[fadedsoul]

I learn more from this channel than I do in school, thanks man for the information, keep these vids up

[CharlesFlatBaby]

Welcome back. I hope the YouTube issue has come to a satisfactory resolution. btw, I have a ‘37 Oldsmobile with a flat-head straight 8 and ‘53 Buick Special with a ohv straight 8.

[jhomrich]

Today outside of large marine applications I cannot think of anything that uses a straight 8. Thanks for sharing this forgotten piece of automotive history.

[alfredvonk]

One of my colleagues owned a early fifties Hudson. When i asked him to start this beautiful automobile he replied; “its already running”
I was stunned …. What a superb engine, idle with several hundred RPM’s

[K_Bizz]

My favourite engine configuration of all time. The sound is just out of this world.

[dustinshadle]

Around 20 years ago a collector in my home area took me and my dad out to cruise in a big straight 8 he had retrorodded. It had a 5 speed on the floor, a twin turbo set up off of split cast iron headers, and custom TBI. The guy was working on his buick straight 8. I was just amazed he put air conditioning in and leather seats. It was a very impressive beast in a straight line!

[peteranddorothybowles]

I had an 8L3B Gardner for years the Late 50s There is another one of these working today in a 120-ton potting boat on UK south coast we dry-docked them together once and took a evening run Mirror calm Under the white cliffs The two 8 Gardners was loverly sound and smell Thanks for bringing back this memory Pete I now own an outboard engine Getting old eh Take care

[Dave-dm]

I worked at a factory that ran a railway locomotive with a straight right diesel. Max revs were 1200 but anything more than 1000 rpm felt way too fast.

[fredmorrison]

I've been waiting for someone to talk about the Straight 8. I'm aware of the negative points, yet I can't help wondering what a more modern version would be like. Such as taking the 2JZ and using it as a starting point.

[FreedomForAll]

What is interesting is how a straight 4 isn't balanced in secondary forces, a 6 is perfectly balanced and yet an 8 is also!
How does 8 balance inline but 4 cant? Or better yet how does the 8 manage it?

[donparker]

This was an interesting presentation. I often wondered why those old I-8's only had 5 or even 3 main bearings. Our old 1964 Rambler American with the 3.2L I-6 had 7 main bearings. It was so strong that Jeep bumped it up to 4.0L and used that engine for something like another 40 years. Dad had a 52 Packard with a I-8 with a 3 speed and an Overdrive. Back then Nevada had no speed limits. He would put extra pressure in the tires and drive 110MPH from LA to Southern UT (438 miles), where he was from, to go deer hunting. He's leave on Friday night and be back to LA on Saturday night with venison meat.

[brucewiemer]

Packard did have a 9 main bearing straight in their custom 8 line. A sales gimmick was to balance a nickle on edge on the top of the cylinder head while idling and not fall over.

[michaelguerin]

Thank you for another great video. The clips you have obtained this time are absolutely stunning!

[FliesFLL]

Packaging was tough, the crankshafts tended to break at high RPM [as stated] and these were beastly heavy engines, heavier than V8's by a chunk.

Great video!

[michaelguy]

Ford had experimented with an inline 8 about 20 years. Possible motor option for the F150 and f250 but never went passed the drawing bord. It basically two ecobost 2.0s put together in one block.

[robertpierce]

Visio I appreciate the work you put into assembling your videos and narration style. Keep up the good work.

[CarputingYT]

Wow, now this is another awesome topic! I was wondering why we don't see Straight-eights any more. Thanks VisioRacer, as usual, you have some awesome topics you cover! Keep it up, you're gonna be at a million subscribers in no time!