Porsche Just Patented One This Wild Engine With 18 Cylinders

A new patent from Porsche shows its engineers aren’t afraid to push the boundaries of automotive technology. The automaker submitted a filing for a new W-shaped, “space-optimized” combustion engine that depicts it with 18 cylinders—six per bank—but it could fit in an assortment of potential products.  

According to the filing, the engine could “have a different number of cylinders.” That means Porsche could build engines with 9 or 15 cylinders—three banks of three or five—with a relatively short engine block.  

The patent shows a true W-shaped engine, too, unlike previous designs such as Bugatti’s. The Chiron featured an engine that had two narrow V-banks with eight cylinders each, sharing a single crankshaft.

Porsche’s design features straight engines angled to share a common crank. The layout allows Porsche to route the exhaust between and underneath the cylinders, putting the intakes on top of the individual cylinders to keep the intake air as cool as possible.  

According to the patent (translated), this design’s main advantage “is that friction losses of the air flow are minimized” and that it creates a “clear separation between the air intake and the exhaust gas exhaust device can be formed so that the fresh air to be sucked in cannot heat up via wall heat.”  

Cooler air “leads to an increase in achievable performance.” Porsche also said the engine could accommodate a turbocharger per bank, resulting in a triple-turbocharged W-18 engine that’s as long as a straight-six.  

While the patent is exciting to think about, Porsche might have zero plans to ever produce such an engine. Automakers file plenty of patents that are designed to protect intellectual property, not preview future products.  

Porsche doesn’t provide any concrete details about the engine in the patent. We don’t know its displacement or output, but anything with up to 18 cylinders and three turbochargers must pack a punch.  

Combustion engines are far from dead, despite automakers, including Porsche, making huge bets on electric vehicles. Porsche’s upcoming ultra-luxury SUV will now launch as a hybrid instead of a pure EV, and it confirmed new gas 718s are coming, so a new W-18 engine is possible. We hope.