Gardner eight by mid-1970
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• A Gardner eight-cylinder-in-line diesel developing 240 bhp at 1,850 rpm will be available to vehicle makers by mid-1970, it has been officially confirmed by Gardner Engines (Sales) Ltd. Sufficient information has been released to the makers of heavy tractive units to enable them to assess the modifications to existing chassis that will be necessitated by fitting the unit.
According to one maker, the extra length of the engine compared with a sixcylinder-in-line or V8 unit developing an equivalent output would not create undue problems despite the necessity to make ailowance for trailer front-end swing. It is understood that the rated power of the engine will be developed at the same speed as the peak rpm of the Gardner 6LXB diesel and that the additional two cylinders will increase the output by exactly one third.
The makers of V8 engines have repeatedly pointed out that increasing the number of cylinders of an in-line unit from six to eight would unavoidably create torsional-vibration problems unless an unacceptably heavy crankshaft were employed. But it would appear that torsional-vibration problems have been overcome without increasing the weight of the crankshaft unduly. PA.C.B.