01-28-2014, 04:24 AM
Thanks for the link!
Radial engines in cars are pretty rare. I can't find the exact numbers but I only know of 3 cars that used radial engines and none if them were successful.
The problem with them is they are very tall and wide and need good air flow if they are air cooled which means they pretty much have to be mounted right on the front if the car which causes major weight distribution issues making the car difficult to control and dangerous in a crash.
The alternative is to water cool the radial (which has been done once in a car that I know of) which lets you mount the engine anywhere you want saving the weight distribution issues. But, as I mentioned before, the problem is that water cooling radial engines is very difficult and complex. This massively increases cost, weight and chance of failure.
If all that wasn't enough, radials also tend to rev a lot slower than inline engines do which limits peak power output. Less of an issue these days but back in the days when cars were pushing their engines close to the limit just to get to 100km/h (60mph) it was a big problem.
Put bluntly, radial engines are inferior in almost every way to inline engines for automotive use.....
Having said that, they have been used so it would make sense to include them because people will see it as something cool enough to make them buy the game if they were otherwise unsure.
Also, there have been a number of tanks powered by radial engines. Mostly in the 20's to 40's. Most of the problems with radials in cars aren't a factor for tanks. Weight isn't an issue so you can mount a big fan to cool the engine wherever it's mounted and tank designers tend to be less concerned with occupant comfort so using lots of room on the engine isn't a problem and tanks want slow torquey engines so the lower rev limit doesn't matter.
Eric has said tanks might be a dlc/expansion thing so maybe introducing the radials as part of that could be an option?
Y'know, I personally would enjoy the challenge of trying to make a successful company that only used radial engines. If they were implemented right it'd be super hard!
Radial engines in cars are pretty rare. I can't find the exact numbers but I only know of 3 cars that used radial engines and none if them were successful.
The problem with them is they are very tall and wide and need good air flow if they are air cooled which means they pretty much have to be mounted right on the front if the car which causes major weight distribution issues making the car difficult to control and dangerous in a crash.
The alternative is to water cool the radial (which has been done once in a car that I know of) which lets you mount the engine anywhere you want saving the weight distribution issues. But, as I mentioned before, the problem is that water cooling radial engines is very difficult and complex. This massively increases cost, weight and chance of failure.
If all that wasn't enough, radials also tend to rev a lot slower than inline engines do which limits peak power output. Less of an issue these days but back in the days when cars were pushing their engines close to the limit just to get to 100km/h (60mph) it was a big problem.
Put bluntly, radial engines are inferior in almost every way to inline engines for automotive use.....
Having said that, they have been used so it would make sense to include them because people will see it as something cool enough to make them buy the game if they were otherwise unsure.
Also, there have been a number of tanks powered by radial engines. Mostly in the 20's to 40's. Most of the problems with radials in cars aren't a factor for tanks. Weight isn't an issue so you can mount a big fan to cool the engine wherever it's mounted and tank designers tend to be less concerned with occupant comfort so using lots of room on the engine isn't a problem and tanks want slow torquey engines so the lower rev limit doesn't matter.
Eric has said tanks might be a dlc/expansion thing so maybe introducing the radials as part of that could be an option?
Y'know, I personally would enjoy the challenge of trying to make a successful company that only used radial engines. If they were implemented right it'd be super hard!