1916 rotary valve W16 engine designed by Frenchman Gaston Mougeotte
A W16 engine is a sixteen-cylinder piston engine with four banks of four cylinders in a W configuration.
A W engine is a type of piston engine where three or four cylinder banks use the same crankshaft, resembling the letter W when viewed from the front.
W engines with three banks of cylinders are also called “broad arrow” engines, due to their shape resembling the British government broad arrow property mark.
W engines are less common than V engines. Compared with a V engine, a W engine is typically shorter and wider.
W16 engines are rarely produced, with the notable exception of the Volkswagen Group 8.0 WR16 engine, which has been used since 2005 in the Bugatti Veyron, Bugatti Chiron and their related models.
