1938 Cadillac V16 - GM Heritage Center

size and increasing fuel economy. The new engine
delivers about the same amount of power as the larger
1937 V-16, being rated at 185 horsepower.
Although the new engine develops as much power
as the previous V-16, it has a much lighter vehicle to
pull. Performance is, therefore, far better than any
automobile heretofore built by Cadillac, better in fact
than any passenger car ever built in this country.
Maximum speed is well above one hundred miles per
hour.
Advantages of 135 Degree V Angle
Smoothness: The 135 degree angle between cylinder
blocks gives uniformly spaced power impulses. Uniform
spacing of the impulses increases smoothness.
The irregularities of the V-12 curve illustrated on
page 206 are due to unequal spacing of the explosive
forces, as determined by the V angle. The V angle
also influences torque fluctuations due to the inertia
forces of the reciprocating pistons. In the 135° Sixteen
the torque fluctuationsfrom this source are zero. In a
V-12 with a V angle of other than 60 degrees (there
f
New Sixteen
Typical Twelve
are no 60 degree V-12's because such an angle gives
an unpractically crowded V) the inertia forces increase
with speed, causing torque fluctuationsto increase also
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