How many engine cylinders does a semi truck have?

Answer 1

All current production trucks in North America have an inline six engine. The last V8 on the N. American market was the 14 liter Mack E9, which was discontinued in 2009. The 12 cylinder Detroit Diesel 12V-71 pretty much was discontinued after the (inline six) Detroit Diesel 60 Series in 1986 (although the two stroke Detroits such as the 6V-92 and 8V-92 continued to be used in buses and motorcoaches until around 1992).

Displacement of these engines can be anywhere from 11 to 16 liters, with 13 - 15 being the norm. Some custom made trucks for heavy haul applications might have 18 - 20 liter engines, but most do not. Horsepower.... your typical large fleet truck will run 400 - 450 horsepower. Some fleets and owner/ops will have engines ranging from 475 to 625 horsepower. Torque will range from 1500 - 2100 lbs/ft.

Detroit Diesel engines are only available in Freightliner, Sterling, and Western Star trucks from 2003 onwards. Prior to 2003, they were available for pretty much any brand of semi tractor in N. America except for Mack. Caterpillar got out of the highway diesel market in 2009. Prior to that, they were available in any brand of semi truck except for Mack. Cummins engines are available for all brands of semi truck on the N. American market, including Mack. Volvo offers their engines only in their trucks. Navistar International offers the Maxxforce engines only in International trucks. Mack engines, since 2007, have been either Renault or Volvo engines with a slightly different electronics suite. They're only available in Mack trucks. The PACCAR engines are available only in PACCAR products - those being Kenworth and Peterbilt (as well as DAF in the Netherlands).

A typical large fleet truck will have either a nine speed or ten speed transmission. Transmissions with 13 or 18 gear ratios are also available. While manual transmissions are still predominant, automatics have been in existence for some time and seem to be on the rise, particularly with entry level carriers.

In Europe, where length restrictions are much more strict, engines of more than 13 liters displacement are often in a V8 configuration, since the V8 is a shorter block than the I6 is.