Flat-plane and Crossplane V8 firing patterns

[Enola Straight]

Does a flat-plane V8 have a different firing pattern than a cross-plane?
Does the 4/7 swap convert an US crossplane into a flatplane?

I asked these questions over at the Straight Dope

http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/sho ... p?t=399031

but didn't get an answer to my satisfaction.



Let's suppose we have a cadillac v8 as an example: pulleys facing front and the tranny on the back. The cylinders are arranged like:

8....7
6....5
4....3
2....1

and the firing pattern is 1-8-4-3-6-5-7-2.

What would the firing pattern of a Ferrari or Lotus flatplaner be?

[Stark]

*American engine terminology causes brain to explode*

What's a 'flatplaner'? Are you talking about pistol orientation (straight, v, boxer etc)?

[Enola Straight]

Here's a link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V8#Cross-p ... flat-plane

[Enola Straight]

and here:

http://www.autozine.org/technical_schoo ... mooth4.htm

[Stark]

Oh NOW it makes sense.

[aerius]

Does a flat-plane V8 have a different firing pattern than a cross-plane?
Does the 4/7 swap convert an US crossplane into a flatplane?

Don't know about firing patterns on a flatplane, but the 4/7 doesn't have anything to do with it. What it does do is change the loads on the crankshaft bearings which can influence how smoothly it runs and how long the bearings last. Other effect is where & when air gets sucked into the various runners on the intake manifold, it's been theorized that the swap allows better airflow as it helps keep the backpressure pulses from interfering with incoming airflow when the intake valves slam shut.