8/22    Camry Hybrid will be an I4:
        http://www.treehugger.com/files/2005/08/toyota_camry_hy.php
        \_ A V4 would be one of the dumbest engine configuration you
           could think of. It would take the worst of an inline-4 and
           a V6 and put it into one engine.
        \_ A Camry with a 4 cylinder is a slow Camry.
           \_ They should offer it with CVT at least. That'd be cool.
           \_ Not necessarily.  Toyota 0wns hybrid tech.  I bet they can make
              a 4 cyl hybrid that performs as well as the V6 in some aspects.
              (You'll always be able to say "but the V6 does 65 mph -> 85 mph
               better!  Or some such.  In practice, V6 Camrys have great low-end
               torque and only modest high-end, which a hybrid would do a good
               job matching).
        \_ Camry is right. Accord V6 hybrid is a muscle car, which really
           defeats the purpose of hybrids. People who want power, buy
           power cars, and people who want gas saving cars, buy the Prius.
           The Accord Hybrid is a total failure from the marketing
           perspective.
           \_ Hmm. I disagree. I would've never considered a hybrid with
              a hamster motor, but when someone throws a 400 HP V-8 hybrid
              in a sports car or truck I'll be interested. Everyone likes
              to save money on gas if performance is not compromised.
              \_ The gas savings gets eaten by the car cost. And possibly
                 maintenance.
                 \_ Some people get hybrids because of environmental savings,
                    not money savings.
        \_ enlighten me please.  Is there any V-4 engine out there?  I
           thought most of 4-cylinder engine are inline.
           \_ You're right. There isn't and for good reason. A V-4 would
              be like combining two inline-2 engines which, by themselves,
              are unbalanced. Combine two unbalanced engines together
              orthoganally and you'll have quite a bit of vibration.
              It's an extremely inefficient configuration.
              \_Umm...your mistaken, I have a V4 motorcycle engine that works
                just fine.
              \_ maybe they're gonna use a balance shaft to reduce vibration?
                 \_ That's going to be one giant ass balancer shaft. Generally,
                    car makers aim for the engine config with the minimum
                    vibration without the use of a balancer shaft because
                    that degrades the performance of the engine. Inline-4s
                    are the worst (among production car engines) and V-6s
                    aren't that great either. Inline-6 and boxers are self-
                    balanced which is one of the reasons why BMW and Subaru
                    use these engines.
                    \_ My '96 Jeep Cherokee 4.0L has I-6.
        \_ I can't find where the article says the engine is a V instead of an
           I.
           \_ I am a car IDIOT. I know almost NOTHING about cars other than
              the fact that you need to put gas in the gas tank and air in
              the tires. I thought 4 cylinder == v4 b/c the shorthand for #
              of cylinders is was 'v'. Sorry for any confusion. -op
        \_ Yeah, but it has the power of a V1!
           \_ That's Vergeltungswaffe 1 Fi 103 to YOU!
              \_ Fi 103 was the manned version.  I'm not joking--the dude was
                 supposed to bail out.  -John the Nitpicker
                 \_ Fickt nicht mit dem Raketenmensch!