page_title: Flat-six engine
section_title: Porsche
hierarchical_section_title: Flat-six engine / Use in automobiles / Porsche
caption_attribution_description: English: Porsche 911 2.0 ( '66 )
context_page_description: A flat-six engine, also known as a horizontally opposed-six, is a six-cylinder piston engine with three cylinders on each side of a central crankshaft. The most common type of flat-six engine is the boxer-six engine, where each pair of opposed cylinders moves inwards and outwards at the same time.
  The advantages of the flat-six layout are good engine balance, a low center of gravity, short length and being well suited to air-cooling. The disadvantages are a large width, a large intake manifold being required when a central carburetor is used, and duplication of the inlet and outlet connections for water-cooled engines.
  The first production flat-six engine was in the 1904 Wilson-Pilcher 18/24 HP car. The most notable use of flat-six engines is the Porsche 911 sports car, which has used flat-six engines continuously since 1963. Several other car manufacturers, including Subaru, have produced flat-six engines at times. Flat-six engines have also occasionally been used in aircraft and motorcycles.
context_section_description: The flat-six engine is often associated with the Porsche 911, a rear-engined sports car which has used flat-six engines exclusively since 1963. The engines were air-cooled until  1999, when Porsche started using water-cooled engines.
  Other Porsche models that use flat-six engines are the 1970-1972 Porsche 914/6 (mid-engine), the 1986-1993 Porsche 959 (rear-engine), and the 1996-2021 Porsche Boxster/Cayman (mid-engine).
caption: 1966 Porsche 911
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