V-5 cylinder engine balance

[Mike Arman <armanmik@n-jcenter.com>]

> V5 and
>1.8, for an additional $1750. For the V5, this includes a brand-new 6-speed
>transmission.
>
>Tom
>

Tom Nas' post jogged my memory about something I've been wondering about
for a little while.

I've seen 5 cylinder in-line engines and 5 cylinder radial (and rotary)
engines, and even a "Megola" motorcycle circa 1922, which used the
cylinders as spokes in the front wheel and the whole dang engine rotated
(Yes, you stopped the engine to stop. No, it couldn't idle), but I have a
question about V-5 engines, being, I presume, a bank of two cylinders plus
a second bank of three, joined at the hip, as it were.

Obviously, it is mechanically possible to build such and engine (Honda?
Volvo? V-5 VW), but how the heck can you BALANCE it?

(Or am I totally mistaken and the "V-5" is simply a marketing name instead
of the cylinder layout?)

Three cylinder (and six cylinder) engines have perfect primary and
secondary balance, twins usually are vibrating S.O.B.s (BMW bikes excepted
- but that's a flat, opposed twin - has rocking couple because of the
offset crank pins), fours are better but not as smooth as sixes (frequent
balance shafts and other kludges), fives have forces small enough in
comparison to the weight of the rest of the engine that they can get by
with soft, fluid filled motor mounts, etc., forces are small enough in V-8s
to be ignored . . .

Please, a little insight into the mechanical details of these things, and
how DO they get them smooth enough to be tolerable?

Best regards,

Mike Arman