The PRV engine is an automobile petrol V6 engine that was developed jointly by Peugeot, Renault and Volvo Cars and sold from 1974 to 1998.

Corporate history

The PRV story begins in 1966 when Peugeot and Renault entered a cooperative agreement to manufacture common components. The first joint subsidiary, La Française de Méchanique (also called Compagnie Française de Méchanique or simply FM) was launched in 1969. The FM factory was built in Douvrin near Lens in northern France. The PRV engines are sometimes referred to as Douvrin engines.

In 1971, Volvo joined Peugeot and Renault in the creation of the PRV company, a PLC in which each of the three manufacturers owned an equal portion. The company originally planned to build V8 engines, although these were later scrapped in favor of a smaller and more fuel efficient V6. The 1973 energy crisis and taxes levied against engines of displacement greater than 2.8 L made large V8 engines somewhat undesirable and expanded the market for smaller engines. Additionally, Renault needed a V6 engine to fit in its new model, the 30 TS.

Machinery for assembling the engines arrived at Douvrin in early June of 1973 and buildings for producing the engines were finished in January of 1974. The first PRV engines were officially introduced on October 3, 1974 in the Volvo 264. Adoption was swift, and the PRV V6 had been sold in at least five different models by the end of 1975.

In 1984, the first commercially available turbocharged PRV V6 was sold in the Renault 25 V6 Turbo.

The engine was redesigned and the second generation released in July of 1986.

Volvo began to withdraw from the PRV consortium in the late 1980s, shifting its powerplant reliance onto in-house inline engines.

After producing 970,315 units, production of the PRV V6 was stopped on June 15, 1998.

BMW has recently joined Peugeot and Renault in the development of the new inline 4-cylinder engines found in the BMW 1 Series and E90 platform 3 Series.

Engineering

Ignition timing

The original engineering work done on the V8 can still be seen in the resulting V6: its cylinder banks are arranged at 90° instead of the much more common 60°. V8 engines nearly universally feature 90° configurations because this allows for a natural ignition timing. V6 engines, on the other hand, are generally arranged at 60° (again because of firing timing) but can be built as 90° engines with either staggered timing or split crankshaft journals.

First-generation PRV engines (1974-1985) featured uneven ignition timing. Second generation PRV engines (introduced in 1986 in the Peugeot 505 V6) featured split crankshaft journals and even ignition timing. [1] Another similar design example is the odd-fire and even-fire Buick V6.

Specifications

• Power (DIN): 100 kW at 92 r/s (136 hp at 5,500 rpm) [2]
• Power (SAE): 97 kW at 92 r/s (130 hp at 5,500 rpm)
• Torque (DIN): 215 Nm at 48 r/s
• Torque (SAE): 208 Nm at 48 r/s (153 ft.lbf at 2,750 rpm)
• Compression ratio: 8.8:1
• Bore: 91 mm
• Stroke: 73 mm
• Displacement: 2,849 cm³
• Firing order: 1-6-3-5-2-4
• Weight: ~150 kg

PRV powered automobiles

The dates following each entry denote the introduction of a PRV V6-equipped model

• Alpine A310 (October 1976)
• Alpine A610 (1991)
• Alpine GT/GTA (1984)
• AMC Premier (Eagle Premier) (1988)
• Citroën XM (1988)
• De Lorean DMC-12 (1981)
• Dodge Monaco
• Helem V6
• Lancia Thema (1984)
• MVS Venturi
• Peugeot 504 coupé/cabriolet (1974/1975)
• Peugeot 505 (July 1986)
• Peugeot 604 (March 1975)
• Peugeot 605 (1990)
• Peugeot 607
• Renault 25 (1984)
• Renault 30 (March 1975)
• Renault Espace
• Renault Laguna
• Renault Safrane
• Talbot Tagora (1980)
• Volvo 260 (October 3, 1974)
• Volvo 760 GLE (February 1982)
• Volvo 780 (1985)
• WM racing cars

PRV engine in racing

• Alpine A 310 V6
• Peugeot 504 V6 Coupé ("The African queen...")
• WM-Peugeot

External links

• The Douvrin V6 Resource Center provides a very detailed history of the PRV V6.