- MV Agusta revealed a five-cylinder motorcycle engine concept.
- The powertrain spins to 16,000 rpm and makes up to 240 hp.
- Unique U-shaped layout is shorter than a V4 and narrower too.
Motorcycle engines come in all shapes and sizes. Single-cylinder thumpers, parallel twins, inline-threes, high-revving fours, burly V4s and V-twins, even the occasional flat-eight. But one layout rarely makes an appearance: the five-cylinder. That’s exactly what MV Agusta has cooked up, and it’s not what you might expect.
This isn’t an inline-five, like the one Audi bolts into an RS3, nor is it a callback to Volkswagen’s curious old VR5. Instead, it’s something far more unusual, best described as a compact trapezoid layout, with two cylinders on top and three below.
As odd as it sounds, this engine isn’t just a design flex. It delivers serious performance.
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The new five-cylinder was unveiled as a concept in early November at EICMA in Italy, the biggest show on the motorcycle calendar. MV Agusta has now revealed that its new engine can be built with a displacement ranging from 850 cc to 1150 cc (0.9 to 1.2 liters), which can churn out a monumental 240 hp and 99.5 lb-ft (135 Nm) of torque at 8,500 rpm.
Designed to Hit 16,000 RPM
To put this into perspective, the current king of superbikes, the Ducati Panigale V4 R maxes out at 218 hp and 84.4 lb-ft (114.5 Nm). What’s particularly impressive about MV’s five-cylinder is that it revs through to extraordinary 16,000 rpm, in line with smaller four-cylinder mills from rival brands.
MV calls the engine the Cinque Cilindri, and it’s as light as it is powerful. The whole unit weighs under 60 kg (132 lbs), which is remarkable for a powertrain with this level of output. According to MV, the firing order plays a big role in the character of the engine, helping it deliver strong, linear torque without relying on variable valve timing.
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Packaging is equally impressive. It’s narrower than a conventional inline-four and shorter than a V4. The engine is arranged in an unusual configuration, with a three-cylinder crankshaft at the front and a separate two-cylinder crankshaft positioned behind it.
Not Your Average Layout
Despite the name, this isn’t just a rehash of VW’s VR5, which used a staggered V configuration to cram five cylinders into a compact space. MV takes a different approach. It loosely borrows the concept of a square-four and adds a fifth cylinder to create something entirely its own. The result is more of a mechanical trapezoid than anything else
When Will We See It On The Road?
For now, the engine has only been presented as a concept, but it won’t stay that way for long. MV Agusta has confirmed the engine will reach the market in a “highly anticipated” new model, which will be unveiled in the coming years.
There’s no word on what form this bike will take, but MV says the engine has been developed to suit multiple segments, from the Supersport class through to Naked bikes and Touring bikes.
