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Message: <blockquote data-quote="f8." data-source="post: 110507" data-attributes="member: 923">to suplement further albundy's posting, manufacturing tolerances and accuracy has improved tremendously which results in engines that are much better balanced and extremely smooth. i believe rotational smoothness which comes from good balance and tight precision allows higher rpm's to be sustained. note how smooth the b16/b18 and especially the k20 series of honda's engines are for an inline 4, and compare to the smoothness of a satria 1.3 inline 4, even the satria gti's 1.8 doesn't come close.the less internal losses too the higher the output and i'd argue strictly from internal drag and frictional losses the inline 4 and 6 have much advantages over the v8/10/12. ultimately the compromise between design rotational balance and frictional losses become quite a determining factor.also manufacturers have now paid attention to losses from valve/cam drivetrain- just look at the way the f20 engine's unique single timing chain sprocket DOHC design.finally, for really high rpms, short strokes as e46fanatic mentioned.</blockquote>