What's the difference between VW's vr6 and a traditional v6?

Nothing different, pretty much the same.

Volkswagen's vr6 engines differ in weight, size, smoothness of operation, and power output characteristics, and these kinds of engines can better meet the needs of different models of powertrains. The protagonist of this article VR6 engine in the automotive powertrain is said to be unique, it is very good L-type and V-type engine in their respective sizes of the advantages of integration together, however, this fusion also brings a series of technical difficulties. Here's a look at the VR6, and the engines based on it.

The inline 6-cylinder engine has an unrivaled linear output, but because of its length, its structure is not conducive to the overall layout of the car body.

The VR6 engine has been narrowed down, but because of the angle of the two rows of cylinders, and because of the arrangement of the exhaust device on the outside of the two rows of cylinders, the width of the engine compartment is also a very high requirement. These two engines are generally only suitable for installation in medium-sized and large cars, and designers would be hard-pressed to place them in a front-drive compact, or even a small car.

And, compared with a traditional V-type engine, the VW VR6 adopts an asymmetrical design for the intake and exhaust systems, with the staggering of cylinders meaning that it is difficult for fresh air from the intake manifold to enter the far cylinder side, and conversely for exhaust gases to be summarized from the far cylinder to the exhaust manifold. At the same time, the relatively complex structure of the intake and exhaust systems takes up a lot of space in the cylinder head, making the temperature around the cylinder head very high. Therefore, Volkswagen in the early VR6 engine are used in the design of two valves per cylinder to ensure its good heat dissipation as well as structural simplicity, and the use of oval near-cylinder intake and round far-cylinder intake to control the air flow rate, and strive to be as average as possible.