Hmm, that author had too much time on his hands.
Interesting stuff of course but all general, also of course.
The answers to specific questions I was wondering about would need to come from Porsche. Things like:
What is the distance between bore centers, and correspondingly the longitudinal distance between adjacent rod bearings of each pair? I would assume they are close enough to provide overlap of the cylinder bores. That would allow for a shorter engine and minimize the yaw direction couple from paired cylinders not being completely aligned.
Of course for balance reasons a flat-4 engine must fire both cylinders on a side, then both on the other side. Hence the firing order 1-3-2-4, and hence the somewhat loping sound some people complain about.
The flywheel question is about the contribution of rotating mass to inertia and thus its effect on acceleration. The effect is greater in a lower gear and thus affects shift points. Instead of shifts at the theoretical power crossover rpm, shifting should be done slightly early, more so in lower gears.
