A V engine, or Vee engine is a common configuration for an internal combustion engine. The cylinders and pistons are aligned, in two separate planes or 'banks', so that they appear to be in a "V" when viewed along the axis of the crankshaft. The Vee configuration generally reduces the overall engine length, height and weight compared to an equivalent inline configuration. It is common practice for Vee engines to be described with "V#" notation, where # is how many cylinders it has: