This paper presents an investigation into the effect of the reactance on a V-shaped line start permanent magnet motor. Five rotor designs with different V-shaped angles are utilized for exploring motor characteristics with the reactance. Performances such as back electromotive force, - and -axis reactance, loading capability and efficiency are simulated and analyzed by the torque model and a time stepped two-dimensional finite element software application. According to the comparison, the variations of output behaviors with - and -axis reactance can be described. Moreover, the design which features both excellent synchronization capability and high efficiency was verified by experiment on a prototype.