If you're a fan, you're bound to take a keen interest in the engine, the car's most core component. It represents the core product competitiveness of an automobile manufacturer, and it is also the most expensive part of auto parts. To be honest, there is still a gap between Chinese automakers and the world's major manufacturers. The greater the number of engine cylinders, the greater the number of components involved, and it also increases the manufacturing cost of a car.
Recently, some overseas media people voted for the world's famous five V12 engines, see if there is anything you like? The number of cylinders of the V12 is three times that of the mainstream models currently on the market, of course, its own volume and R & D and manufacturing costs have also increased accordingly. As a result, most of these engines are deployed in the high-end market.
Although there are several V12 engines available on the market, they are still relatively rare in terms of overall numbers. For example, the Japanese engine industry is not bad, but they have only produced one car with a V12 engine in history. Some people may say that the Japanese do not pursue large displacement, so they do not build. You're wrong, even americans who prefer large displacement, American automakers have never produced a car with a V12 engine since World War II.
As the global electrification process rolls forward, large-displacement engines are gradually withdrawing from the historical stage. This article lets us return to these 5 classic V12 engines.
Audi's V12 diesel engine
Representative model: Audi Q7
With the dieselgate incident, the Volkswagen Group began to work on a shift toward electrification. At present, we have developed customized electric vehicle architectures such as the MEB platform, the J1 platform and the upcoming PPE. Not long ago, the Volkswagen Group also announced the next generation of electric vehicle architecture: SSP.
As early as 2008, however, Volkswagen executives believed that diesel was the ultimate fuel. They believed that the diesel engine of the same size had a greater torque output than the gasoline engine, which made it easier to drive, while consuming less fuel, and most importantly, meeting the European emissions regulations at the time. Therefore, the Audi V12 TDI came into being, and audi has only one car equipped with this engine in history, which is the Audi Q7.
Living up to expectations, the V12 diesel engine data was very eye-catching at the time. Displacement 6.0L, power up to an impressive 368 kW, peak torque up to 1000 Nm, torque platform 1750-3250 rpm. At that time, an Audi Q7 with a V12 engine weighed 2635 kg, but the acceleration of 100 kilometers was only 5.5 seconds, and the average fuel consumption was only 11.3L/100km.
What makes this V12 engine excellent is that each cylinder has the same inner diameter and stroke as the 3.0L TDI V6. In addition, the engine is equipped with a crankcase using a worm-like graphite structure. Audi says the material greatly enhances the stiffness and fatigue resistance of the crankcase, while being 15% lighter than the cast iron crankcase.
Unfortunately, Audi launched this V12 engine at the wrong time, at the height of the global financial crisis. Subsequently, Audi abandoned plans to launch the Audi Q7 V12 TDI model in the U.S. market, which was discontinued in 2012.
Toyota V12 Monosole 1GZ-FE
Representative model: Toyota Century
It is Toyota's only V12 engine to date, code-named 1GZ-FE, and was used in the second-generation Toyota Century model produced from 1997 to 2017.
The second generation, Toyota Century, was born in 1997 and was developed following a "gentleman's" agreement between Toyota and the Japanese Automobile Manufacturers' Association in the mid-1970s, where the car's maximum power was limited to 276 horsepower. Toyota's 1GZ-FE engine of the 5.0L V12 has very little maximum power, but the engine still produces 481 Nm of torque output at 1200 rpm.
In order to ensure that this engine runs smoothly, toyota designed a "V" angle of 60 degrees, which can effectively reduce engine vibration. In addition, the engine features a tilting combustion chamber, semi-floating piston pins and iridium spark plugs, all of which provide a crucial role in the quiet operation of the engine. Toyota says the engine is 10 percent smoother than the V8 used on the Lexus LS.
In order to enhance reliability, each cylinder group of the V12 engine is designed with its own independent ECU control unit, which means that if a major accident occurs, one exhaust cylinder will not work, and the other side can continue to drive with six cylinders.
Historical coincidence, in fact, Mazda also developed a V12 engine, which it plans to use in the flagship Model Amati model, but due to the bursting of the Japanese economic bubble in the early 90s, the Mazda Amati project was forced to cancel. As a result, Toyota Century became the only V12 model in Japanese history. The third-generation Century engine, introduced in 2018, was later changed to the V8 hybrid system.
BMW's S70/2
Representative car: McLaren F1
BMW cars have a long history of manufacturing V12 engines, and the BMW 7 Series has a V12 engine, whether it is now M760Li or a long time ago. Moreover, BMW's Rolls-Royce brand is all V12 engines.
However, the most classic V12 engine in BMW's history is not installed on BMW or Rolls-Royce models, but on the McLaren F1, which is somewhat surprising. This engine is the BMW S70/2 engine, with a displacement of 6.1L. It was specially crafted by BMW legendary engineer Paul Roche at the request of Gordon Morrie, chief engineer of McLaren's first-generation supercar.
The S70/2 engine is unique and has nothing in common with all of BMW's V12 engines. The maximum power of 461 kW at 7400 rpm, the peak torque of 650 Nm at 5600 rpm, and the engine redline speed is set at 7600 rpm.
The engine used a variety of advanced technologies at the time, the first of which was that its size and weight were small enough, and the intake and exhaust system used a variable valve timing system, which BMW called the "dual VANOS system". Further innovation was the carbon fiber intake bellows, each with twin injectors, which at the time were only used on racing engines. The entire engine weighed only 266 kg, and at a maximum power of 403 kW, the McLaren F1 had a very high power-to-weight ratio at the time.
The negative cost of this engine was that the heat was so high that McLaren engineers had to apply a gold film layer in the engine compartment to insulate it to protect other car parts such as the chassis. Because the film weight is very light, it will not affect the overall weight of the car.
Mercedes M120 V12 engine
Representative models: SL 73 AMG and Pagani Zonda
Mercedes-Benz's V12 engine is coming. This 7.3L V12 self-priming engine is regarded as BMW's strongest competitor, and the group executives believe that this engine has no substitute at that time, and directly press bmw's V12 in the mud.
At the beginning of the engine, the displacement was 6.0L. With the advent of the SL 73 AMG, code-named R129, the engine stroke was increased by 12.2mm and the final displacement reached 7291cc. The engine has a maximum power of 386 kW, a peak layout of 750 Nm, and the SL 73 AMG accelerates to 4.8 seconds per 100 km/h.
Interestingly, the engine caught the attention of Italian supercar manufacturer Pagani, who subsequently asked AMG to provide an engine for one of its supercars, the subsequent Zonda series, in which models such as the Zonda C12-S, Zonda F, Zonda Cinque and Zonda Tricolore all used this V12 engine.
Ferrari F140 engine
Representative models: Ferrari ENZO, Ferrari 812 Superfast, etc
In view of its successful performance in F1, Ferrari is not shy about applying its technology in racing to civilian supercars. However, the Ferrari F1 team uses a V10 engine, while none of the civilian sectors have a pedigree of the V10 engine. So Ferrari decided to start from scratch and develop a new V12 engine. This is the F140 6.0L V12 engine.
Upon its introduction, the engine immediately became the strongest naturally aspirated engine on production cars, with a maximum power of 485 kW and a peak torque of 657 Nm.
The F140 engine had many innovations at the time, including a overhead cam with variable timing, an intake rotor of variable length, and a cylinder coated with nickel-silicon carbide.
The Ferrari ENZO was the first model to be powered by an F140 engine, followed by the Ferrari Spirit Totem LaFerrari, the F140 with hybrid system. This was followed by a lineup of front-engined GTs, as well as FF, GTC4Lusso, and, more recently, the 812 series, including the 812 Superfast.
In the latest 812 Competizione series, the latest version of the F140 engine has a displacement increased to 6.5 liters, with power and torque of 610 kW and 692 Nm respectively.
Master Horn wants to say:
I hope that China can also produce a legendary engine that has been passed down for a long time