Lamborghini V12
Encyclopedia
The Lamborghini V12 is a sixty degree
Degree (angle)
A degree , usually denoted by ° , is a measurement of plane angle, representing 1⁄360 of a full rotation; one degree is equivalent to π/180 radians...

 (60°) V12
V12 engine
A V12 engine is a V engine with 12 cylinders mounted on the crankcase in two banks of six cylinders, usually but not always at a 60° angle to each other, with all 12 pistons driving a common crankshaft....

 petrol engine
Petrol engine
A petrol engine is an internal combustion engine with spark-ignition, designed to run on petrol and similar volatile fuels....

 designed by Lamborghini
Lamborghini
Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A., commonly referred to as Lamborghini , is an Italian car manufacturer. The company was founded by manufacturing magnate Ferruccio Lamborghini in 1963, with the objective of producing a refined grand touring car to compete with established offerings from marques like...

, and was the first internal combustion engine
Internal combustion engine
The internal combustion engine is an engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidizer in a combustion chamber. In an internal combustion engine, the expansion of the high-temperature and high -pressure gases produced by combustion apply direct force to some component of the engine...

 ever produced by the firm.

It first entered production in 1963, in 3.5 litre form, displacing
Engine displacement
Engine displacement is the volume swept by all the pistons inside the cylinders of an internal combustion engine in a single movement from top dead centre to bottom dead centre . It is commonly specified in cubic centimeters , litres , or cubic inches...

 3465 cc, in the Lamborghini 350GT
Lamborghini 350GT
The Lamborghini 350 GT was the first production vehicle produced by Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A. Production started in May 1964, after its well-received debut at the March 1964 Geneva auto show...

 - the first car
Automobile
An automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...

 ever produced by the carmaker
Automotive industry
The automotive industry designs, develops, manufactures, markets, and sells motor vehicles, and is one of the world's most important economic sectors by revenue....

. The latest 6.5 litre version is used in all currently produced Lamborghini Murciélago
Lamborghini Murciélago
The Lamborghini Murciélago is a two-door, two-seat sports car produced by Italian automaker Lamborghini between 2001 and 2010. Successor to the Diablo and flagship of the automaker's lineup, the Murciélago was introduced as a coupé in 2001. The automaker's first new design in eleven years, the car...

 models.

History

When Ferruccio Lamborghini
Ferruccio Lamborghini
Ferruccio Elio Arturo Lamborghini was an Italian industrialist. Born to grape farmers from the comune of Renazzo di Cento in the Emilia-Romagna region, his mechanical know-how led him to enter the business of tractor manufacturing in 1948, when he founded Lamborghini Trattori, which quickly became...

 set out to provide Ferrari
Ferrari
Ferrari S.p.A. is an Italian sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari in 1929, as Scuderia Ferrari, the company sponsored drivers and manufactured race cars before moving into production of street-legal vehicles as Ferrari S.p.A. in 1947...

 with competition, he contracted Giotto Bizzarrini
Giotto Bizzarrini
Giotto Bizzarrini is an Italian automobile engineer active from the 1950s through 1970s....

 to design the engine for his car and, according to some accounts, paid him a bonus for every horsepower
Horsepower
Horsepower is the name of several units of measurement of power. The most common definitions equal between 735.5 and 750 watts.Horsepower was originally defined to compare the output of steam engines with the power of draft horses in continuous operation. The unit was widely adopted to measure the...

 over what Ferrari's V12 could produce. The finished 3.5 litre V12 was such that, with minor modifications and improvements, the very same engine (in 6.5 litre form) powers the current Lamborghini Murciélago LP640, and is estimated to finish its service for Lamborghini with the coming version of the Murciélago, the Murciélago SV.

The replacement 6.5 litre engine is estimated to produce 700 horsepower.

Technical overview

The engine was designed from the start to be a "quad cam" - 2x double overhead camshaft (2xDOHC - two overhead camshaft
Overhead camshaft
Overhead cam valvetrain configurations place the engine camshaft within the cylinder heads, above the combustion chambers, and drive the valves or lifters in a more direct manner compared to overhead valves and pushrods...

s per cylinder bank
Cylinder bank
Internal combustion piston engines are usually arranged so that the cylinders are in lines parallel to the crankshaft. Where they are in a single line, this is referred to as an inline or straight engine....

) 60 degree V12 - as an intentional snub by Mr. Lamborghini of Ferrari's single overhead camshaft per-bank design. When the 3464 cc prototype was tested in 1963, it was able to produce 370 bhp at 9,000 revolutions per minute
Revolutions per minute
Revolutions per minute is a measure of the frequency of a rotation. It annotates the number of full rotations completed in one minute around a fixed axis...

 (rpm) - a figure of almost 107 bhp per litre, and unprecedented at the time. Bizzarrini famously insisted that the engine was mechanically capable of reaching an astonishing 400 bhp at 11,000 rpm with an uprated fuel system, but the design was judged adequate, and when fitted with production carburettors, all the auxiliary systems, and detuned for road use, the engine still made an impressive 280 bhp.

Audi ownership

Over the years, notably since Lamborghini was purchased by the German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 Volkswagen Group
Volkswagen Group
Volkswagen Group is a German multinational automobile manufacturing group. , Volkswagen was ranked as the world’s third largest motor vehicle manufacturer and Europe's largest....

 subsidiary AUDI AG
Audi
Audi AG is a German automobile manufacturer, from supermini to crossover SUVs in various body styles and price ranges that are marketed under the Audi brand , positioned as the premium brand within the Volkswagen Group....

, this V12 engine has nearly doubled in displacement
Engine displacement
Engine displacement is the volume swept by all the pistons inside the cylinders of an internal combustion engine in a single movement from top dead centre to bottom dead centre . It is commonly specified in cubic centimeters , litres , or cubic inches...

 - first to 6192 cc, and later to 6496 cc. It has seen the modification of the cylinder head
Cylinder head
In an internal combustion engine, the cylinder head sits above the cylinders on top of the cylinder block. It closes in the top of the cylinder, forming the combustion chamber. This joint is sealed by a head gasket...

s to allow four valves
Multi-valve
In automotive engineering a multi-valve or multivalve engine is one where each cylinder has more than two valves. A multi-valve engine has better breathing and can operate at higher revolutions per minute than a two-valve engine, delivering more power.- Multi-valve rationale :A multi-valve design...

 per cylinder, the replacement of Weber
Weber carburetor
Weber is an Italian company producing carburetors, currently owned by Magneti Marelli Powertrain S.p.A., in turn part of the Fiat Group.The company was established as...

 carburettors with electronic fuel injection, and the re-engineering of the lubrication
Motor oil
Motor oil or engine oil is an oil used for lubrication of various internal combustion engines. The main function is to lubricate moving parts; it also cleans, inhibits corrosion, improves sealing, and cools the engine by carrying heat away from moving parts.Motor oils are derived from...

 system from a wet sump
Wet sump
A wet sump is a lubricating oil management design for four-stroke piston internal combustion engines which uses a built-in reservoir for oil, as opposed to an external or secondary reservoir used in a dry sump design....

 to a dry sump
Dry sump
A dry sump is a lubricating motor oil management method for four-stroke and large two-stroke piston internal combustion engines that uses external pumps and a secondary external reservoir for oil, as compared to a conventional wet sump system....

 design. However, the engine that powers the current Murciélago LP640 can trace its lineage directly to the F1-inspired design of Bizzarrini and his team more than forty years ago.

Specifications

engine configuration
Engine configuration
Engine configuration is an engineering term for the layout of the major components of a reciprocating piston internal combustion engine. These components are the cylinders and crankshafts in particular but also, sometimes, the camshaft....

 — 3.5 & 4.0: 60° V12 engine
V12 engine
A V12 engine is a V engine with 12 cylinders mounted on the crankcase in two banks of six cylinders, usually but not always at a 60° angle to each other, with all 12 pistons driving a common crankshaft....

; wet sump
Wet sump
A wet sump is a lubricating oil management design for four-stroke piston internal combustion engines which uses a built-in reservoir for oil, as opposed to an external or secondary reservoir used in a dry sump design....

 lubrication
Motor oil
Motor oil or engine oil is an oil used for lubrication of various internal combustion engines. The main function is to lubricate moving parts; it also cleans, inhibits corrosion, improves sealing, and cools the engine by carrying heat away from moving parts.Motor oils are derived from...

 system
engine configuration
Engine configuration
Engine configuration is an engineering term for the layout of the major components of a reciprocating piston internal combustion engine. These components are the cylinders and crankshafts in particular but also, sometimes, the camshaft....

 — 6.2 & 6.5: 60° V12 engine; dry sump
Dry sump
A dry sump is a lubricating motor oil management method for four-stroke and large two-stroke piston internal combustion engines that uses external pumps and a secondary external reservoir for oil, as compared to a conventional wet sump system....

 lubrication system
engine displacement
Engine displacement
Engine displacement is the volume swept by all the pistons inside the cylinders of an internal combustion engine in a single movement from top dead centre to bottom dead centre . It is commonly specified in cubic centimeters , litres , or cubic inches...

 etc.
3.5: 3465 cc; bore x stroke: 77 by 62 mm (3 by 2.4 ) (stroke ratio
Stroke ratio
In a reciprocating piston engine, the stroke ratio, defined by either bore/stroke ratio or stroke/bore ratio, is a term which is used to describe the ratio between the diameter of the cylinder bore and the length of the piston stroke within its cylinders...

: 1.24:1 - 'oversquare/short-stroke engine'); 288.7 cc per cylinder
Cylinder (engine)
A cylinder is the central working part of a reciprocating engine or pump, the space in which a piston travels. Multiple cylinders are commonly arranged side by side in a bank, or engine block, which is typically cast from aluminum or cast iron before receiving precision machine work...

4.0: 3929 cc
6.2: 6192 cc; bore x stroke: 87 by 86.8 mm (3.4 by 3.4 ) (stroke ratio: 1.00:1 - 'square engine
Square engine
Square engine may refer to:* a square four engine, which is a U engine in which two straight two engines are coupled together* an engine with a stroke ratio of 1 The engine with same bore and stoke. eg. 50X50, or 76X76...

'); 516.0 cc per cylinder; compression ratio
Compression ratio
The 'compression ratio' of an internal-combustion engine or external combustion engine is a value that represents the ratio of the volume of its combustion chamber from its largest capacity to its smallest capacity...

: 11.6:1
6.5: 6496 cc; bore x stroke: 88 by 89 mm (3.5 by 3.5 ) (stroke ratio: 0.99:1 - 'square engine'); 541.3 cc per cylinder; compression ratio: 11.8:1

cylinder block
Cylinder block
A cylinder block is an integrated structure comprising the cylinder of a reciprocating engine and often some or all of their associated surrounding structures...

 & crankcase
Crankcase
In an internal combustion engine of the reciprocating type, the crankcase is the housing for the crankshaft. The enclosure forms the largest cavity in the engine and is located below the cylinder, which in a multicylinder engine are usually integrated into one or several cylinder blocks...

: cast
Casting
In metalworking, casting involves pouring liquid metal into a mold, which contains a hollow cavity of the desired shape, and then allowing it to cool and solidify. The solidified part is also known as a casting, which is ejected or broken out of the mold to complete the process...

 aluminium alloy
Aluminium alloy
Aluminium alloys are alloys in which aluminium is the predominant metal. The typical alloying elements are copper, magnesium, manganese, silicon and zinc. There are two principal classifications, namely casting alloys and wrought alloys, both of which are further subdivided into the categories...

; pressed-in cylinder liners
cylinder head
Cylinder head
In an internal combustion engine, the cylinder head sits above the cylinders on top of the cylinder block. It closes in the top of the cylinder, forming the combustion chamber. This joint is sealed by a head gasket...

s & valvetrain
Valvetrain
Valvetrain is an all-encompassing term used to describe the mechanisms and parts which control the operation of the valves. A traditional reciprocating internal combustion engine uses valves to control air and fuel flow into and out of the cylinders, facilitating combustion.-Layout:Valvetrain: The...

 — 3.5 & 4.0: cast aluminium alloy; two valves per cylinder, 24 valves total, 2x chain-driven double overhead camshaft (2xDOHC - two overhead camshaft
Overhead camshaft
Overhead cam valvetrain configurations place the engine camshaft within the cylinder heads, above the combustion chambers, and drive the valves or lifters in a more direct manner compared to overhead valves and pushrods...

s per cylinder bank
Cylinder bank
Internal combustion piston engines are usually arranged so that the cylinders are in lines parallel to the crankshaft. Where they are in a single line, this is referred to as an inline or straight engine....

 - 'quad cam')
cylinder head
Cylinder head
In an internal combustion engine, the cylinder head sits above the cylinders on top of the cylinder block. It closes in the top of the cylinder, forming the combustion chamber. This joint is sealed by a head gasket...

s & valvetrain
Valvetrain
Valvetrain is an all-encompassing term used to describe the mechanisms and parts which control the operation of the valves. A traditional reciprocating internal combustion engine uses valves to control air and fuel flow into and out of the cylinders, facilitating combustion.-Layout:Valvetrain: The...

 — 6.2 & 6.5: cast aluminium alloy; four valves
Multi-valve
In automotive engineering a multi-valve or multivalve engine is one where each cylinder has more than two valves. A multi-valve engine has better breathing and can operate at higher revolutions per minute than a two-valve engine, delivering more power.- Multi-valve rationale :A multi-valve design...

 per cylinder, 48 valves total, 2x chain-driven double overhead camshaft (2xDOHC - two overhead camshafts per cylinder bank - 'quad cam')
aspiration, fuel system & ignition system
Ignition system
An ignition system is a system for igniting a fuel-air mixture. Ignition systems are well known in the field of internal combustion engines such as those used in petrol engines used to power the majority of motor vehicles, but they are also used in many other applications such as in oil-fired and...

 — 3.5: six twin-barrel side-draught Weber
Weber carburetor
Weber is an Italian company producing carburetors, currently owned by Magneti Marelli Powertrain S.p.A., in turn part of the Fiat Group.The company was established as...

 40 DCOE 2 carburettors
Carburetor
A carburetor , carburettor, or carburetter is a device that blends air and fuel for an internal combustion engine. It is sometimes shortened to carb in North America and the United Kingdom....

; one or two ignition distributor
Distributor
A distributor is a device in the ignition system of an internal combustion engine that routes high voltage from the ignition coil to the spark plugs in the correct firing order. The first reliable battery operated ignition was developed by Dayton Engineering Laboratories Co. and introduced in the...

s
aspiration, fuel system & ignition system
Ignition system
An ignition system is a system for igniting a fuel-air mixture. Ignition systems are well known in the field of internal combustion engines such as those used in petrol engines used to power the majority of motor vehicles, but they are also used in many other applications such as in oil-fired and...

 — 4.0: six twin-barrel down-draught carburettors
Carburetor
A carburetor , carburettor, or carburetter is a device that blends air and fuel for an internal combustion engine. It is sometimes shortened to carb in North America and the United Kingdom....

; one or two ignition distributor
Distributor
A distributor is a device in the ignition system of an internal combustion engine that routes high voltage from the ignition coil to the spark plugs in the correct firing order. The first reliable battery operated ignition was developed by Dayton Engineering Laboratories Co. and introduced in the...

s
aspiration, fuel system & ignition system
Ignition system
An ignition system is a system for igniting a fuel-air mixture. Ignition systems are well known in the field of internal combustion engines such as those used in petrol engines used to power the majority of motor vehicles, but they are also used in many other applications such as in oil-fired and...

 — 6.2 & 6.5: two air filters, four cast alloy throttle bodies each with Magneti Marelli electronically controlled
Electronic throttle control
Electronic throttle control is an automobile technology which severs the mechanical link between the accelerator pedal and the throttle. Most automobiles already use a throttle position sensor to provide input to traction control, antilock brakes, fuel injection, and other systems, but use a...

 'drive by wire
Drive by wire
Drive-by-wire, DbW, by-wire, or x-by-wire technology in the automotive industry replaces the traditional mechanical control systems with electronic control systems using electromechanical actuators and human-machine interfaces such as pedal and steering feel emulators...

' throttle
Throttle
A throttle is the mechanism by which the flow of a fluid is managed by constriction or obstruction. An engine's power can be increased or decreased by the restriction of inlet gases , but usually decreased. The term throttle has come to refer, informally and incorrectly, to any mechanism by which...

 butterfly valve
Butterfly valve
A butterfly valve is a valve which can be used for isolating or regulating flow. The closing mechanism takes the form of a disk. Operation is similar to that of a ball valve, which allows for quick shut off. Butterfly valves are generally favored because they are lower in cost to other valve...

s, cast magnesium
Magnesium
Magnesium is a chemical element with the symbol Mg, atomic number 12, and common oxidation number +2. It is an alkaline earth metal and the eighth most abundant element in the Earth's crust and ninth in the known universe as a whole...

 alloy
Alloy
An alloy is a mixture or metallic solid solution composed of two or more elements. Complete solid solution alloys give single solid phase microstructure, while partial solutions give two or more phases that may or may not be homogeneous in distribution, depending on thermal history...

 intake manifold; two linked common rail
Common rail
Common rail direct fuel injection is a modern variant of direct fuel injection system for petrol and diesel engines.On diesel engines, it features a high-pressure fuel rail feeding individual solenoid valves, as opposed to low-pressure fuel pump feeding unit injectors...

 fuel distributor rails, electronic sequential multi-point indirect
Indirect injection
In an internal combustion engine, the term indirect injection refers to a fuel injection where fuel is not directly injected into the combustion chamber...

 fuel injection
Fuel injection
Fuel injection is a system for admitting fuel into an internal combustion engine. It has become the primary fuel delivery system used in automotive petrol engines, having almost completely replaced carburetors in the late 1980s....

 with intake manifold-sited fuel injectors; centrally positioned spark plug
Spark plug
A spark plug is an electrical device that fits into the cylinder head of some internal combustion engines and ignites compressed fuels such as aerosol, gasoline, ethanol, and liquefied petroleum gas by means of an electric spark.Spark plugs have an insulated central electrode which is connected by...

s, mapped direct ignition with 12 individual direct-acting single spark coils
Ignition coil
An ignition coil is an induction coil in an automobile's ignition system which transforms the battery's 12 volts to the thousands of volts needed to create an electric spark in the spark plugs to ignite the fuel...


exhaust system
Exhaust system
An exhaust system is usually tubing used to guide reaction exhaust gases away from a controlled combustion inside an engine or stove. The entire system conveys burnt gases from the engine and includes one or more exhaust pipes...

 — 6.2 & 6.5: two 3-branch exhaust manifold
Exhaust manifold
In automotive engineering, an exhaust manifold collects the exhaust gases from multiple cylinders into one pipe. The word manifold comes from the Old English word manigfeald and refers to the folding together of multiple inputs and outputs.In contrast, an inlet manifold is the part of an engine...

s per cylinder bank, connected to dual-inlet catalytic converter
Catalytic converter
A catalytic converter is a device used to convert toxic exhaust emissions from an internal combustion engine into non-toxic substances. Inside a catalytic converter, a catalyst stimulates a chemical reaction in which noxious byproducts of combustion are converted to less toxic substances by dint...

s, heated oxygen (lambda) sensors monitoring pre- and post-catalyst exhaust gasses
power and torque outputs and applications
3.5: 284 PS @ 6,500 rpm
Revolutions per minute
Revolutions per minute is a measure of the frequency of a rotation. It annotates the number of full rotations completed in one minute around a fixed axis...

; 325 newton metres (240 ft·lbf) @ 4,500 rpm — Lamborghini 350GT
Lamborghini 350GT
The Lamborghini 350 GT was the first production vehicle produced by Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A. Production started in May 1964, after its well-received debut at the March 1964 Geneva auto show...

3.5: 324 PS @ 7,000 rpm — Lamborghini 350GT
Lamborghini 350GT
The Lamborghini 350 GT was the first production vehicle produced by Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A. Production started in May 1964, after its well-received debut at the March 1964 Geneva auto show...

  Veloce
4.0:
6.2: 580 PS @ 7,500 rpm; 650 newton metres (479 ft·lbf) @ 5,500 rpm —
6.5: 640 PS @ 7,500 rpm; 660 newton metres (487 ft·lbf) @ 5,200 rpm — Lamborghini Murciélago
Lamborghini Murciélago
The Lamborghini Murciélago is a two-door, two-seat sports car produced by Italian automaker Lamborghini between 2001 and 2010. Successor to the Diablo and flagship of the automaker's lineup, the Murciélago was introduced as a coupé in 2001. The automaker's first new design in eleven years, the car...

 LP 640 Coupé and Roadster
6.5: 650 PS — Lamborghini Reventón
Lamborghini Reventón
The Lamborghini Reventón is a mid-engine sports car that debuted at the 2007 Frankfurt Motor Show. It is the most expensive Lamborghini road car to date, costing one million euros . Its top recorded speed was recorded in Dubai, UAE at...

 and Murciélago LP650-4 Roadster

reference: German press release: auto katalog 2006
6.5: 670 PS @ 8,000 rpm; 660 newton metres (487 ft·lbf) @ 6,500 rpm — Lamborghini Murciélago
Lamborghini Murciélago
The Lamborghini Murciélago is a two-door, two-seat sports car produced by Italian automaker Lamborghini between 2001 and 2010. Successor to the Diablo and flagship of the automaker's lineup, the Murciélago was introduced as a coupé in 2001. The automaker's first new design in eleven years, the car...

 LP 670-4 SuperVeloce

See also

applications of the V12 engine
  • Lamborghini 350GT
    Lamborghini 350GT
    The Lamborghini 350 GT was the first production vehicle produced by Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A. Production started in May 1964, after its well-received debut at the March 1964 Geneva auto show...

  • Lamborghini Miura
    Lamborghini Miura
    The Lamborghini Miura was a sports car produced by Italian automaker Lamborghini between 1966 and 1972. The car is widely considered to have begun the trend of high performance, two-seater, mid-engined sports cars...

  • Lamborghini Espada
    Lamborghini Espada
    The Lamborghini Espada is a grand tourer which was built by Italian car manufacturer Lamborghini between 1968 and 1978.Based on the Marzal show car, displayed at the 1967 Geneva Auto Show, and the Bertone Pirana, a radically rebodied Jaguar E-type, it was to fill the spot of a true four seat car in...

  • Lamborghini Countach
    Lamborghini Countach
    The Lamborghini Countach is a mid-engined supercar that was produced by Italian automaker Lamborghini from 1974 to 1990. Its design both pioneered and popularized the wedge-shaped, sharply angled look popular in many high performance sports cars...

  • Lamborghini LM002
    Lamborghini LM002
    The Lamborghini LM002 is an SUV that was built by the Lamborghini automobile company between 1986 and 1993. The LM002 was an unusual departure for Lamborghini which, at the time, was primarily known for high-performance grand tourers and sports cars...

  • Lamborghini Diablo
    Lamborghini Diablo
    The Lamborghini Diablo is a high-performance mid-engined sports car that was built by Italian automaker Lamborghini between 1990 and 2001. It was the first Lamborghini capable of attaining a top speed in excess of . After the end of its production run in 2001, the Diablo was replaced by the...

  • Lamborghini Murciélago
    Lamborghini Murciélago
    The Lamborghini Murciélago is a two-door, two-seat sports car produced by Italian automaker Lamborghini between 2001 and 2010. Successor to the Diablo and flagship of the automaker's lineup, the Murciélago was introduced as a coupé in 2001. The automaker's first new design in eleven years, the car...



list of Volkswagen Group petrol engines article
  • V12 – 6.2/6.5 V12 430-471 kW sub-section of the above article
  • V10 – 5.2 FSI V10 412 kW sub-section of the above article
  • V10 – 5.0 V10 368 kW sub-section of the above article

External links

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