V16 engine
Encyclopedia
V engine
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...
with 16 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...
s. Engines of this number of cylinders are uncommon in automotive use.
A V16 engine is perfectly balanced regardless of the V angle without requiring counter-rotating balancing shafts
Balance shaft
In piston engine engineering, a balance shaft is an eccentric weighted shaft which offsets vibrations in engine designs that are not inherently balanced...
which are necessary to balance Straight-4
Straight-4
The inline-four engine or straight-four engine is an internal combustion engine with all four cylinders mounted in a straight line, or plane along the crankcase. The single bank of cylinders may be oriented in either a vertical or an inclined plane with all the pistons driving a common crankshaft....
and odd number of cylinder inline engines or counterweighted crankshaft like the 90° V8. In addition angles of 45° and 135° vees give an impulse every 45°, so are optimal solutions, for even-firing and non-split bearing crankshaft
Crankshaft
The crankshaft, sometimes casually abbreviated to crank, is the part of an engine which translates reciprocating linear piston motion into rotation...
journals.
V16 engines are rarely used in automobiles because V8s or V12s
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....
of the same displacement produce just as much power, but are much less expensive to manufacture and maintain. The few V16s that have been produced were used in high-end luxury and high-performance automobile
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...
s due to their smoothness (low vibration).
Today, the most common applications for V16 engines are railroad locomotives, marine craft, and stationary power generators.
Consumer automobiles
Howard Marmon had begun working on the world's first automotive V16 engine in 1927, but was unable to complete the production Sixteen model until 1931. By that time, Cadillac had already introduced their V16, designed by ex-Marmon engineer Owen NackerOwen Nacker
Owen Nacker was an American automotive engineer.-Early Automotive Career:...
. Peerless
Peerless
Peerless was a United States automobile produced by the Peerless Motor Company of Cleveland, Ohio from 1900 to 1931. The company was known for building high-quality, precision luxury automobiles. Peerless' factory was located at 9400 Quincy Avenue in Cleveland...
, too, was developing a V16 with help from another ex-Marmon engineer, James Bohannon.
The Series 452 was the most exclusive model of the marque from January 1930 until 1940, with this type
Cadillac V16 engine
The Cadillac V16 engine was a type of automobile engine produced in the 1930s. Cadillac produced two of only three production, gasoline-fueled V16 engine models in history. Both were used in the Cadillac V-16 automobile, the first from 1930 until 1937, and the second between 1938 and 1940...
of engine. Two varieties were built. From 1930-1937, Cadillac used a 452 CID
Cubic inch
The cubic inch is a unit of measurement for volume in the Imperial units and United States customary units systems. It is the volume of a cube with each of its 3 sides being one inch long....
(7.4 L), OHV motor with a 45° V. For 1938, a new 431 CID (7.1 L) design was introduced for the Series 90, with a flathead
Flathead
Flathead may refer to:* Flat-head screwdriver, a screwdriver designed to turn slotted screws* Flat-head screw, a screw with a flat top, designed to be installed in a countersunk hole* Flathead engine, a valve configuration...
valvetrain and an angle of 135°; this resulted in a much lower cowl height. The 431 was in many ways a superior engine, producing as much power as its immediate predecessor while being far less complex, had a stiffer crankshaft which aided durability and smoothness, and even had an external oil filter, a rarity for any car at any price in those days. However, it was never as popular or highly regarded as its 452 CID predecessor.
By contrast, the Marmon Sixteen was a 45° engine made almost entirely of aluminum. Like modern engines, it used pressed steel cylinder liners. Just 400 Marmon Sixteens were produced between 1931 and 1933.
In 1988, a joint business venture between Claudio Zampolli and musician Giorgio Moroder
Giorgio Moroder
Hansjörg "Giorgio" Moroder is an Italian record producer, songwriter and performer based in Los Angeles. When in Munich in the 1970s, he started his own record label called Oasis Records, which several years later became a subdivision of Casablanca Records...
produced the Cizeta-Moroder V16T
Cizeta-Moroder V16T
The Cizeta-Moroder V16T, now known as just the Cizeta V16T, is an Italian sports car created by automotive engineer Claudio Zampolli in a joint venture with music composer Giorgio Moroder and designed by the famed Marcello Gandini. It was the only product of the Cizeta company...
which featured a 16-cylinder engine in a unique configuration, but which was not a true V16. Rather, the engine was made up of two flat plane V8s
V8 engine
A V8 engine is a V engine with eight cylinders mounted on the crankcase in two banks of four cylinders, in most cases set at a right angle to each other but sometimes at a narrower angle, with all eight pistons driving a common crankshaft....
, mounted transversely
Transverse engine
A transverse engine is an engine mounted in a vehicle so that the engine's crankshaft axis is perpendicular to the long axis of the vehicle. Many modern front wheel drive vehicles use this engine mounting configuration...
, with gear
Gear
A gear is a rotating machine part having cut teeth, or cogs, which mesh with another toothed part in order to transmit torque. Two or more gears working in tandem are called a transmission and can produce a mechanical advantage through a gear ratio and thus may be considered a simple machine....
ing between the two providing a single output from the center of the engine assembly to the longitudinal
Longitudinal engine
In automotive engineering, a longitudinal engine is an internal combustion engine in which the crankshaft is oriented along the long axis of the vehicle, front to back....
transmission
Transmission (mechanics)
A machine consists of a power source and a power transmission system, which provides controlled application of the power. Merriam-Webster defines transmission as: an assembly of parts including the speed-changing gears and the propeller shaft by which the power is transmitted from an engine to a...
. It began production in 1991 but only a few cars were produced before the company closed its doors for good.
Cadillac revived the V16 concept in 2003 with a General Motors concept car
Concept car
A concept vehicle or show vehicle is a car made to showcase new styling and or new technology. They are often shown at motor shows to gauge customer reaction to new and radical designs which may or may not have a chance of being produced....
, the Cadillac Sixteen
Cadillac Sixteen
The Cadillac Sixteen was a prototype of a stylish and high performance automobile first presented by Cadillac in 2003.The vehicle was equipped with a 32-valve V16 concept engine displacing 13.6 liters and was mated to a four-speed, electronically controlled, automatic transmission driving the rear...
. This car used a 1000 hp OHV V16.
BMW
BMW
Bayerische Motoren Werke AG is a German automobile, motorcycle and engine manufacturing company founded in 1916. It also owns and produces the Mini marque, and is the parent company of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. BMW produces motorcycles under BMW Motorrad and Husqvarna brands...
also experimented with a V-16, eventually showing a 9-litre (~550 CID) version in the Rolls-Royce 100EX
Rolls-Royce 100EX
The Rolls-Royce 100 EX has:*9.0 litre V16 engine*6 Speed automatic transmission*Dimensions: Height , Width and Length...
concept car, but it has been changed to a V12 for production due to the customer feedback. However, one of the Rolls-Royce Phantom Coupé
Rolls-Royce Phantom Coupé
The Rolls-Royce Phantom Coupé is a British handmade luxury coupe manufactured by Rolls-Royce that debuted at the 2008 Geneva International Auto Show in Geneva, Switzerland, on 6 March 2008...
s which featured in the film Johnny English Reborn
Johnny English Reborn
Johnny English Reborn is a 2011 British spy comedy film parodying the James Bond secret agent genre and film franchise reboots. The film is the sequel to Johnny English , and stars Rowan Atkinson reprising his role as the title character and directed by Oliver Parker. The film has a slightly...
is powered by this V16 engine. That wasn't its first foray into V-16: BMW had conceived the Project Goldfish, adding four cylinders to the BMW M70 V-12 motor. The BMW Goldfish V16
BMW Goldfish V16
The BMW V16 engine known as the project Goldfish is a SOHC 32-valve V16 6.7 litre prototype automotive piston engine based on BMW M70 V12 engine.-Development:...
motor had the displacement of 6.7-litre (414 CID), outputting about 408 hp (304 kW) and 637 N·m (470 lb·ft). That motor was also trialled in new Bentley Mulsanne in the early 1990s.
Racing
The first known use of a V16 in auto racingAuto racing
Auto racing is a motorsport involving the racing of cars for competition. It is one of the world's most watched televised sports.-The beginning of racing:...
was by Harry Miller installing a custom built V16 that he had built for a Cord "supercar" he had been working on into a chassis that he had built for the 1931
1931 Indianapolis 500
Results of the 1931 Indianapolis 500 held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Saturday, May 30, 1931....
Indianapolis 500
Indianapolis 500
The Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, also known as the Indianapolis 500, the 500 Miles at Indianapolis, the Indy 500 or The 500, is an American automobile race, held annually, typically on the last weekend in May at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana...
driven by Shorty Cantlon
Shorty Cantlon
William "Shorty" Cantlon was an American racecar driver. He was killed on May 30, 1947, while racing in the 1947 Indianapolis 500 on lap 40 after swerving into the outside retaining wall to avoid the spinning car of Bill Holland, who recovered from the spin to finish second...
. The car was competitive, charging from 26th on the grid to 3rd but was slowed by a unreliability, further exacerbated by having to change all sixteen spark plugs. Bryan Saulpaugh
Bryan Saulpaugh
Bryan Saulpaugh was an American racecar driver. Saulpaugh relieved Chet Miller in the 1931 Indianapolis 500 for 49 laps and qualified for the 1932 race in a Miller in the third position but was knocked out after 55 laps by a broken oil line and was credited with 32nd...
qualified the car third for the 1932 Indianapolis 500
1932 Indianapolis 500
-Race Summary:Fred Frame won the 1932 after several strong showings in previous Indy 500 events. Frame, with mechanic Jerry Houck riding beside him, won with an average speed of , a speed that broke the seven-year-old record set by Peter DePaolo....
but the car suffered a broken oil line on lap 55 and their race was over. Shortly after the race the V16 was removed and replaced with a conventional Miller four cylinder. The car was re-assembled and rebuilt with an exact replica V16 in 1993.
The V16 was used in Grand Prix
Grand Prix motor racing
Grand Prix motor racing has its roots in organised automobile racing that began in France as far back as 1894. It quickly evolved from a simple road race from one town to the next, to endurance tests for car and driver...
by the mid-engined Auto Union racing car
Auto Union racing car
The Auto Union Grand Prix racing cars types A to D, were developed and built by a specialist racing department of Horch works in Zwickau between 1933 and 1939....
s that rivalled the Mercedes
Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz is a German manufacturer of automobiles, buses, coaches, and trucks. Mercedes-Benz is a division of its parent company, Daimler AG...
from 1933-1938.
Alfa Romeo
Alfa Romeo
Alfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A. is an Italian manufacturer of cars. Founded as A.L.F.A. on June 24, 1910, in Milan, the company has been involved in car racing since 1911, and has a reputation for building expensive sports cars...
made two cars with V16 engine the Tipo 162 (135° V16) and Tipo 316
Alfa Romeo Tipo 316
Alfa Romeo Tipo 316, 316 or 16C-316 Grand prix car was used in Grand Prix seasons 1938 and 1939, when its was driven by Giuseppe Farina and Clemente Biondetti. The Tipo 316 was one of three Alfa Romeo cars designed for the new rules in 1938, which differed mainly by the engine, the other two were...
(60° V16). The first one was prototype and the 316 was used on 1938 Tripoli Grand Prix
Tripoli Grand Prix
The Tripoli Grand Prix was a motor racing event first held in 1925 on a racing circuit outside Tripoli, the capital of what was then Italian Tripolitania...
. The 135° engine was engineered by Wifredo Ricart
Wifredo Ricart
Wifredo Pelayo Ricart Medina was a Spanish engineer, designer and executive manager in the automotive industry, who spent his professional career in Spain and Italy.- The Barcelona "Happy Twenties" :...
and gave 490 bhp at 7800 rpm, specific output was said to be 164 bhp per litre.
It has only been used once in the post-WWII era, by British Racing Motors
British Racing Motors
British Racing Motors was a British Formula One motor racing team. Founded in 1945, it raced from 1950 to 1977, competing in 197 Grands Prix and winning 17. In 1962, BRM won the Constructors' Title. At the same time, its driver, Graham Hill became World Champion...
(BRM). Most unusually, this was a 135° V 1.5 L (90.8 cu in) supercharged
Supercharger
A supercharger is an air compressor used for forced induction of an internal combustion engine.The greater mass flow-rate provides more oxygen to support combustion than would be available in a naturally aspirated engine, which allows more fuel to be burned and more work to be done per cycle,...
powerplant. This engine was a failure despite being powerful—officially, it produced 550 hp but likely delivered around 600 hp.
With such a small 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...
the BRM V16 delivered this power in a narrow, very lofty, RPM range. This made the car difficult to handle, but the sound made by the small 16 cylinders has been described as 'unforgettable.' This problem was exacerbated because of the supercharging system adopted, for expediency BRM chose it to be designed by Rolls-Royce
Rolls-Royce Limited
Rolls-Royce Limited was a renowned British car and, from 1914 on, aero-engine manufacturing company founded by Charles Stewart Rolls and Henry Royce on 15 March 1906 as the result of a partnership formed in 1904....
, drawing on their aircraft engines war experience, which used a two-speed centrifugal supercharger. Centrifugal superchargers are much more efficient than the more conspicuous Roots type, but, since centrifugal superchargers only deliver high pressure in a very narrow RPM band, even the Rolls-Royce designed two-speed gearbox used to drive the supercharger was not enough to usefully broaden the power band.
Another major problem with the BRM V.16 was its dual ignition system — making it likely that the engine would be running on 4 or 8 or 12 cylinders for parts of the same lap. Another issue was the way in which the engine was installed, canted across the car in the horizontal plane alongside the driver; more than one driver finished or retired from race or testing with burns. At least one of the BRM cars survives and many of its problems would be solved by fitting modern solid-state ignition components.
Marine/locomotive diesels
Diesel engine
A diesel engine is an internal combustion engine that uses the heat of compression to initiate ignition to burn the fuel, which is injected into the combustion chamber...
s. Here, manufacturers tend to work with a common 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...
size across a wide range of engines, and size the engine by the number of cylinders for different power requirements. Thus, many users of medium speed diesel engines such as railroad locomotive
Locomotive
A locomotive is a railway vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. The word originates from the Latin loco – "from a place", ablative of locus, "place" + Medieval Latin motivus, "causing motion", and is a shortened form of the term locomotive engine, first used in the early 19th...
s use V16 powerplants, including most Electro-Motive Diesel and GE Transportation Systems
GE Transportation Systems
GE Transportation, formerly known as GE Rail, is a division of General Electric. The organization manufactures equipment for the railroad, marine, mining, drilling and energy generation industries. It is based in Erie, Pennsylvania. Locomotives are assembled at the Erie plant, while engine...
locomotives. EMD's 16-cylinder two-stroke diesel, with 710 CID per cylinder (hence known as the 16-710), can produce over 4300 hp. Engines such as these are also popular for marine applications and for large emergency generator sets (which frequently use available marine engines, since weight is unimportant). GE's four-stroke V16 diesels, the 7FD Series (used in marine, locomotive, and stationary applications), have 668 CID per cylinder and can produce over 4400 hp. GE also manufactures the GEVO line of engines; the V16 version, known as the GEVO-16, produces over 6000 hp.
Aviation
In 1904, Léon LevavasseurLéon Levavasseur
Léon Levavasseur was a powerplant engineer, aircraft designer and inventor. His innovations included the V8 engine, direct fuel injection, and evaporative engine cooling...
, the engineer for the Antoinette engine manufacturer conceptualized a modular engine design that would include a V8 engine
V8 engine
A V8 engine is a V engine with eight cylinders mounted on the crankcase in two banks of four cylinders, in most cases set at a right angle to each other but sometimes at a narrower angle, with all eight pistons driving a common crankshaft....
, a V16 engine, and a V32 engine. Antoinette built a prototype V16 in 1907, and an aircraft equipped with an Antoinette V16 competed in the 1910 Gordon Bennett Cup
Gordon Bennett Cup
There were three Gordon Bennett Cups, all established by James Gordon Bennett, Jr.*Gordon Bennett Cup in auto racing*Gordon Bennett Cup in ballooning — for a time, a separate cup was also awarded for powered air racing...
at Belmont Park
Belmont Park
Belmont Park is a major thoroughbred horse-racing facility located in Elmont in the Town of Hempstead in Nassau County, New York, on Long Island adjoining New York City. It first opened on May 4, 1905...
in the United States.
Toward the end of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, Duesenberg
Duesenberg
Duesenberg was an Auburn, Indiana based American luxury automobile company active in various forms from 1913 to 1937, most famous for its high-quality passenger cars and record-breaking racing cars.-History:...
developed a V16 engine for use in aircraft. However, the engine was not tested in an aircraft before the end of the war.
In 1939, Chrysler
Chrysler
Chrysler Group LLC is a multinational automaker headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan, USA. Chrysler was first organized as the Chrysler Corporation in 1925....
was contracted by the US government to create a new engine for use in fighter aircraft. Chrysler responded by designing an inverted V16, the IV-2220. They tried many designs before choosing a hemispherical combustion chambered OHV
Overhead valve
An overhead valve engine, also informally called pushrod engine or I-head engine, is a type of piston engine that places the camshaft within the cylinder block , and uses pushrods or rods to actuate rocker arms above the cylinder...
head. The big V16 was rated at 2500 hp. It was finally tested in June 1945. It was installed in the P-47 Thunderbolt
P-47 Thunderbolt
Republic Aviation's P-47 Thunderbolt, also known as the "Jug", was the largest, heaviest, and most expensive fighter aircraft in history to be powered by a single reciprocating engine. It was heavily armed with eight .50-caliber machine guns, four per wing. When fully loaded, the P-47 weighed up to...
in place of a radial engine
Radial engine
The radial engine is a reciprocating type internal combustion engine configuration in which the cylinders point outward from a central crankshaft like the spokes on a wheel...
. This airplane was designated the XP47H. The change in engine and aerodynamics increased the top speed from 439 mph (706.5 km/h) to 504 mph (811.1 km/h). The war ended shortly after the tests, and the hemi V16 was never mass-produced, although the basic design and 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...
setup live on in today's Hemi V8s.
Four Daimler-Benz DB 602
Daimler-Benz DB 602
|-See also:-Bibliography:* Gunston, Bill. World Encyclopaedia of Aero Engines. Cambridge, England. Patrick Stephens Limited, 1989. ISBN 1-85260-163-9* Neil Gregor Daimler-Benz in the Third Reich. Yale University Press, 1998-External links:...
V16's were used to power the famous Hindenburg
LZ 129 Hindenburg
LZ 129 Hindenburg was a large German commercial passenger-carrying rigid airship, the lead ship of the Hindenburg class, the longest class of flying machine and the largest airship by envelope volume...
airship.