What about a twin Big block V8s, ala Cizetta V16?

[MilesR]

There's still a lot of room for improvement.
Cars or anything manmade can be improved a lot.
Until mankind surpasses light speed we can say we have reached the limit.

As for SSC they aren't making the ultimate machine.
This is not to say the SSC isn't an awesome machine of course it is.
But why is SSC still using a pushrod Chevy V8?
Why they don't use an engine with F1 technology without F1 rules that forbit bigger displacement and forced induction?

You are sort-of answering your own question. Yes, we can make better things, and that is normally what we try to do. If no-one is building a supercar that is powered by two large V-8 engines, it is quite probably because, for one reason or another, it is not better. Technically, it is certainly possible, and has been done in the past:

[ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Railton_Special"]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Railton_Special[/ame]


Or why not use three engines?

[ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Triplex"]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Triplex[/ame]

but again, if it is an old idea, and no-one does it now, there is probably a reason. A simpler, and arguably more charming way to achieve that kind of power would be with a single aero or boat engine, like this:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/...ley-video.html

and as you can see, it is hardly a supercar, in its characteristics.

The Cizeta-Moroder had a 6L transverse V-16, with central power take-off. It was about as narrow as a V-16 could reasonably be, and yet it still resulted in one of the widest cars ever built. Regardless of the raw dimensions of an 8L big block engine, it would be impossible to fit two of them transversely, end to end, in a road legal car. Fitting them longitudinally, side by side, would be problematic, with regard to finding space for exhaust manifolds, and arranging the power delivery from two separate shafts. Mounting them in tandem longitudinally would be possible, but would result in something with the length, and handling characteristics of a yacht, not a supercar. The advantages of a single larger engine include the lower polar moments of inertia, as the weight will be more concentrated.

In addition to the size and weight of the engines, there are also structural considerations to think about. The transmission would have to comprise either two gearboxes, or one very heavily reinforced gearbox, driving through a very heavily reinforced drive system. The chassis would have to be very stiff and strong to resist the torsional and flexural stresses of the power and the weight. Finally, what type of tyres and brakes would be suitable for such a heavy and powerful vehicle? As always, weight is the enemy, and ultimately, the excess weight would give unfavourable handling characteristics, and blunt the performance. It would be fast, but probably only as fast as a smaller car with a single big-block engine.

I much prefer the idea of mating two small, high-revving I4s from either a Honda or a bike to make a 3-4 liter V8 that revs to 10,000 rpms.

I am also rather more attached to small, light, high-revving engines. Something like a pair of Yamaha R6 engines would give a 1.2L V-8 with about 180kW, and a red line of about 16,500rpm. It might not go so spectacularly fast, but imagine the noise.

[demonrunning07]

You are sort-of answering your own question. Yes, we can make better things, and that is normally what we try to do. If no-one is building a supercar that is powered by two large V-8 engines, it is quite probably because, for one reason or another, it is not better.

well said

[watahyahknow]

hi everyone nice to meet you , im ronald from the netherlands and came across this topic looking for w16 engines like the idea that has been put out here on the forum

there a few ways done , one of them was siamesing two V8's together having one running in reverse and connecting them through the flexplate startermotor tooths (they made a double row for extra strength )
when you angle them theres enough space for the exausts on the innner heads though it will be hard to change the sparkplugs the drive to the rearwheels was from one of the engines that rotated the mormal way past the drivers leg to a verry offset diff the startermotor was stock but to get it to turn over both engines at the same time it was hooked up to 24 volts , theres a guy building a nostalgia dragster somewhere that posted some youtube clips of the twin engine itself

i was thinking of doing a double side by side engine in the bed of a pickup right behind the cab but the total length of the engine and gearbox would be to long to have suspension movement in the rearaxle unless you go for a independent suspention and even then you need to move the axle to the back
so i got to the second option of putting the engines in backwarth with the gearbox under the cab and running a v drive to the rearaxle but to get the axle to go past the engines the engines need to be pretty high inside the truck
the current thing im thinking about i putting the engines side by side and wrong side round but leave enough space between the engine to hold a manual gearbox
to keep everything together i figured using some thick aluminium engineplates in front and in the rear to put the engines to the gearbox i wanted to use two or more camshaft geardrives and some fancy lathework to get everything to turn intoo a doublewhalled rearengineplate that holds the bearings axles oilrings both engines and the gearbox
not sure yet if i do a single clutch or a double it depends on the space i would have between the engines
the driveshaft could be running in a bearing on the front engineplate (that points to the rear ) and a old style gearbox with the three rods could be adapted to shift the same way the one in the first position etc by turning some of the levers operating it upside down
to make this intoo a 4 wheel drive setup you could use a mid diff right after the gearbox and have the frontdriveshaft run under the gearbox as whell
the whole setup would be as long as the length of the engine

[Cyco]

The defining quality of F1 engines is that they are small. You couldn't get larger (heavier) components to spin that fast. Too much inertia.

Having just re-watched the episode of Top Gear where they tested the V8 Atom, I much prefer the idea of mating two small, high-revving I4s from either a Honda or a bike to make a 3-4 liter V8 that revs to 10,000 rpms.

I am also rather more attached to small, light, high-revving engines. Something like a pair of Yamaha R6 engines would give a 1.2L V-8 with about 180kW, and a red line of about 16,500rpm. It might not go so spectacularly fast, but imagine the noise.

What you guys want will never happen

Powertec-Macroblock-v8 - race-winning engines

[Sledgehammer]

As for the handling the car would probably need a larger wheelbase with the engines located more amidship and the cab more forward.

I present exhibit A

[Joe07]

OMG its looking just a junk form its body appearance but that is the rich drive from its engine. I can imagine the power and the running speed of the van. Thanks for sharing this beast man. I like it........