Page 1 of 2 Next >> McLaren and Honda started their successful partnership ahead of the 1988 season and would go on to dominate the next three World Championships, originally with a twin-turbo V6 and later with a naturally aspirated V10. The increasingly competitive package of the Adrian Newey-designed Williams and Renault V10 engine prompted Honda to develop an all-new V12 for the 1991 campaign.
Known as the RA121E, the new Honda V12 was slightly bigger and heavier than the existing ten-cylinder engine. Honda engineers believed this would be more than compensated for by a higher output. Displacing just under 3.5-litre, the first RA121E was ready in the summer of 1990. It was installed in a modified MP4/5 chassis for an extensive test and development program. During the second half of 1990 two of these MP4/5Cs were tested by the team at various venues.
By January of 1991, the new MP4/6 was ready to commence testing. Once again designed by Neil Oatley, it was clearly a development of the existing MP4/5 design, which had won back-to-back titles in 1989 and 1990. Most changes focused on accommodating for the dimensions and added bulk of the new V12 engine. The entire car, including the proprietary transverse gearbox, was placed on a diet, almost completely off-setting the additional weight of the V12. Page 1 of 2 Next >>