The Craziest Automobile Engines That By no means Made It To Manufacturing

Some uncommon engine configurations appeared like a good suggestion on the time, however just some made it to manufacturing, with examples together with the VW Group’s novel VR and W engines, and the horizontally opposed engines made by Subaru and Porsche. However some concepts run out of steam earlier than they attain manufacturing for value or practicality causes, or due to reliability or different points. Here’s a checklist of a number of the most extraordinary stillborn engines that by no means noticed manufacturing.

10 VW Group W10 Engine

Yr: Early 2000s

There are lots of permutations of VW’s narrow-angle “VR” engine conceived by Ferdinand Piëch and first going into manufacturing in 1991. The one-bank VR was a five- or six-pot, however two may very well be organized in a large V on a standard crank, every making up a financial institution of a “W” engine. The Passat 4.0L W8 had two 2.0L VR4s, whereas the W12 utilized in Bentleys has two 3.0L VR6s. Bugatti used an 8.0L W16 within the Veyron and Chiron. It appears VW additionally dabbled with a W10, and Ferdinand Piëch had one in every of about 5.0L put in in an E39 BMW M5 take a look at mule. He cherished it a lot, he stored it as his private automobile. Belgian GDM Motors reportedly put this very automobile on the market in 2023. Apparently, three engines had been constructed, nevertheless it by no means reached manufacturing.

9 Mazda Renesis II 16X Engine

Yr: 2017-?

Mazda has been on and off with their next-generation rotary engine for years. The following-gen R16X was showcased within the Mazda Taiki idea automobile on the 2007 Tokyo Auto Present (silver automobile) and the RX-Imaginative and prescient idea on the 2015 Tokyo present (crimson automobile). It has aluminum facet housings, direct injection, and narrower rotor housing, however the automaker has not been in a position to deliver the engine to manufacturing. The 8C rotary engine – a 0.83L unit with 75hp – has reached manufacturing, however solely as a generator for the extended-range Mazda MX-30 e-Skyactive R-EV plug-in hybrid.

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8 Cadillac V16 Engine

Years: 2003

As a homage to their Thirties V16 flagship, Cadillac resurrected the automobile with the 2003 Sixteen idea. Underneath the hood had been two LS Gen IV pushrod V8 engines mated collectively to create a 13.6L V16 engine with a claimed 1,000 hp. Cadillacs inherited lots of the Sixteen’s design cues within the following years, however not its engine, which by no means made manufacturing.

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7 Suzuki C2 1.6L V8 Engine

Years: 1997

When Suzuki unveiled the C2 on the 1997 Frankfurt Motor Present, the tiny RWD convertible got here with a radical spec – a turbocharged DOHC V8 with 4 valves per cylinder displacing just one.6L, however placing out 250 hp at 7,000 rpm, and motivating a automobile of just one,866 kilos. Sadly, Suzuki determined to not put the difficult engine into mass manufacturing.

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6 Cadillac SOHC 7.4L V12 Engine

Years: 1967

Cadillac is not any stranger to V12 engines, having made V12s for the Cadillac V12 luxurious automobile within the ’30s, and the 11.5L “twin-six” V12 within the ’60s. So there was assist for a brand new V12 in 1967, and it was alleged to be a sophisticated SOHC sleeveless engine constructed from a silicon-aluminum alloy, full with hydraulic lifters. Six prototypes had been inbuilt 7.4L-8.2L capacities, they usually finally bought as much as 394 hp. It was going to be provided as a variation of GM’s superior FWD Unified Energy Package deal used on the Oldsmobile Toronado, however the V12 used loads of gasoline and by no means lived as much as expectations in comparison with the present V8s, so the venture stalled and died.

5 Oldsmobile 32-valve W-43 455 V8 Engine

Years: 1968-1972

Oldsmobile constructed its pushrod Rocket V8 engine from 1949 to 1990, and the letter W turned synonymous with Olds’ efficiency packages. So, when it began work in 1968 on a brand new high-performance DOHC V8 with 4 valves per cylinder based mostly on the Rocket 455, it acquired the W43 code and was because of debut in 1972. It used novel gear-driven camshafts. As much as 700 hp was extracted from bench engines. Sadly, the Malaise Period low-compression modifications to all US engines because of the 1973 oil disaster successfully killed the W43 venture.

4 GM Rotary Combustion Engine (GMRCE)

Years: 1970-1974

Even GM dabbled in rotaries and, in 1970, the corporate paid $50 million for licensing the know-how, however by 1973, when the GMRCE was alleged to go underneath the hood of the Chevy Vega, its poor gasoline consumption and the 1973 oil disaster and subsequently skyrocketing fuel costs prompted GM to cancel the venture. It was additionally supposed for use in a sub-Corvette mid-engine coupe GM was engaged on (the crimson automobile within the photographs).

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3 Subaru Flat-12 Engine

Years: 1989-1997

Motori Moderni constructed a Carlo Chiti-designed flat-12 engine for Subaru’s 1990 System 1 program, however the engine was too large and heavy and produced too little energy, so it was dropped. Koenigsegg purchased the rights to the design and Motori Moderni constructed a 3.8L for them with 580 hp, which went into their first supercar prototype. Then Carlo Chiti handed away and although Koenigsegg acquired all of the Motori Moderni belongings, the venture by no means went forward as a result of it could have been too tough to make the venture viable with the outdated manufacturing instruments Koenigsegg inherited from the Italian outfit.

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2 Maserati 6:36 36-Valve V6 Engine

Yr: 1985

Most engines optimize valve space and manufacturing value through the use of 4 valves per cylinder. Some engines had 5 valves per cylinder, essentially the most well-known ones the 1.8L four-pot from VW and Audi’s 2000s V6s and V8s. In 1985, Maserati virtually made a twin-turbo 2.0L V6 with six valves per cylinder, although the plug was pulled on the final second. It was alleged to be a robust flagship engine that took benefit of the sub-2.0-liter tax legal guidelines in Italy, nevertheless it appears 36 tiny valves and all of the problems that went with it – mixed with twin turbos – had been merely not value it in the long run.

1 Chevrolet Corvair Mk 2 Modular Engine

Yr: 1961

Chevrolet’s Corvair had an air-cooled rear-mounted engine and was bought in two generations, however by no means caught on, particularly after some unhealthy press about harmful dealing with by Ralph Nader. Chevrolet improved the swing-axle rear suspension and changed it with impartial suspension in 1965. Whereas the automobile nonetheless had prospects, improvement began on a modular air-cooled horizontally opposed engine household with various cylinder counts. Two-, four-, six-, and ten-cylinder items had been constructed, and an H10 was put in in a 1962 Impala take a look at mule. The success of the venture relied on the engines being usable in different GM merchandise. This didn’t materialize, so the venture was canned.

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