Whatever happened to that RR v-16?

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land sea air

land sea air

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landseaair
I seem to remember when the Rolls Royce 1000-EX concept came out it had a V-16, from the start RR said the engine would not be used in the actual car (Phantom convertible) when it reached production. So what gives?? This engine was just developed for a concept and then forgotten? I haven't been able to find any info on this mythical v-16 other than it was used in the concept. Does anyone have any info on its history or roots? (I'm assuming it was the child of two BMW v8s or an extension of the Phantoms v-12) Any info would be sweet as I'm writing a paper on automotive 16 cylinder engines.
 
Cadillac sixteen?

I'm sure this V-16 was just a V-12 with two extra cylinders, or possibly two V-8s mounted one in front of the other. I'm pretty sure they would just develop the engine enough to make the car more anticipated, but not enough to make it cost a lot. That probably wouldn't be very effective.
 
philly cheese
Cadillac sixteen?

I'm sure this V-16 was just a V-12 with two extra cylinders, or possibly two V-8s mounted one in front of the other. I'm pretty sure they would just develop the engine enough to make the car more anticipated, but not enough to make it cost a lot. That probably wouldn't be very effective.
Click to expand...

This engine had nothing to do with the Cadillac sixteen, you could be right about either theory as far as how they made the engine but I'm still curious to know more about it since 16 cylinder automotive engines of any sort are rare, and in this day where just about all major concepts or prototypes are fully functional I would certainly like to know how fast this thing was or at least how powerful...
 
They did to a certain extent, it was a heavily modified casting based on two GM v8s, I can't recall if it was based on a small block or the Northstar (probably a small block since it was push rod wasn't it??) In the case of the Sixteen and probably the 1000 EX its not as simple as bolting two engines together or adding onto a block, the block itself usually has to be at least slightly re-engineered to run properly and without too much vibration. Remember, the Sixteen was fully functional and apparently damn quick...
 
^ To answer that question, the Cadillac Sixteen's V16 was based on the same small-block design that dates back 51 years ago. The inclination was that it was basically two LS7s stitched together, and gave us a good idea of what engine sizes and outputs to expect in the Z06. That said, it wasn't as simple as that. The V16 was one of GM's first all-new engines to be designed completely within and tested within a computer before actually being built.

As for the Rolls-Royce design, there have been various stories floating about the engine, and none of them really point to a direct issue with the design, but more than RR decided that the size of the engine was unnecessary when they have a pretty decent V12 to tap into. As one can imagine, BMW probably wouldn't have wanted to design a brand-new engine for just one car, as there really wouldn't have been any benefits to their own models.

...Interestingly enough, we can sorta bring this one back to Cadillac. If we go back in time a bit, Cadillac had a V12 engine that they showed off in a few concept cars and a few one-off street models, but sadly never made it to production. And to be completely honest, nobody quite knows why. It was at one point looking like a certainty for the XLR, and they had a functional Escalade-V with the V12 sitting up-front. But GM had scrapped the plan, and had even reportedly sold it off to Toyota, but no one is even sure of what had come of that.

There have been rumors that the engine may show-up in the "ULS" that is so often refered to, but has yet to be seen, but no one really knows whats going on with any of that as of now.

...It does bring up an interesting question as to what exactly happens to so many engine designs that start and stop, and never really come to bear fruit. One that does come to mind is Ford's "Hurricanne" V8 program, which I think was spun-off into some special Ford Racing powerplant, but was origionally meant for the F150 and the Mustang...

One new engine development that I've been trying to follow is Cadillac's (I'm sensing a trend here...) "Ultra" V8 that is due to replace the Northstar. There has only been a few small mentions of it, no really solid details, only that they are "working on it."

...We'll see what happens...
 
E cookie for you YSS, Them not using the engine beyond concept makes sense as the v12 is perfectly "adequate" (little RR humor there:) ) however I still wish I could find some info on it.
 

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