V6, V8, V10,V12,V16 ?

[HokieESM]

The F1 has 900+ hp, the Enzo doesn't. It's that easy. Sure the Enzo might be able to reach 250mph but it will take longer.

The point is, to get 900+ hp at 8000 rpm you need more displacement. It all boils down to how much air and fuel can be pumped through the engine.

Crude example:

3liter V10 at 19000rpm ---> 300cc / cyl. For a 4 stroke it means it pumps 300cc every 2 revolutions ---> 2400 liters / cyl each minute ---> 24000 liters in all 10 cyl is going through the engine each minute

A V10 at 8000rpm needs to be able to pump the same amount of air in a minute to have a change of matching the fomer in power.
2400liters = X * 4000 ---> X = 0.6liter ---> You need a 6liter V10 to be able to match.

This is not the complete truth but part of it. My 0.67 cui nitro engine makes close to 6hp at 28000 rpm (using 50% nitro + 50% methanol blend).

whoa whoa whoa!!! he's not talking about the Mercedes-McLaren Formula 1 car... he's talking about the McLaren F1 road car. Top speed was 240ish... on a 6.0L 627hp naturally aspirated BMW V12.

Your comments about a formula 1 car are correct.... plus, you also have to remember that burning methanol changes the "air pump" equation too.

To answer the original poster's question: The McLaren F1 had several versions. The 240+ mph version didn't have the downforce that the Enzo does.... and therefore, actually wasn't the version that was raced--it didn't "stick" in the corners quite as well. The 241mph top speed, if I remember right, was at the Nardo bowl--a huge elliptical track with steep banks. The F1LM (the LeMans version) that was road legal had a more "sane" 218ish mph top speed--not that much better than the Enzo. The F1 was producing 627hp from a highly massaged BMW V12.... and had amazing aerodynamics--which accounts for most of the speed.

What's more staggering is that the McLaren F1 is still fast compared to today's supercars--some 10 years after it was originally designed. Of course, at $1million a piece in 1994.... they weren't cheap, either. Gordon Murray is a genius.

 

[ElFenix]

Originally posted by: Triumph
Ford 4.6L vs. 5.0L. A perfect example of the stupidity of marketing sometimes. OHC is better than pushrods!