The recent edition of Top Gear recently featured British Comedian Rowan Atkinson promoting his latest Spy-spoof character "Johnny English" in "Johnny English Reborn" which is more Austin Powers or indeed Derek Flint (If you know who Derek Flint was?) Than 007-Serious. Anyway said Production forgoes the typical "Aston Martin" for the Ultimate Luxury icon Rolls-Royce. In this case a very special Phantom Coupe. And not special in like ultimate interior accessories or a special color... This Phantom Coupe uses a V16 Engine. Yes a V16. Although it is not a stranger to a V16 - The 100EX Concept car at Geneva 2004 showcased this engine before 100EX morphed into the Phantom DropHead Coupe. A V16 was considered for the Phantom but customer input preferred a V12. Rowan Atkinson was one of the first Phantom customers and has stayed with the brand and is great friends with some of the Goodwood team including RR Design director Ian cameron. So he knew about the secretive aspects of the Phantom and it's development. As for the future? Will we see a V16? Rolls-Royce feel the Phantom and Ghost's V12's are adequate and meeting targets for the time being. But what about a BMW? Dont hold your breath expecting such an engine in a Hyper car , As BMW have no plans to introduce a V16, nor a Hypercar it remains an experiment. Although they have experimented with a V16 before , but Rolls-Royce were not the only ones going crazy with Power. Mercedes-Benz experimented with Turbines for the W140 S-Klasse and I believe the proposed Maybach 1000BHP V24 actually exists (people have seen it) and remains in a warehouse alongside the Lost Ark of the Covenant. Rumour points to the V24 being the catalyst for the VAG W16. Which can be found in the Bugatti Douchebag. If the M-One comes through it's feasibility studie it will feature either a V8 or Six Cylinder but be more suited to the car. Although there are some Phantom's that have the Engine but are purely experimental studies and not produced for the public. One such Phantom is found in the collection of a BMW employee in his private garage at his Palatial abode.
Why did not you write "Eight Cylinder" instead of "V8"? I think because today any eight cylinder engine is in vee and not inline. But why do you then write "Six Cylinder" instead of "I6", as (nearly) everybody knows, a six cylinder in a BMW is always inline. This then shows there is a possibility of a V6, you only cannot confirme it yet. And as talking about the M One, being an M car it would get an M engine. I do not think M would build a brand new engine from scratch, so they would take the available one which are the V8 of the M6 and the Six Cylinder of the M3, which with very high certainty will ba a V6 and no more an I6. The I6 will be kept for the x30i/x35i/x40i models.
I highly doubt cylinder count will top 12. Even 12s will remain a rare breed. Trend is about downsizing and assisted aspiration. There is something oddly unsettling when you hear about engines such as Veyron's. It begs the question, "What is the point?" There is something to the fact that there are twin-turbo v8s now that topple past v12 performance, with efficiency to boot. Also, it is oddly comforting that there are blown 6s that rival or even surpass many v8s without putting the hurt in the wallet. As the past owner of two used v12-engined cars, I fail to any longer see their points. I haven't yet tested the new twin-turbo v8 from Mercedes, though I am looking forward to see how it will turn out in the new SL. And, I am not even talking about the AMG.
Still into that V6 nonsense I see? And with very high certainty no less. LOL, stop it please!!!! It's ignorant and wrong.
That's not possible. Engine development costs are colossal and even more so for engines of an unusual configuration. This doesn't even factor in costs for gearbox and other underpinnings. Some manufacturers even get potential clients to sign a letter of intent to buy before they give expensive projects green light.
Well it appears that it is possible since Rowan Atkinson has one, there are apparently some more out in the wild, including a couple owned by the Quandt Family.
Rowan Atkinson talks about the Rolls-Royce Phantom Coupe in "Johnny English Reborn" Rowan Atkinson on his experience with the Johnny English Rolls-Royce Phantom - YouTube
