V8 Engine - British V8 Engines

British V8 Engines

The first British V8 was the 3.5 L Rolls-Royce V-8 (1905) followed shortly by Darracq.

The Rolls-Royce and Bentley V8 still used in modern Bentleys was designed from 1952 and entered production in 1959 in the Rolls Royce Silver Cloud and Bentley S2. Following then current design practice, it featured overhead valves (OHV), a central camshaft and wedge-shaped combustion chambers. It was designed by the Rolls-Royce and Bentley Motors engineering team, led by Jack Phillips. Some of its features were inspired by the Rolls-Royce Merlin aircraft engine, including the aluminium block with wet liners, gear-driven camshaft, (initially) outboard spark-plugs and porting. Early versions were of 6.25 L (381 cu in) displacement, growing to 6.75 L (412 cu in) in the 1970s. Turbocharging in various Bentley models beginning in the 1980s led to the resurgence of the Bentley marque as the power outputs of the engine were increased in several steps to the current 500 bhp (370 kW) and 1,000 N·m (740 ft·lbf) in the 2007 model-year Bentley Arnage, while meeting all emission standards. The Bentley V8 has thus increased power and torque by more than 150% in its life. It is the highest torque V8 used in a production car. In 2007, the final components that could be traced back to the 1959 engine were replaced.

In 1936, the Standard Motor Company introduced its 'Flying Twenty V-Eight' model featuring a 2.7 L flathead V8 developing 20 RAC horsepower. It was the flagship model of the company's 'Flying Standard' range but proved unpopular as it offered little performance improvement over the normal 'Flying Twenty' model (which used a straight-6 engine) whilst costing much more to buy and suffering higher fuel consumption. The Twenty V-Eight was on sale only for the 1936 model year and fewer than 400 were sold.

Rover was in need of a new, more powerful engine in the mid 1960s. The managing director of Rover, on a trip to the USA to sell marine engines, saw an example of the GM engine in a Mercury Marine experimental shop and noticed its light weight and small size. The 215 cu in (3,520 cc) GM V8 was only 12 pounds (5.4 kg) heavier and less than 1 inch (2.5 cm) longer than the 2,000 cubic centimetres (120 cu in) Rover straight-4. He sent the GM Oldsmobile/Buick cast-aluminum 215 V8 back to the UK for evaluation. It worked well in the large Rovers, being considerably shorter, lighter, and more powerful than the Rover straight 6, and Rover acquired manufacturing rights to it. The Rover V8 was redesigned to improve the durability and high-RPM performance, leaving few parts interchangeable with the original Buick engine. The engine first appeared in Rover saloons in the late 1960s. GM aided the process by allowing Buick's chief engine designer, who was close to retirement, to assist Rover.

As well as appearing in Rover cars, the engine was also sold to small car builders, and powered various vehicles. Rover V8s feature in some models from Morgan, TVR, Triumph, Marcos, and MG, among others. The Australian firm Repco converted this engine for Formula One by reducing it to 3.0 L (183 cu in) (the stroke was shortened and using con-rods from the 2.5 L/153 cu in Daimler V8) and fitting a single overhead camshaft per bank rather than the shared pushrod arrangement. Repco-powered Brabhams won the F1 championship twice, in 1966 and 1967. Land Rover also used the V8, appearing in the Range Rover in various guises, from 3.5 L (214 cu in) in the earlier models to the 4.6 L (281 cu in) used in the 1994–2002 models. The last mass-produced car to use the Rover V8 was in some models of the Land Rover Discovery, up to 2004. Many independent sports cars manufacturers still use it in hand-built applications.

Recently Land Rover (Tata) added the TDV8 to its list of engines. It is a V8 version of the popular TDV6 found in Discovery models. This diesel engine will be found in the 2007 Range Rovers. This 3.6 L (220 cu in) engine produces 472 ft·lbf (640 N·m) at 2000 rpm.

The Rover Meteorite gasoline or diesel V8 was used in trucks and transporters from 1943, and for marine or stationary use.

Triumph used the Triumph Slant-4 engine as a base of a V8 engine. The Triumph V8 was used only in the Triumph Stag.

Edward Turner designed the 2.5 L (153 cu in) and 4.5 L (275 cu in) hemi-head Daimler V8 engines announced in 1959. The 2.5 saw service in the Daimler SP250 (1959–1964), and, after the Jaguar takeover, in the "Daimler 2.5 Litre V8"/"Daimler 250" (1962–1969) versions of the Mk2 Jaguar bodyshell. The 4.5 was used in the Daimler Majestic Major, (1959–1968).

The Jaguar company introduced the new AJ26 V8 engine in 1996. It has been developed and updated since, and appears in the S-Type and later vehicles from Jaguar. This V8 was used in some of Ford's Premier Automotive Group Jaguar and Land Rover brands. These included a 4.2 (Jaguar XJ, XK and S-Type), 4.2 supercharged (Jaguar XJR, XKR, S-Type-R, Land Rover Range Rover and Range Rover Sport) and a 4.4 (Range Rover and Range Rover Sport). New V-configuration engines are used since the buy out by the Tata Motor group.

The specialist sports car firm TVR also produced their own V8 engine in 4.2 L (256 cu in) 350 bhp (261 kW) and 4.5 L (275 cu in) 440 bhp (328 kW) liter forms for the TVR Cerbera. Designed by Al Melling, the APJ8 engine features a flat-plane crank and 75° Vee.

Aston Martin has used a variety of V8 engines in its cars, starting with the 1969 DBS V8, followed by many models badged V8 Vantage, or Virage, plus Volante convertible versions. After the Vantage was discontinued in 2000, there were no V8 models until the introduction of the Jaguar derived 4.3l V8 in the 2005 V8 Vantage. The V8s used in Aston Martins from 1969 to 2000 were based on an internal design by Tadek Marek, while the V8 engines used in the 2005–present V8 Vantage are based on the Jaguar AJ26 V8.

Lotus introduced a V8-powered version of the Esprit in 1996. The engine was an in-house 3.5 L (214 cu in) unit, with twin turbochargers.

Radical Sportscars offer a V8 powered car, the SR8, whose Powertec RPA engine is based upon two Suzuki Hayabusa engines joined to a common crank, utilising the original heads with a purpose designed block.

In 2010 McLaren Automotive, together with Ricardo, developed the 3.8-liter M838T twin-turbo engine, for use in the MP4-12C supercar.