Was following that. Absolute PIA to get running and I don't think it's street legal yet.

Easier fit than the RST, but it sounds awful! Yank V8s just lack the musicality of more sophisticatedly-tuned ones.

M3's V8 in an S2000 might offend so many people, it'd be great!

The Audi V8 looks almost a plagiarism of Acura's ALMS design, so might at least fit easier...

 

Looks like Audi V8 is dead

 

Cross plane crank causes that.

 

what you call me

 

Actually Ron, the Ferrari V8 also sounds like a bag of shite at idle. Like two knackered X-1/9s. Kind of makes up for it under load over 4,000 RPM though.

I'm happy with offset-crank V8s. Most US engines (and a LOT of Ford Europe) engines all sound shit, because of the crappy cast-iron heads/headers and the CGAF.

LJKS once wrote an interesting piece on how the extra pipes on a Ferrari Daytona's exhaust system gave it harmonics very similar to his clarinet. It's no accident that Italian V8s sound sooooo much better too!

 

The M3 V8 definitely is genetically linked to an S2000 somewhere along the way. It reminds me so much of the S engine. I can see why a lot of people were put off by a V8 in an M3 as it seems a bizarre mix, but it really works.

I've had relatively big engined cars before (350Z, 3.0Z4) but never really believed the rule that 'there ain't no substitute for cubic inches'. That changed with the V8. The sound is absolutely awesome. It's like a caged lion, that's prodded with a stick which is attached to the accelerator.

I V8

 

That's not quite as daft as it sounds; there are a LOT of areas in both the V8 and the latest straight-six where BMW has decided on an engineering solution very similar to that chosen by Honda for the F20c. One might argue you have the missing F40c there!

BMW's straight-six is commandably light & compact. But a V8 can be just as light and is more compact and its gruntier torque delivery suits a sportier design. I've long been a fan of compact V8s, such as Triumph's potentially excellent grenade and the wonderfully advanced Glas V8. Actually, that was almost a BMW V8 YEARS before they got round to it themselves. Ex-BMW engineer designed it with belt-driven cams, which was a novelty.

 

Oh, and that engine so good that Buick had no use for it. Where would the UK kit-car indusrty have been without that 3.5?

 

To that point Nick the V8 in the new M is quite a bit lighter than the outgoing straight six. The cylinder block is machined at the same factory as the F1 blocks apparently. Or at least it's machined in the same postcode which is probably more accurate.

Talking of V8's wasn't the V8 in the Rover SD1 originally a cast off from Buick? It was definitely American in design?

 

That's the one I meant! Rather more elegant than the usual Detroit iron (all-alloy!) and it's usually equipped with better manifolds.

Too expensive for GM, as was the 6.75 litre Buick one they sold to Rolls-Royce! That's been updated for use in the little Ghost. Must be nigh-on 50 years old!