why are newer supercar engines (v8/v12) faster than old v8s/v12s engine?

Question

Why are the old supercar engines (e.g. Lamborghini Miura v12 engine) slower compared to maybe a Lamborghini Gallardo which is only a v10 engine? thanks for any insights!

Answer 1

I own a shop, and it is not the displacement as much as it is the heads. Such things as dyno's, bench flow tests, advancements in materials, and computer design of the heads. Look at the old wedge design compared to the newer kidney shaped quench areas of the heads. CNC machines that are computer controlled have been able to produce parts that are rocket science when compared to the old methods. I don't think the fuel injection is that much of the equation, and the reason is; Fuel injection has been around for a long time (1957 or earlier) and still the race track junkies are using carburetor engines. Why? They simply make more power, and get much more air into the engine. More air equals more power. Computer assisted research & development of aluminum alloy materials incorporated into finer tolorences have stood the advancement on its head. A modern engine weighs hundreds of pounds less than the old counterparts. Older engines had displacement, and in many cases more displacement than the newer ones. The old way of thinking was more cubic inches equals more power, but with emissions crack down, many developers found by changing the head designs, making the runners equal in length & size meant added power that surpassed the old domed piston designs. The addition of roller designed cams, roller rockers, and new alloy for valve springs, have done the trick. Many people think fuel injected, computer controlled emissions is the ticket, but in retrospect the fastest engines ironically doesn't even use the computers to run them. Computers play a much more important role in the design, and testing end of the spectrum. Timing management is much better done by computer, but at the induction end, the fastest race cars in the world incorporate the old carburetors.
Glad to help out, Good Luck!!!

Answer 2

Your question doesn't make any sense. It seems to be something related to number of cylinders. If that's true, the asnwer is there are other variables, other than the number of cylinders, that are far more important. Total displacement is one. Operating at high pressure is another. Having a large number of cylinders isn't a significant advantage in generating horsepower. The advantages of that are minor.

If your question is why specific engine out put is going up over time, that's mostly because of higher compression and variable valve timing. There has been a gradual increase in specific output ever since the low-compression 70's. Environmental technology needed some time to come up with solutions that would allow high compression. Today, gasoline engines are going to direct injection, and compression is going even higher. Variable valve timing is still fairly new - it just allows you to cheat some of the trade-offs that you normally have to accept with a camshaft.

Answer 3

Firebird has the same response that I would give, that your question doesn't make alot of sense. I'm also going to chip in the other side of the debate and answer the form of the question you might have been asking as in "why are they faster" and the answer is simple, improved tire technology. In the past, it was possible to get large amounts of horsepower (although it was harder than it is today), but those drivers could not take advantage of it all because of the tires they'd be running. Back then, you did not have a commercially sold tire that was Z rated (149mph +) and if people dared to take their cars up to high speed, the bias-ply or early radial tires could simply disintegrate at those high speeds. So cars came with a speed governor and it limited them from going any faster. Also, aerodynamics have begun to be seriously looked at by all manufacturers as a means to increase their cars top speed if it was aerodynamically sound enough to be stable at such high speeds. It's not that cars in the 60's didn't go 200mph +, but those were specifically designed for extreme races and hand built. Nowadays, you have almost every car manufacturer offering at least one car that can hit 155mph (some up to the 200mph) because of the tires and aerodynamics.

Answer 4

advancements in engine management/injection are the difference. look at it like this. 4 cyl cars now produce more power than most v8s 25 years ago.
and # of cyls has absolutely nothing to do with power output. there are 200 horsepower v12s and 400 horsepower 4 cyls.

Answer 5

It's mainly because of engine management technology nowadays. People could make valves and injectors to time so precisely these day compared to the older days. Besides, use of stronger material for the cylinders allows higher compression ratio, thus producing higher power output.

Answer 6

modern fuel injection systems are using the most up to date technology. same goes for the engines themselves, better styles of combustion chambers ,lighter weight materials, companies are trying to maximize efficiency of engines which usually means more power from less displacement.

Answer 7

we have newer technology now. We do not need huge engines anymore to make lots of power.

Answer 8

There is no replacement, for displacement, but an engine that can run at 12,0000 rpm. compared to an engine that canrun at 8,000 rpm.do the math, What do you think !

Answer 9

It's because there is a replacement for displacement.