RE: BRM V16: Time For Tea?
Monday 15th September 2014
The above specification would sound frankly absurd in 2014 so the fact that the BRM V16 was raced in the 1950s makes it all the more extraordinary. So why is it not remembered as fondly as other F1 cars like the Maserati 250F? Reliability, unfortunately and predictably enough. It was too complex to work consistently and as such the full potential wasn't realised.
BRM V16: Time For Tea?
16 cylinders, 1.5 litres and a supercharger; turn everything up as loud as possible
The V16's fragile nature continues to this day which explains why the Revival demonstration lap was at rather less than race pace. But there's still enough of that spellbinding noise to get very excited about. Long may it continue to be run and seen and heard at events in the future. As one of the commentators says, it represents "the epitome of British eccentricity in the world of motor racing". Terrific.
[Lead image: LAT]
Discussion
That was ok however for a really awesome soundtrack of the V16 listen to the CD in Nick Masons book 'Into The Red'.
Nicks V16 was driven balls out & sounded epic. Much better than it sounded at Goodwood where it was not driven flat out - I can understand why!
Does anyone remember the day when three of them were run at the same time at Donington many many years ago?
That was a great noise.
Nicks V16 was driven balls out & sounded epic. Much better than it sounded at Goodwood where it was not driven flat out - I can understand why!
Does anyone remember the day when three of them were run at the same time at Donington many many years ago?
That was a great noise.
Benbay001 said:
Sure its not a 15 liter?
"The British Racing Motors V16 was a supercharged 1.5 litre (90.8 cu in) V-16 cylinder racing engine built by British Racing Motors (BRM) for competing in Formula One motor racing. Designed in 1947 and raced until 1954–55, it produced 600 bhp (450 kW) at 12,000 rpm, although test figures from Rolls-Royce suggested that the engine would be able to be run at up to 14,000rpm."Please can someone do an edit to get rid of the commentary. It ruins the whole point of the video.
I agree ' Into the red' is a great soundtrack,a little less missfiring would have been nice,but we are talking about brm's most unreliable car here. And that is saying something.!
Willie Green did a piece for classic and sportscar,describing the driving experience of the v16. He said the tyres lived in a world of wheelspin,as power increased by circa 100 hp for every 1000rpm. So once you had spin,there was no way of stopping it,except back off. And it would spin its wheels at 140 mph. That is not a typo by the way.
Stirling Moss hated the car,probably because it had no finesse and didn't suit his delicate style. You couldn't balance it on the throttle,because of the peaky power delivery. Juan Manuel Fangio, however,loved the car. I always knew the man had good taste.
I agree ' Into the red' is a great soundtrack,a little less missfiring would have been nice,but we are talking about brm's most unreliable car here. And that is saying something.!
Willie Green did a piece for classic and sportscar,describing the driving experience of the v16. He said the tyres lived in a world of wheelspin,as power increased by circa 100 hp for every 1000rpm. So once you had spin,there was no way of stopping it,except back off. And it would spin its wheels at 140 mph. That is not a typo by the way.
Stirling Moss hated the car,probably because it had no finesse and didn't suit his delicate style. You couldn't balance it on the throttle,because of the peaky power delivery. Juan Manuel Fangio, however,loved the car. I always knew the man had good taste.
soad said:
dvs_dave said:
So what was the rationale for producing such a complex yet tiny capacity engine? The frictional losses alone must have been significant with all those moving parts.
I would like to know the answer too. Anyone? sideways man said:
The capacity limits for f1 at the time were 4.5 litre unsupercharged or 1.5 supercharged. Power increases with rpm,so the obvious way to increase max rpm was by using small pistons for less rotating mass. Same reason ferrarri f1 engines were v12.
Makes perfect sense, thanks. 
For some REALLY MAD BRM driving, hear it on the public roads!!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umO3iqac_4c
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umO3iqac_4c
team will,
do you think that video is for real ? ? with all the "techniques" available these days ?
but if so, well WOW ! ! that is what I was waiting to hear on the Goodwood vid.
Have heard it twice years ago, at Goodwood & Silverstone even more "many moons ago" in a GP support race, both times being started/revved in the paddock. . .truly amazing noise, the hairs on my arms stand on end even now as your vid brings it back to me.
do you think that video is for real ? ? with all the "techniques" available these days ?
but if so, well WOW ! ! that is what I was waiting to hear on the Goodwood vid.Have heard it twice years ago, at Goodwood & Silverstone even more "many moons ago" in a GP support race, both times being started/revved in the paddock. . .truly amazing noise, the hairs on my arms stand on end even now as your vid brings it back to me.
team will said:
For some REALLY MAD BRM driving, hear it on the public roads!!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umO3iqac_4c
I think a clue is in the video's name. It's the in-car sound clip from the Nick Mason book CD (also on the billzilla site above), overlaid onto a random video.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umO3iqac_4c
Spine-tingling noise!
Edited by braddo on Monday 15th September 21:14
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