Of the many fascinating aspects of the Maserati MC20, note the new 'Nettuno' engine's specific output: just 3,000cc making 630hp is a staggering 210hp per litre, or comparable to the berserk AMG A45 S. And beyond anything else currently on sale. Just in case that car couldn't be any more anticipated...
Which got us thinking. Which cars (and engines, more specifically) have, over the past few years, successfully combined the requirement for reduced emissions with the desire for excitement? Because we all know it's easy to make a thrilling powerplant when there are no limits on cubic capacity, or materials, or efficiency; the task becomes a lot more challenging when capacities have to be reduced, turbos employed and the legacy of a famed engine has to overcome.
But there are a few, and they're what we're celebrating here. Because there's no doubt that the MC20's engine will be compared to the Maserati V8s of old, and perhaps even the MC12 V12 given they're separated by so little on power. And we hope dearly that all the drama of a great Maserati engine makes it to the MC20. Here are the engines that prove, while there maybe no replacement for displacement, there are some very, very worthy substitutes.
Replacing the old, 5,935cc V12 was always going to be an unenviable task for Aston Martin. While it may have been of humble stock, the V12 came to define 21st century Aston, from DB7 Vantage and Vanquish right up to the ferocious V12 Vantage S. It even evolved to the totally unhinged 7.3-litre engine used in the One-77, thanks to some help from Cosworth. It captured the hearts and minds of many, meaning that the its replacement - the 5.2 that debuted in the DB11 in 2016 - had a tough job on its hands.
And while shedding just a few hundred cubic centimetres is hardly going to win it slimmer of the year, the 5,204cc lump unequivocally proved that Aston could incorporate turbochargers without compromising the experience. An Aston V12 remained tuneful, soulful and willing, still turbine smooth and still evocative like little else.
Moreover, the move to twin turbocharging has allowed Aston Martin to make cars that simply never would have been possible with the old 5.9. The DBS Superleggera experience is defined by its apparently bottomless, 664lb ft vat of torque, the ability to conjure enormous speed from so little effort really quite compelling; it wouldn't be the same car without the help of forced induction.
And you thought Aston Martin had it tough. From its introduction in 2007's CLK63 of all cars, the 6.2-litre M156 V8 very quickly made a name for itself as one of the 21st century's great engines, AMG showing off all it could do in one beguiling lump of V8 fury. It couldn't last, though, and the engine bowed out for UK buyers in 2014. With the tricked up 507 Edition C63, of course, borrowing internals from the SLS (which had an 'M159' dry sumped version of the 6.2) and creating another AMG icon in the process.
That the 'hot-V' replacement retained so much of the aggression and theatre of the 6.2 without even two thirds of the capacity is an achievement for which AMG should be praised. Nowadays the 'hot-V' technology - with the turbos actually inside the cylinder vee, and creating havoc for any chance of cooling - is commonplace, but it felt like a real step change for forced induction back then. From very few revs the turbo V8 would be hauling, and hauling hard, bolstering that traditionally strong V8 mid-range with even more muscle and not letting up until beyond 7,000rpm either. That AMG saved its most potent installation of the hot-V, all 612hp of it, for the E63 saloon and not the GT sports car was a nice touch, too.
The 4.0-litre's day isn't done yet, either, as the upcoming AMG GT Black Series will use a newly flat-plane-cranked version of the V8 for even racier responses. And the small matter of 730hp, a number only dreamed of a few years back from AMG. It promises to be something special, that car, powered by a pretty special engine...
A late addition to the list, for the simple reason that the S55 wasn't received brilliantly on launch of the previous M3 and M4 in 2014. The piped in noise irritated, making it hard to focus on what the engine, with 431hp and 406lb ft in its original form, did well. In addition, the howling S65 V8 was in very recent memory then, and nobody needed any further convincing of that engine's ability...
Time has been kind to the 2,979cc twin-turbo straight-six, though; as the cars around it have improved - think M2 Competition and M3 CS - so the engine's strengths have also been brought to the fore. Considered less as a direct replacement for the V8 - because how can that be replaced? - and more an update of the classic BMW M straight-six, the S55 offers an attractive case. Because it still howls and yowls and revs like it should, all the way to 7,600rpm, but with torque now on top. In the early days it felt like perhaps too much torque on top, the first M3s and M4s quite unpredictable at times, but more dynamically assured models have allowed the S55 to shine.
It too had a spectacular flagship, this time the water injected variant that was used in the M4 GTS. Technology more familiar to jet engines for extra power when required, the GTS was the first road car to employ water injection. Improving both power and efficiency was some feat for BMW M, and proved yet further what the S55 was capable of. Where once 5.0-litres was required for an M car with 500hp, now it's being done with 60 per cent of that swept capacity and help from humble H2O. Who said downsizing had to be dull?
It would be fair to say that Porscheophiles don't take all that well to change - see the electric steering debacle, for one. So the approach to turbocharging the Carrera had to be a very considered one; after all, an atmospheric flat six had been a key part of the 911 appeal for more than 50 years.
Porsche called the 2015 move to a 2,981cc twin-turbo flat six for both Carrera and Carrera S a case of 'rightsizing', with the capacity and layout offering the ideal compromise between power, efficiency and response. Other parts of the engines were lightened to offset the turbos and Porsche promised "a whole new form of supremacy" from its new 911 engine.
Okay, so maybe they weren't quite that, but the new engines proved that a base Carrera could still feel like one with a forced induction engine. Because it wanted to rev, for starters, but it still sounded like a 911 flat-six as well; bring that together with prodigious performance for a Carrera and spookily good throttle response and it's an engine line up that's hard to find fault with. And that's before Litchfield gets hold of it...
Imagine how daunting a job it must have been in for the Ferrari engineers that were tasked with following up the glorious F136 with a turbocharged replacement. The 458's 90-degree, flat-plane V8 was a masterpiece of engineering for more than just its terrific atmospheric power outputs: it was a musical instrument, razor sharp and so wonderfully dialled in to the cars that used it. When the first of the F136 lineage launched as a 3.2-litre in the 2001 Maserati 4200GT we knew it was something special. By the time it had evolved into the 4.5-litre F136A of the Speciale, it was a certified all-time legend.
Back in 2013, the prospect of retaining that title with a successor that was both smaller in capacity and boosted by two turbochargers seemed highly unlikely. No matter how much Ferrari tried to affirm that two twin-scroll blowers and low friction technology made for a "lag free" F154, we simply couldn't believe it. But then Ferrari has a habit of confounding expectations, which multiple Engine of the Year awards and anyone who's experienced a 488 when it's lit will attest to; the 3.9 was sensational, decent sounding given the configuration and just explosive when the boost reached its peak. The GTB was wickedly fast, the engine itself easily the most naturally aspirated-feeling boosted one in production.
The F154's talents have been hammered home on several occasions since; the 488 Pista extracted 720hp and 568lb ft of torque from the 3.9, which went into the following F8 Tributo. Both their peaks came at 8,000rpm. From a boosted engine. Now, the SF90 Stradale has a 4.0-litre version that produces 780hp and 590lb ft, excluding the 220hp added by electric motors. Yet despite its heightened muscularity and complexity, the V8 still performs at its best at 7,500rpm. The F154 has shown us in all guises that turbocharged performance need not sacrifice the sort of top-end crescendo we'd previously assumed to be exclusive to atmospheric motors. It was, and still is, a triumph of turbocharging.
While today manufacturers are obsessed with increasing electrification in powertrains to trim CO2, efforts used to be centred around reducing cubic capacity. Ford quickly established itself as a leader when the EcoBoost family bore its 999cc triple, an innovative modular motor that promised not only to beat the old four-cylinder Duratec for punch, but also set new records for efficiency, too. It would make a measurable difference on the brand's fleet CO2 average, because the Fiesta it became so prevalent in was Britain's best-selling car. But more importantly for this list, it made an unexpected impression on those who explored its full character.
The three-cylinder engine was, to many people's surprise, properly peppy. Developed at Ford's Dunton Technical Centre in Britain, it was bench tested to over a million miles so it was tough. Out of the box it had decent torque and liked to rev, and when not thrashed, it could return plus-40mpg on a run. Ford quickly tuned it up to 140hp for the top ST-Line Fiesta, and then to 200hp when it went into a Formula Ford chassis, which set a 7min 22sec lap at the Nurburgring - quicker than the McLaren 12C's official lap. The same engine achieved 57mpg in the lightweight single-seater, albeit not on the same run. Engines this small weren't supposed to be so tough and extensively talented. It set a precedent that was followed by the even more capable 1.5-litre triple that powers the latest Fiesta ST and Puma ST. It's possible to achieve 50mpg on a run in that torque-strong, 200hp motor. And it sounds genuinely great. What's not to love?
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