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40-728: As BMW M12/7, the engine design since the 1960s became one of the most successful in racing. Starting with the European Touring Car Championship , it was also used in Formula 2 , expanded to two-litre and fitted with four-valve heads, producing over 300 hp (224 kW). In the Deutsche Rennsport Meisterschaft , a 1,400 cc variant (with a 1.4 handicap factor equal to 2,000 cc) was turbocharged by Paul Rosche according to FIA Group 5 rules. At well over 350 hp (261 kW) from

80-413: A steam engine is made pressure-tight with end covers and a piston; a valve distributes the steam to the ends of the cylinder. Cylinders were cast in cast iron and later in steel. The cylinder casting can include other features such as valve ports and mounting feet. The cylinder is the space through which the piston travels, propelled by the energy generated from the combustion of the air/fuel mixture in

120-403: A Brabham in 1983 ) Wins: 9 (Piquet 7, Riccardo Patrese 1, Gerhard Berger 1) Pole positions: 15 (Piquet 12, Teo Fabi 2, Patrese 1) Fastest laps: 14 (Piquet 9, Patrese 2, Berger 2, Fabi 1) ( key ) (Results in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap) * Ineligible for points. European Touring Car Championship The European Touring Car Championship

160-660: A former mechanic of Jo Siffert . Rebadged as Megatron, the BMW engines were used by the Arrows team for the 1987 and 1988 seasons, as well as Ligier in 1987. By 1988, Arrows were one of only six teams still running turbocharged engines, and the Megatrons were the oldest turbo engine still in use in Formula One, Ferrari having introduced a brand-new turbo engine the previous year . The Megatron programme ended after 1988 as

200-528: A light switch which often induced sudden oversteer. Consequently, the BMW was usually seen at its most competitive at power circuits such as Kyalami , Imola , Paul Ricard , Silverstone , Hockenheim , the Österreichring and Monza. On tighter tracks such as street circuits like Monaco and Detroit which required greater acceleration and less top speed, the BMW-powered cars often lagged behind their major rivals. World Championships: 1 (Nelson Piquet in

240-476: A result of rule changes that banned turbocharged engines from 1989 onwards, with Eddie Cheever scoring the old BMW engine's last podium finish with third place in the 1988 Italian Grand Prix at Monza . This race was also significant as it marked the first time Heini Mader had solved the problems caused by the FIA 's boost limit valve, which limited turbo boost pressure to 4.0 bar in 1987 and 2.5 bar in 1988. By moving

280-414: Is called a jug. For motorcycle engines, a "reverse cylinder engine" is where the intake ports are on the front side of each cylinder, and the exhaust ports are on the rear side of each cylinder. Cylinder liners (also known as sleeves) are thin metal cylinder-shaped parts which are inserted into the engine block to form the inner wall of the cylinder. Alternatively, an engine can be 'sleeveless', where

320-746: The 1982 Canadian Grand Prix . In 1983 , Brazilian driver Piquet won his second Formula One World Championship driving a Brabham BT52 powered exclusively by the M12, which by that year was producing approximately 850 bhp (630 kW) in qualifying trim and 640 bhp (480 kW) for the races. Piquet, who won the Brazilian , Italian and European Grands Prix that year, won the championship by just two points, ahead of Renault 's Alain Prost (Renault had pioneered turbocharging in F1 in 1977 , but would never win

360-483: The 1989 season, the Arrows team reverted to using 3,499 cc (213.5 cu in), naturally aspirated Ford DFR V8 power plants. The M12's major shortcoming as a Formula One engine was its lack of throttle response due to turbo lag. Unlike the V6 and V8 turbocharged engines which ran with twin turbos (one for each bank of cylinders), the inline-4 BMW engine, like the other four-cylinder turbo engines used in F1 such as

400-533: The Arrows of Thierry Boutsen ) were all powered by the BMW M12. Brabham tilted the upgraded engine sideways by 72° for use in the extremely low BT55 , but the concept proved unsuccessful, most likely due to cooling issues in the tight compartment. Instead, Benetton , with the more conventional B186 , were the leading BMW users in 1986, with Berger scoring his and the team's first (and the BMW engine's last) win at

440-575: The BMW M3 Evo and Ford Sierra RS500 that dominated the grids and results. The Macau Grand Prix 's Guia Race , the Spa 24 Hours and the 24 Hours Nürburgring were the only international touring car races during those years. With the success and popularity of Supertouring in many national championships, the FIA organised the one-round Super Touring World Cup for these cars, between 1993 and 1995. In 1996,

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480-527: The Hart 415T and the Zakspeed 1500/4 , only used a single turbocharger. The twin-turbo setups of the "V" engines eliminated much of the turbo lag. However, with only a single turbo, the BMW M12 suffered from approximately 2 seconds of turbo lag, meaning drivers often had to start accelerating through the apex of a corner. The power from the turbo was described by many (including Piquet and Berger) as coming on like

520-609: The Mexican Grand Prix . BMW announced their withdrawal from F1 at the end of 1986, but that they would continue to honour their contract and supply, Brabham, with their tilted M12s for 1987. Arrows team boss Jackie Oliver , with support from the team's primary sponsor USF&G , brokered a deal to continue the use of the upright BMW engines under the name of its subsidiary Megatron, Inc., founded by long-time F1 aficionado John J. Schmidt. The engines were serviced from Switzerland by Arrows' long time engine guru Heini Mader ,

560-457: The 3 victories each by Giovanardi and Larini, but lost the title to Giovanardi due to several retirements that he had during the season. In 2002, due to high costs FIA decided to let Super Touring make way for the new class Super 2000 and named the new series FIA ETCC, using Super 2000 rules. This new category provoked much interest and saw participation from Alfa Romeo 156 GTA and BMW 320i , Volvo S60 and SEAT Toledo Cupra . Alfa Romeo won

600-938: The Autodromo Bonara in Franciacorta, the Salzburgring in Salzburg and the Motorsport Arena Oschersleben in Oschersleben, respectively. However, on 25 Mar 2010, fiawtcc.com reported that the event in Germany was cancelled to avoid clashes with the German touring car series. Cylinder (engine) In a reciprocating engine , the cylinder is the space in which a piston travels. The inner surface of

640-549: The FIA promoted the DTM , which already had races outside Germany in its calendar, to International Touringcar Championship (ITC), but once more escalating costs ended the series after two seasons. In 2000, the Italian Superturismo Championship was promoted to Euro STC . The series was made up mostly of Italian drivers from the former Italian Campeonato Superturismo and teams plus some other coming from

680-559: The FIA replaced Groups 1 and 2 with Group N and Group A . The first one was mainly ignored by the ETCC entrants, all cars going the Group A route. BMW and Alfa Romeo prepared regular touring cars for the championship, but it was the big-engined Tom Walkinshaw Racing prepared Jaguar XJS and Rover 3500 Vitesse that would be more competitive in the years to come, fighting against the BMW 635 CSi ,

720-589: The German Super Tourenwagen Cup . In the first season of Euro STC, six rounds were in Italy while the other four were in Austria, (A1 Ring), Hungary (Hungaroring), Czech Republic (Brno) and Slovenia (Ljubljana). The series was very balanced with four drivers winning five races apiece (Giovanardi, Kox, Morbidelli and Colciago) with four manufacturers (Alfa Romeo, Honda, BMW, Audi). At the end of

760-541: The Népliget (People's Park) in Budapest counted towards the ETCC, which was won by German Peter Nöcker and his Jaguar. In 1968, the regulations were changed to allow Group 5 cars to participate, however these highly modified Special Touring Cars would only be eligible for two years. In 1970 the series name was changed from European Touring Car Challenge to European Touring Car Championship . Group 2 again became

800-512: The World Championship in the original turbo era (1977-1988)). Piquet was the first driver to win a World Championship in a turbo-powered car. The main advantage of the inline-four M12 over its V6 Ferrari and Renault opposition was that, with one fewer turbo, two fewer cylinders, and eight fewer valves, the BMW engine had lower frictional losses and, therefore, produced less waste heat. This allowed Brahbam's lead designer Gordon Murray

840-505: The beginning, it rendered the normally-aspirated engines in the two-litre category useless. After some development, power, driveability, and reliability improved, especially in the IMSA car, and BMW began to think about entering F1, where a handicap factor of 2.0 required 1,500 cc engines. During the 1982 season, the Brabham team, then owned by future F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone , used both

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880-744: The best representatives from national championships running to Super 2000, Super Production and Super 1600 regulations in the Baltic States, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Russia, Sweden and the United Kingdom. Starting in 2010 the ETCC will once again become a multi event racing series. Four events of two races each are set to be held in Portugal, Italy, Austria and Germany at the Circuito Vasco Sameiro in Braga,

920-413: The boring. Most engines use 'dry liners', where the liner is surrounded by the engine block and does not make contact with the coolant. However, cylinders with 'wet liners' are used in some water-cooled engines, especially French designs. The wet liners are formed separately from the main casting so that liquid coolant is free to flow around their outsides. The advantage of wet liners is better cooling and

960-418: The combustion chamber. In an air-cooled engine , the walls of the cylinders are exposed to the airflow, to provide the primary method of cooling to the engine. Most air-cooled engines have cooling fins on the cylinders and each cylinder has a separate case in order to maximise the surface area available for cooling. In engines where the cylinders are removable from the engine block, a removable single cylinder

1000-400: The cylinder is formed from either a thin metallic liner (also called "sleeve") or a surface coating applied to the engine block. A piston is seated inside each cylinder by several metal piston rings , which also provide seals for compression and the lubricating oil. The piston rings do not actually touch the cylinder walls, instead they ride on a thin layer of lubricating oil. The cylinder in

1040-409: The cylinder liner is replaceable, in case it becomes worn or damaged. On engines without replaceable sleeves, the cylinder can sometimes be repaired by boring out the existing liner to produce a new smooth and round surface (although the diameter of the cylinder is slightly increased). Another repair technique is 'sleeving' the cylinder— boring it and then installing a sleeve in the extra space created by

1080-411: The cylinder walls are formed by the engine block with a wear-resistant coating, such as Nikasil or plasma-sprayed bores. During use, the cylinder liner is subject to wear from the rubbing action of the piston rings and piston skirt. This wear is minimized by the thin oil film which coats the cylinder walls and also by a layer of glaze which naturally forms as the engine is run-in. On some engines,

1120-509: The engineers' theoretical calculations; for example, 0.1 bar of turbo boost was rated to be worth approximately 20 hp (15 kW)). During the 1986 Italian Grand Prix at Monza , Gerhard Berger 's BMW-powered Benetton B186 recorded the highest straight line speed by a turbocharged Formula One car when he was timed at 352.22 km/h (219 mph). In fact, the top five cars through the speed trap at Monza (Berger and teammate Teo Fabi , Brabham's Derek Warwick and Riccardo Patrese , and

1160-437: The first two championships with Fabrizio Giovanardi and Gabriele Tarquini while in the last season the title was won by Andy Priaulx and his BMW. The series became popular with the public due to the intense competition and Eurosport live broadcasts. For this reason in 2005, the ETCC was promoted to WTCC status. The European Touring Car title was given from 2005 until 2009 to a once a year European Touring Car Cup , with

1200-513: The luxury of designing the BT52 with smaller radiators, which meant better aerodynamic efficiency and thus better straight-line speed. The BT52 was notable for its very skinny, short sidepods, especially compared to the Renault, giving it better penetration through the air on circuits with long straights. 1984 and 1985 , by contrast, were lean years for the M12. The engine was generally regarded as

1240-425: The most powerful in F1 at the time, producing approximately 1,100 hp (820 kW) in qualifying trim by 1985, and Piquet took nine pole positions in 1984 alone. However, the engine's mechanical reliability and durability under full workload suffered severely, with engine blow-ups and turbo failures becoming common occurrences. Furthermore, with FISA imposing a maximum fuel limit of 220 litres per race (refuelling

BMW M12 - Misplaced Pages Continue

1280-491: The older Cosworth DFV V8 engine as well as the turbocharged BMW M12 in selected races in a development program. The BMW proved to be fast in its first year in Formula One, though its reliability, with turbocharging still in its infancy, was lacking. Reigning World Champion Nelson Piquet recorded the first win for the engine in F1 when he led home Brabham teammate Riccardo Patrese (in the Cosworth-powered car) at

1320-437: The principle category although Group 2 regulations were now much more liberal in nature than the old Group 2. Following the 1973 oil crisis the next two seasons had few entrants. It was only in 1977 that the situation was normalised with the return of factory teams. Rules allowed Group 2 and Group 1B "National" cars to compete together, with BMW 3.0 Coupé CSL and Capri RS remaining the most competitive entries. In 1982,

1360-419: The turbocharged Volvo 240T and Ford Sierra Cosworth as well as (from 1986) Australian manufacturer Holden and its V8 powered Commodore . The championship was cancelled after the end of the 1988 season, due to escalating costs (a one-off World Touring Car Championship in 1987 also exacerbated the problem). By then, the FIA had allowed "Evolution" models to be homologated, and it was special cars such as

1400-485: The valve closer to the engine, the problem of the turbo not delivering enough boost had been solved, and the Arrows A10 B was among the fastest cars on the long Monza straights, faster even than the all-conquering McLaren - Hondas into which designer Steve Nichols had effectively incorporated elements of Gordon Murray's low-line Brabham design as well as featuring a more powerful V6 engine . With turbos banned from

1440-511: The year Giovanardi was able to win the title beating Kox in last round. In 2001, this series became the FIA 2001 European Super Touring Championship , with an extra class for Super Production cars alongside the main Super Touring class. As the former year also this one was very fought and attractive riveting thanks to the battle between Alfa drivers' Giovanardi and Larini and Honda driver Tarquini. Tarquini won 9 of 20 races, compared with

1480-638: Was allowed in 1982 and 1983), the four-cylinder BMW suffered from high fuel consumption which often led to drivers running out of fuel, and continued to suffer from poor reliability. Consequently, Piquet scored only three wins - the 1984 Canadian and Detroit races, and the 1985 French Grand Prix . These proved to be Brabham's final wins in Formula 1. For 1986 , the M12 was upgraded into the M12/13/1. ( Bore 89.2 mm X Stroke 60 mm) 374.95 cc and 350 PS per cylinder 933.46 PS/litre. This version

1520-562: Was an international touring car racing series organised by the FIA . It had two incarnations, the first one between 1963 and 1988, and the second between 2000 and 2004. In 2005 it was superseded by the World Touring Car Championship , and replaced by the European Touring Car Cup between 2005 and 2017 when became also defunct. The European Touring Car Challenge , as it was originally known,

1560-421: Was claimed to have produced a maximum output of 1,400 hp (1,044 kW) at 11,000 rpm, and about 850–930 lb⋅ft (1,152–1,261 N⋅m) of torque in qualifying trim, which would make it the most powerful engine ever to race in Formula 1, turbocharged or otherwise. At the time, there was no way to accurately measure horsepower figures over 1,000, and so claimed output figures were generally accepted from

1600-480: Was created in 1963 by Willy Stenger at the behest of the FIA. Cars competed under FIA Group 2 Improved Touring Car regulations which allowed a variety of touring cars of different sizes and engine displacements to race together, from the small Fiat 600 and Mini to the large Jaguar Mark 2 and Mercedes-Benz 300SE In 1963 races and hillclimbing events at Nürburgring , Mont Ventoux , Brands Hatch , Mallory Park , Zolder , Zandvoort , Timmelsjoch and even in

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