The Most Complicated F1 Engine Ever

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- Credits -
“Lotus 43 BRM” by 911redrobin

“BRM P83 1966” by Peter Dobi

“1966 BRM P83 F1 Car Sound Warming Up Its 3.0L 16-Cylinder, H-Layout Engine!” by 19Bozzy92

“Grand Prix (1967)” by British Pathé

“Grand Prix - 1966 - Zandvoort - Scott Stoddard - BRM” by Math427

“Lotus 43” by Tonza1701a

“1966 Lotus 43 BRM Goodwood 2016” by Martin Collins

“„Formula One™ -- Versenyben a technológiával" BRM P83” by 0rgb0

“Grand Prix Miniatures (1968)” by British Pathé

“Lotus 43 - Forth Road Bridge” by Andrew Sebastian

“What if Honda used two K20 engines to produce a 4.0L VTEC V8? - Engine Simulator” by L4zuc

“V8 engine animation” by TheRenalicious

“V12 engine animation” by TheRenalicious

“V16 engine animation” by TheRenalicious

“24 cylinder engine” by TheRenalicious

“Jim Clark's Come Back (1966)” by British Pathé

“British Grand Prix (1967)” by British Pathé

“BUGATTI: A New Age — “Pour L’Éternité”” by Bugatti

[upsidedowndog]

These may have been ridiculously complex but they followed the exploration of what is mechanically possible which is what F1 is supposed to be about. They are exceptionally cool! And very beautiful!

[bloqk]

This has got to be one of the most detailed explanations of the BRM H16 engine I've ever seen, either in video or print . . . and I've been following F1 racing since the 1960s.
In all other publications [either in video or print] I've seen about the H16, the author would simplistically say/write that two 8 cylinder engines were mated together, making the casual viewer/reader come to the conclusion that two of the BRM 1.5 liter V8 engines were bolted together. Myself being a serious gearhead, I never bought into that, as seeing the H16 being a flat-plane crank configuration.
I found it annoying that published works of the BRM would gloss over the details of the H16.
So, I'm most appreciative of the details presented here about the H16; where I'm also impressed that the depth of the subject also covered the abandoned 4.2 liter Indy project, too.

[PaulG.x]

BRM engines were not just the most complex in Grand Prix history but they were also the only ones that could say the company name:

[Hybris]

These engines hail from a time when technological progress was encouraged by participating in F1. Now the sport has become so locked down and overburdened with rules that neither fans or teams want that it's killing what is left of the sport.

[shafferjoe]

@ visioracer, I find an engine that I want you to do a story on. Here's an engine that's rarely seen since they were only ever designed to be disposable.
This is the 4 cylinder radial engine from a WWII German G7A torpedo. It ran on Decaline fuel (decahydronaphthalene), which was first burned. The combustion byproducts were then passed through a device called a 'wet heater', which also introduced water (from a 57 litre onboard storage tank) to produce superheated steam. This high pressure mixture of superheated steam and compressed air was finally sent through the engine to drive the pistons.
Since the internal combustion/steam generator system was self-contained and fuelled by a chemical reaction instead of ambient air, it could run underwater. The 4 cylinder, 'X' type radial engine produced up to 350 horsepower at its maximum power setting, which was enough to push the 26' 6" torpedo along at 44 knots (nearly 50mph) while submerged.
Standard Kriegsmarine torpedo produced from 1934 until the end of the war.

[buildingracingvideos]

That engine is insanely complicated. Between gears, chains, and bearings, the engine was probably robbed of 100hp from the friction

[bretbauer]

Gotta Love the old Watkins Glen footage at the very end of the video, going up through the "Esses" and then coming around "the 90" to the old start finish line that's between the current 1 & 2

[michaellakinloch]

Thank you; this is most interesting. I knew about the BRM H-16 from when it was introduced, but great to hear about the developent problems and see all the visuals. I think it might be the case that the problem was more in the execution rather than in the concept. BRM was actually a rather small organization and simply did not have the resources to do what was needed for such a complex engine. I think it possible that if it were done today, with more thorough design work, the much more precise engineering available through computer controlled machining of parts, more durable materials, and digital engine management, the theoretical gains from the small pistons enabling faster engine acceleration, shorter length, and functioning as a stress bearing chassis member, could possibly be realized. But no one will ever try it, so we will never know.

Oh, by the way, the in-car camera footage, starting at 9:45 and from Zandvoort, shows a car with the words "Jordan Racing" on the side. This was the name used in the film "Grand Prix" for the team portrayed by BRM, and that footage was generated by the film crew, as you noted. The lack of coolant pipes along the chassis reveal that this was not an H-16 powered car, and that was most certainly not Jackie Stewart in the tartan helmet.

[gabrielhoy]

Flop or not, this engine produces one of my absolute favorite engine songs.

[Squilliam-Fancyson]

Quite remarkable that a team of experienced engineers did not realize on the way of prototyping that H16, that it is going to be a overcomplicated, underpowered and unreliable race engine.

[d.martins]

when a new video comes from visioracer i know its going to be top notch information. Thanks man, youre one of the youtubers who make youtube a very pleasant place.

[Bryce-zv]

As a young mechanic, I read about this engine. J K Setright wrote a book called 'Some unusual engines'. I daily drive Australian Falcons. Love british engineering and have just purchased a 1972 MGB GT. Needing the TLC I can give it. Great channel. 🙂

[bloqk]

[in a tone of enthusiasm] Say! I'm impressed that the 4.2 liter Indy engine was brought up in this video.

[TROdesigns]

It was all worth it for the sound alone

[rafaellastracom]

A perfect example of irrational exuberance in engineering.

[kevinjokipii]

How ironic is it that a heavy, overly-complex engine was bolted to a chassis by Lotus, with their historic emphasis on low weight and simplicity.

[oikkuoek]

The biggest design failure was the attempt of simultaneous fire. This with the intake sucking in road and rubber simply can't work. But, if you change the firing order to single pot and craft an ram air box to it, or even turn the setup to double VR8 (Bugatti) it just might last a full race.

[MetikalMan]

This is obviously the engine design F1 should move to in 2026.

[ExaltedDuck]

That amazing growl at the end is from their prior engine, a 1.5 liter supercharged V-16. It was essentially two 750 liter V8's mated end-to-end and was rated at 550 hp somewhere around 10500 rpm but would keep building power past that, actually peaking somewhere between 12500 and 14000 outputting 600-800 hp. The length and complexity are what drove BRM to aim for the parameters of their H16... by going naturally aspirated they were allowed to double the displacement to 3.0L and - as the video noted - the length of a V16 was a big consideration for adopting the H16 layout. It all comes from a time when the rules seemed to welcome pioneering. By the 80s things had become a lot more... formulaic.

[TenorCantusFirmus]

"The weight difference of the BRM H16 and Ford V8 Indy engine was one Jim Clark" - That's all what's needed to be said. If you want to make the others talking about you, go for an H16; but if you want to win, go for the good, old V8.

The H16 would have made for a cool concept, but it clearly wasn't a suitable racing engine because it missed the necessary balance between power and lightness.