Ferrari has registered a patent for a V12 engine with oval pistons. The objective is clear: reduce the size of the motor block without losing displacement or power. To achieve this, the traditional form of the pistons is modified, making them oval so that they can be placed more together. The result would be a more compact and light V12, without giving up the sound and the response that characterize this type of engines.
The idea is not new. Honda already applied it more than 40 years ago with the NR500, a competition motorcycle that sought to compete against the two times without renouncing the four times, demanded by the brand. The key was an engine with oval pistons, designed to simulate a V8 in a four -cylinder space.
The result was as complex as revolutionary, with double cranks and eight valves per cylinder. However, manufacturing those pieces with precision was a huge challenge in the 70s, and the project had more value as innovation than as sports success. The engineer Toshimitsu Yoshimura himself, involved in the project, came to wonder if they were innovating or simply obsessed with madness.
Ferrari wants to use oval pistons like Honda in the NR500 … and in the mythical NR750
But Honda didn’t stop there. In 1992 he took this technology to the street with the NR750, a limited production motorcycle that cost a fortune and offered 125 hp with a unique sound and touch. He had carbonate carbon fiber, electronic injection and, of course, oval pistons. Only about 300 units were manufactured, and today is an object of cult among collectors.
Ferrari now takes up that same idea with a renewed approach. The patent details how by reducing the longitudinal footprint of the piston-chapter group, a more compact and simple engine to manufacture can be achieved. This is where modern technology comes into play: 3D impression, already used by Porsche to make high performance pistons, could solve the problems that sank Honda in their day.
Is this more than an experiment? It is early to know, but the possibility of a Ferrari V12 with oval pistons, smaller, lighter and with a brutal sound, is too tempting to ignore it.
What was once a madness of Japanese engineers, could now become Maranello’s next great play.
