In an interview with Mate Petrany of Road & Track, CEO of Spyker, Victor Muller as well as Christian von Koenigsegg, the trio discussed the V8 engine which Koenigsegg was supplying to Spyker.
Spyker which was looking for an engine replacement for an old Audi engine that they were using found an interesting source from the likes of Koenigsegg.
Christian von Koenigsegg was a bit more specific:
“So basically, for us to have time to do this and resources, since we’re a small company, we only change what we have to change, and remove what we have to remove to make it work. So, it’s over-engineered for their needs, because the structure can take 1500 horsepower and they’re having 600. So, basically they have the same crank, connecting rods, camshafts, cylinder heads…but we changed what we needed to. The dry-sump lubrication, the exhausts, the intake for normal aspiration, bumping up the compression ratio, and the injectors are smaller because there’s no need for that kind of flow. We maintain the dual injectors not because they’re really needed, but because it makes it easy for us because we’re used to controlling dual injectors, and at the same time, with duals, the injectors can be super small, which means super accurate, so we turn it into a benefit, even though it’s an extra cost you might not need. And of course are engines are bulletproof with 1360 horsepower, our customers don’t kill engines, so that engine will last for I don’t know…200 years or something. All this means they’re paying a little bit of a premium for the engine because they’re getting stuff they don’t need, but it makes it easier for us, and they get a jewel of an engine. With this optimized engine for natural aspiration, from five liters, we get 600 horsepower at 8000 rpm. A beautiful setup for the car.”
So there you have it, an engine that can last for 200 years! Definitely not so biodegradable.
