Maserati announces details of the engine for the upcoming MC20 super sports car. For this purpose, technology from Formula 1 is installed in the double-charged six-cylinder. With a brutal result.
That may confuse you a bit now, but Maserati’s new six-cylinder engine has something in common with Formula 1 engines as well as with the 0.7-liter engines from the Smart Roadster. Of course, the “Nettuno” (Italian for Neptune) engine from Maserati has a little more displacement, after all it should make its debut in the upcoming super sports car MC20.
To be precise, it is three liters. Brought into a V-shape, flanked by two turbochargers and equipped with an electronically controlled wastegate, the machine develops 630 HP at 7,500 revolutions per minute and 730 Newton meters of maximum torque from 3,000 rpm. In addition to the basic structure, several technical tricks in combination are responsible for the performance, but also its development and efficiency.
Ignited twice burns better
The construction developed and built by Maserati itself includes a double ignition as well as a double injection and – experts already suspect these aspects – the use of a prechamber. Double ignition, i.e. the use of two spark plugs per cylinder, is not a novelty in the group itself. “Twin Spark” can be read on the rear of many Alfa Romeo models.
Porsche also used the principle in the 911 models (except Turbo) of the 964 and 993 generations, and the Smart Roadster mentioned at the beginning also works with double ignition. You can breathe a sigh of relief, there is no longer anything in common with the Smart. A major advantage of dual ignition is the more complete and energy efficient combustion of the mixture. This not only enables higher compression, but also a reduction in pollutants.