W12

A W12 engine is a twelve-cylinder piston engine which uses a W configuration.
W12 engines with three banks of four cylinders were used in aircraft engines in the 1930s but a three-bank design was also used for an unsuccessful W12 engine which was intended to compete in Formula One in 1990.
==Motor racing engines==
For the 1990 Formula One season, the Italian team Life Racing Engines built a three-bank W12 engine with a displacement of 3.5 L (214 cu in).  The Life Racing Engine F35 used a central master connecting rod, with a slave rod locating onto each side of the master rod, rather than directly onto the crank pin.  This meant that there was no offset between the cylinders, reducing the length of the crankpins.{{Cite book|title=The V12 Engine|last=Ludvigsen |first=Karl|authorlink=Karl Ludvigsen|publisher=Haynes Publishing|location=Sparkford, Yeovil|year=2005|isbn=1-84425-004-0|ref=|pages=356–358 }} The engine was used in rounds 1 to 12 of the 1990 season, however it was unreliable and lacking in power, and the car failed to pre-qualify for any races. The W12 engine was replaced by a third-party V8 engine after round 12.
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Category:Engine configuration