Ferrari Dino Engine

The Ferrari Dino engine is a line of mechanically similar V6 and V8 engines produced by Ferrari for about 40 years from the late 1950s into the early 2000s.

The idea for the engine came from Alfredo "Dino" Ferrari, who was the son of Enzo Ferrari. Dino suggested to Enzo Ferrari the development of a V6 engine for F2 at the end of 1955. Soon afterwards, Alfredo fell gravely ill, and he was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy. While hospitalized, he discussed technical details about the engine with a recently hired engineer named Vittorio Jano. Dino would never live to see the engine; he died on June 30, 1956, at the age of 24.

The Dino V6 was Ferrari's first V6 engine. The Dino V8 engine was introduced later; the latter used a flat-plane crankshaft configuration.

V6

The production Dino V6 began as a discussion between Vittorio Jano and Enzo and Dino Ferrari about the ideal 1.5 L engine for use in the 1957 Formula Two auto racing series. Jano, formerly of Alfa Romeo and Lancia, pressed for a conventional 60° V6 but the Ferraris were open-minded.

60°

Jano's 60° design incorporated some of his ideas from the Lancia Aurelia, and were used in a number of Formula One, Formula Two, and Grand Prix cars from 1959 through the early 1960s. Appearing in 1958, it used a bore and stroke for and produced in the 196 S. A larger version was also produced, the Dino 246 S. These engines continued in the 1962 Ferrari 196 SP and 286 SP. The latter had a bore and stroke of for and .

65°

Ferrari designers began work on the first Dino V6 engine in 1956 and the engine was running by the end of the year.Fitzgerald, Merritt and Thompson, Ferrari The Sports and Gran Turismo Cars, Chapter 8, pp. 129–130 The engine displaced . This engine was installed in the Dino 156 F2 car and was first raced in the Grand Prix of Naples in April 1957, where it finished in third place behind two Lancia-Ferrari V8 Formula One cars.

The result of the trio's creativity was the world's only 65° V6 engine. The extra 5° between cylinder banks gave Ferrari the straight intakes he wanted. As this engine was not a true V6 but had a separate crankpin for every connecting rod, the crankpins were offset by 55 degrees within every pair of cylinders. This ensured an even firing order for the complete engine as well as an even distance between firing pulses per cylinder bank. Thus the engine was as smoothly running as a conventional 60-degree V6, but had greatly enhanced potential for the design of harmonically balanced exhaust manifolds, giving much better performance. Although the Dino V6 was discontinued with the introduction of the V8, the 65° design continues to this day: It reappeared on Ferrari's 1992 456 V12.

The engine used in the 246 S produced with dual overhead camshafts pushing two valves per cylinder. The rear mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout 1961 Ferrari 246 SP used this same engine, as did the 246 P F1. A bigger displacement engine () with was used for the 1959 Dino 296 S.

The 65° Dino V6 continued in racing after 1962, and made its way to the street as well. The 60° unit was no longer being developed after the SP-series. Ferrari needed to have the engine in 500 production vehicles to homologate it for racing use. The company worked with Fiat to develop a sports car to house it, and the front-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout Fiat Dino project was born.

In competition, the 1965 Dino 166 P used a tiny version of the 65° unit. Both bore and stroke were different from the earlier engine at and output was impressive at . Bore was up to for the version found that same year in the Dino 206 SP as well as the 1966 Dino 206 S.

In 1968, Ferrari debuted its own Dino 206 GT, the company's first mid-engined road car. It used the 2.0 L engine from the 206 S transversely-mounted between the rear wheels. After producing just 152 cars, Ferrari bumped the bore and stroke up from to for . This increased power to at 7600 rpm and at 5500 rpm, but the engine block was now made of cast iron rather than aluminium.

The same V6 engine was handed off to Lancia for use in its WRC-champ Stratos in the early 1970s, but Ferrari's Dino had moved on to 8 cylinders.

Applications:
* 2.0 L
** 1966–1969 Fiat Dino
** 1967–1969 Dino 206 GT
* 2.4 L
** 1969–1973 Fiat Dino
** 1969–1974 Dino 246 GT and GTS
** 1973–1975 Lancia Stratos

V8

2.9

The Dino V8, now bored to , replaced the V6 in the next line of street Dinos to be produced by Ferrari, the 1973 GT4 and 1975 GTB "308" cars. Although the model name suggests 3.0 L, the V8 displaced only which rounds down to 2.9 L and was another DOHC 2-valve design.

Applications:
* 1973–1976 308 GT4 (branded "Dino") ''F106AL''
* 1976–1980 308 GT4 (branded "Ferrari") ''F106AL''
* 1975–1980 308 GTB ''F106AB''
* 1977–1980 308 GTS ''F106AB''

Fuel injection

The 1980 "i" models added fuel injection to the existing engine.

Applications:
* 1980–1982 Mondial 8 ''F106B''
* 1980–1982 308 GTBi & GTSi ''F106BB''

Quattrovalvole

4 valves per cylinder were added for the 1982 308 and Mondial ''Quattrovalvole'' (or QV), bringing power back up to the pre- FI high of .

A very unusual Dino Quattrovalvole was used in the Lancia Thema 8.32. It was based on the 308 QV's engine, but used a cross-plane crankshaft rather than the Ferrari-type flat-plane. The engine was constructed by Ducati rather than Ferrari, and was produced from 1986 through 1991.

The Quattrovalvole was also used by Lancia for their attempt at the World Sportscar Championship with the LC2. The engine was twin-turbocharged and destroked to 2.65 litres, but produced in qualifying trim. The engine was later increased to 3.0 litres and increased power output to .

Applications:
* 1982–1985 308 GTB QV & GTS QV ''F105AB''
* 1982–1985 Mondial QV ''F105A''
* 1986–1991 Lancia Thema 8.32 ''F105L''
* 1983–1991 Lancia LC2

2.0

These small V8 variants were chiefly intended for the domestic market, where cars with engines larger than two-litre incurred in an almost doubled 38% value added tax.

In 1975 the company introduced the Dino 208 GT4. The bore was reduced from but the stroke remained at . Output was reduced as well, from .
Applications:
* 1975–1976 208 GT4 (branded "Dino") ''F106C''
* 1976–1980 208 GT4 (branded "Ferrari") ''F106C''
* 1980–1982 208 GTB ''F106CB''
* 1980–1982 208 GTS ''F106CB''

Turbocharged

1982 saw the introduction of the 208 Turbo. The 208 Turbo featured , more than the fuel injected 308 from the previous year. Except for the non-intercooled 208 Turbo engine, all the forced induction F1 and road engines from 1980 to 1989 were designed and developed by Nicola Materazzi due to his experience in fuels, engines, combustion, turbo and Comprex that had accumulated in his career ( Mobil, Lancia, Osella).

Applications:
* 1982–1985 208 GTB Turbo ''F106D''
* 1982–1985 208 GTS Turbo ''F106D''
* 1986–1989 GTB Turbo ''F106N''
* 1986–1989 GTS Turbo ''F106N''
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