The Mercedes-Benz M 196 engine is a
naturally-aspirated,
straight-8,
racing engine, designed, developed, and produced by
Daimler-Benz; and used in both
sports car racing and
Formula One racing, between 1954 and 1955. Daimler-Benz made two versions of the engine, the M 196 R, displacing 2.5 litres, and the M 196 S, displacing 3.0 litres.
Mercedes pulled out of all
motorsports
Motorsport, motorsports or motor sport is a global term used to encompass the group of competitive sporting events which primarily involve the use of motorized vehicles. The terminology can also be used to describe forms of competition of two ...
after the
1955 Le Mans disaster
The 1955 Le Mans disaster was a major crash that occurred on 11 June 1955 during the 24 Hours of Le Mans motor race at Circuit de la Sarthe in Le Mans, Sarthe, France. Large pieces of debris flew into the crowd, killing 83 spectators and French ...
. This was their last
Formula One engine, and Mercedes did not return to motorsport as an engine manufacturer until , when they supplied engines to the
Sauber Formula One team.
M 196 R
The new 1954 Formula One rules allowed a choice of naturally aspirated engines – up to 2.5 litres or 0.75 litres
supercharged
In an internal combustion engine, a supercharger compresses the intake gas, forcing more air into the engine in order to produce more power for a given displacement.
The current categorisation is that a supercharger is a form of forced induct ...
. The expected target range for competitive engines was .
By its introduction at the 1954 French GP the (76.0×68.8 mm)
desmodromic valves
straight 8 M 196 R delivered . The M 196 was the only F1 engine with direct fuel injection, giving it a considerable advantage over the other carburetted engines.
For the 1955 season, Daimler-Benz improved its M 196 R engine by reducing the intake manifold length,
[Daimler AG (ed.): ]
Mercedes-Benz Formel-1-Rennwagen W 196 R mit Stromlinienkarosserie, 1955 – Fahrzeugtext
', retrieved 4 December 2021, (in German) increasing the engine power slightly to .
M 196 S
For the
W 196 S race car, the M 196 engine was bored and stroked to 78 mm each (78.0 × 78.0 mm), and reduced in compression from ε=12 to about ε=9. The latter allowed using standardised petrol (98 RON) instead of high-octane race fuel required for the M 196 R.
The M 196 S has a power output of at 7,000 rpm, and produces a maximum torque of at 5,950 rpm. This is equivalent to a
BMEP of .
The M 196 S is canted to the right at a 53° angle. It has two four-cylinder banks made of
silumin with
chromium
Chromium is a chemical element with the symbol Cr and atomic number 24. It is the first element in group 6. It is a steely-grey, lustrous, hard, and brittle transition metal.
Chromium metal is valued for its high corrosion resistance and hardne ...
-coated
aluminium cylinder sleeves. Unlike typical car engines, the M 196 S has a crankshaft consisting of two
Hirth joint halves with centre torque take-off. The silumin cylinder heads are crossflow heads and cast together with the cylinder banks (i. e. block and head are a single cast piece). Daimler-Benz fitted the engine with a dry-sump lubrication system, water cooling, and a
direct fuel injection system. The ignition system is a traditional
magneto system.
Applications
*
Mercedes-Benz W196
*
Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR
References
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Mercedes-Benz engines
Straight-eight engines
Formula One engines
Engines by model
Gasoline engines by model