Miguel Sánchez
PHOTOS MERCEDES CLASS S W140 W18: MEDIA DAIMLER
The morning of July 25, 1909, did not bode well for Louis Blériot. He was still walking on crutches after having burned his leg, a strange wind was blowing and, to top it all, when he started his plane the propeller made mincemeat of a passing dog. It was all bad omens. They also gave rain on the sea. But nevertheless, our intrepid aviator took off from Calais at dawn to land near Dover 37 minutes later. Against all odds, Blériot had just completed the first flight over the English Channel thanks to a plane with a W engine.
An Anzani of only 25CV originally designed to power motorcycles but that, despite its cooling problems, managed to go down in aviation history through the big door. Equipped with only three cylinders, This early W engine was the basis for much more refined devices. Of course, it was necessary to wait until the end of the excessive 80s to contemplate a resurrection of these complex engines in which, calculating multiples of 3, has reached 18 cylinders.
And it is that, only in those years marked by the supercars and the great sedans, was when the engine in W could live its resurrection. Of it, the Volkswagen Group is almost the only protagonist. Of course, through its own brand models but also subsidiaries such as Audi, Bentley or Bugatti. A new chapter in the history of the motor in W where, from the hand of Mercedes, a W18 cylinders sneaks in thinking to motorize the S-Class W140, its flagship in the early nineties. We are talking about the M126 engine.
THE RESURRECTION OF THE MOTOR IN W DURING THE 90
Although it was applied with some diffusion in aeronautics, the engine in W was quickly replaced by radial around 1910. A disuse that only had some Isotta Fraschini devices such as swan song at the end of the following decade, at which time we already see some W18s such as the Asso 1000. A propeller capable of producing more than 1100CV that, however , it did not have much application. In fact, for decades the engine in W languished until the arrival of Volkswagen in the XNUMXs.
Following the financial failure of the EB110, Bugatti Automobili reluctantly closed down in 1995 to wreck its factory. However, in 1998 the Volkswagen Group took over the brand and its rights through the personal commitment of Ferdinand Piëch. Interested that the world did not see the operation as a simple publicity action, Piëch showed that he was serious by commissioning the prototype EB118 visa to Italdesign. And what's more, he endowed it with the creation of a very complex W engine with 18 cylinders and 550CV of atmospheric aspiration.
A mechanical boast that, although it did not reach series due to its enormous cost, was the inspiration for the W engine mechanics that characterize the Bugatti Veyron and Chiron. In addition, Volkswagen developed a powerful W12 for models such as the Phaeton, Touareg, Audi A8 or Bentley Continental GT. And even a more modest W8 for some versions of the Passat. A panoply of benches that, however, had an unsuccessful precedent in Mercedes, which He did not want to apply his M126 engine with 18 cylinders to series.
M126. ENGINE IN W18 FOR S-CLASS W140
Launched in 1954, the S-Class saloons have been Mercedes' top of the line for decades. For many, these are the maximum distillation of the spirit of the brand, presenting themselves as an advance of sumptuous novelties later applied to the rest of the models. In 1991 the W140, the third generation of this series of saloons, were presented that they had to give a blow of effect to distance themselves from Jaguars and BMWs capable of blowing their necks with their V12s. So Mercedes engineers weighed the idea of a W engine to make something truly unique.
Thus, they thought of a mechanic with three cylinder banks at 75º. With this arrangement, the M5 engine would be no longer than a six-cylinder despite counting neither more nor less than eighteen. A mechanical prodigy that, With its eight liters of displacement, it would be offered in two versions of 490CV -with 750Nm- and 680CV -800Nm-. Undoubtedly, having brought this engine in the W to the Mercedes series, it would have found that differentiating factor that it was looking for so much. However, the prestige of the brand did not advise going blind, and even less at an astronomical price.
Precise point in which our protagonist died, since M126 was very expensive to manufacture. Even more so if we take into account the 'reasonableness' of the alternative M120 engine; a six-liter V12 that in the 600 SE model exceeds 400CV. More than enough for a saloon like the S-Class, also committed to emission compliance in Europe and the United States. Rational arguments that ruined this engine in W18. Of course, it would not have been bad to see it in action.
Finally, we appreciate a Autonomy having reminded us of its existence! 😉
