The more I think about this, the more it makes me absolutely insane. Someone please explain this. Why on earth did Maserati build the Merak engine as a 90 degree V6 with such a strange firing order? Here's what I know so far: The tooling was available from the V8 engines 90 degree configuration already as was the bore sizing, hence the same size bore for the v6s and v8s. This makes their v6 essentially their v8 with 2 cylinders whacked off the end. I imagine this practice made it considerably cheaper to manufacture. That's the only logical reasoning I can think of. Do not misunderstand me. I absolutely love Meraks, but that engine makes no sense to me and the above listed manufacturing reasons tell me that Maserati had to cheapen out to crank out this engine rather than do it right (or did they do it right?). The quirkyness of the engine is what attracts me to the car and makes me detest the car at the same time. Someone who knows more about this please fill me in. Regards, John
John, I own a Merak SS and love it very much. But I clealy leaned NOT to ask any Italian for any explaination about anything. Enjoy it as it is incl. all trips thru the "Valley of Tears"! Ciao! Walter
I owned a Merak ss for quite a while as well. I rebuilt the engine in it and loved the torque that engine had at such low rpms. The engine undoubtedly feels faster than a 308 engine, but the quirky manufacturing and design of the engine still bothers me. I read somewhere that Alfieri actually designed a 3 liter v8 for the car, but it was not approved due to the cost. Can anyone verifiy this?
Yes, I mentioned that before. This prototype-motor made out of 2 Merak-emgines is now owned by someone in Germany. Torque??? What engine do you refering to? Life in a Merak starts obove 4,000 rpm! Below that its lame! There is no torque like in the Bora! Ciao! Walter
The Merak ss engine torque compared that of the 308 engine is far superior is what my comparison is based on. The 308 is dog at low rpm compared to the Merak ss.
Walter, Your Merak is so tricked out for racing, I would conjecture your power band is set higher than a non racing C114. Then again your point of reference is for fast cars anyway, so it doesn't surprise me you think it's tame under 4000 rpms. Just thought you wanted to know. Ciao, George
The Merak was designed when Maserati had absolutely no money and yes it is their v8 with 2 cylinders chopped off. I'm quoting a book I have regarding the design and development of the Bora. US car manufacturers do this all the time, or atleast compromise on a v6 included angle to being the same as their v8s so tooling costs are less. Pete
I don't see what the big deal is. The Buick 3.8 is based on the old aluminum Buick 215 which was sold to Rover and was in production for over 30 years. Porsche's 944 was based on 1/2 of the 928 engine. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buick_V6_engine
The V6 has zero in common with the old V8 engine. I don't know where you got that impression but certainly it was not from the Norbye book. A 90 degree V6 can be shorter in height albeit wider than the equivalent 60 degree v6 so maybe that's what they were after. Bob S.
What probably really happened was when Citroen asked Alfieri to develop them a new engine for the upcoming SM and to also be used in an entry level Maserati. They gave him a budget of X Lira to do it, so in the best Italian tradition he used a shelved design with of all things the cam chain drive in the center of the engine. He whacked off 2 cylinder and presented the engine to Citroen. Then used the left over money on hookers and wine!
Wine, yes - but he was no hooker-man for sure! The Merak-engine had from its basic design nuttin`to do with the standart V8 they had in their production line. Ciao! Walter
Not true, as already stated the bore and stroke are exactly the same as a v8 (and we have to remember Maserati has made many v8s of differing sizes [powerboat racing, etc.], and yeah it could have been a shelved old design ... not the Bora engine). The book I mention (and if I can remember this weekend I will quote it) clearly mentions this is what Alfieri did, and yes it was for Citroen. Definitely not for height reasons, but cost. Pete
The origin of the V8 engine that served as the basis for the Merak V6 is not related in any way to the V8 engines that powered most of Maserati's GT cars. Those engines evolved from the 450S engine which came from basicly joining two 200S 4 cylinder engines. The origins of the V8 that formed the basis for the Merak was of an entirely different design. It may have shared some parts (pistons, rods etc) but the design was totally different. Joe
Not quite sure what you mean by not true as in which part of the statement but you see to be the lonesome dove with this opinion. Have you even looked at these two engines? They look nothing alike. Lots of engine in the work share bore and stroke. Lambo V12 and Biturbo 2.0L are almost identical. You need to be more specific than just "V8" because when you originally stated that, most people would and did assume you meant the street engine 4.2/4.7/4.8 that ended up in all the GT cars. So which V8 produced by Maserati has the cams driven from the center of the engine? It could be true but I'm not familair with it. Bob S.
Yeah. I have never heard of a Maserati V8 with cams driven off a center shaft either. Matter of fact, I am unable to recall any engine with such a peculiar make-up for driving the camshafts. I wonderthe engin if Alfieri designed e with the intentions of being able to easily integrate a gear driven option for the engine for racing purposes, which of course they did. The only other thing I can think of is the cams were driven in this method so to shorten the length of the engine for the car it was designed for, which was of course the Citroen SM. The 90 degree set-up might make more sense if we base Alfieri's decision on him knowing he wanted a short V6 engine with a central shaft driving the cams rather than a traditional direct drive off the crank. Perhaps he knew there would not be enough room with a 60 degree V6 engine to have the cam drive configuration he intended for.
my 3 years of merak ss ownership were fantastic. the car did sound terrible off idle but it did wail when it hit 4k and beyond!!!! a jewel of a motor.
Bob, Yep I need to quote the reference in the book I own ... sorry more important things going on in my humble life. Pete
