V12's have an inherent smoothness and lack of vibration that no other engine design can claim, save a true, opposed cylinder boxer motor with crank throws that are 180 degrees from each other.
Even neglecting the inherent balance advantages, a 5.0l V12 motor is going to accomplish smoother output to the crankshaft than a 5.0l V8 because it's outputting 12 torque pulses to the crank per engine cycle instead of 8. This is the reason people prefer to drive a 6 or an 8 cylinder engine instead of a 4 cylinder engine.
Concerning power output - years ago race engine designers felt that a 3 litre V12 could put out more power, and rev faster and higher than a 3 litre V8, and a 3.0 litre V16 would outperform either of those. Indeed, a 1.5l BRM V16 made 450 HP with a redline of 11,000.....and this was in 1951.
But for modern day, slow speed engines, the V12 doesn't have many advantages over the V8, other than its smoothness. It does have many disadvantages, not the least of which are that it's much more expensive to build initially, and fix subsequently, than a V8.
But, this thread really isn't about whether a V12 is "better" than a SBC V8, or whether an Ultima is "better" than a GT40. This thread is about my personal adventure of building a very unique car from my teens 40 years ago, powered by a type of engine that I've always fantasized about.
Anaema, in 40 years when you're as old as I am now, perhaps you'll understand this better.
If I just wanted cheap power, I'd probably drive a 'Vette, and if I wanted a really fast, cheap car it'd probably be the Ultima GTR with a SBC in it. But there's so much more to this obsession of ours than just raw power or speed.
So I'm not going to try to justify this project to anyone, or defend it on its technical merits because it'll come up short in many categories. Any of us who are hotrodders know that we don't do these projects just for raw power or speed, but because they're unique.
