That is pretty accurate. Also GM has made Prototype V-12 powerplants. Look up a Prototype car called the Cadillac Cien. It was a $200,000 supercar that had a V-12 powerplant. Although it was designed to compete with Ferraris and Lamborginis,it was sadly never put into production. This was due to engineering cost to produce the vehicles.  

don't mean to stir up the cob webs on this thread...

but didn't chrysler invent some prototype that had a v16?  or maybe it was just a v12.

screw the V, why not make a W12 or something. bmw has them and they seem quite efficient and powerful.

but regardless there is a very fine balance between number of pistons and piston size.  current super computers can account only for so much, real testing shows results, to find the ultimate configuration would take a lot of money our american companies do not have.

and congress is going to screw up the lending sector.  i am not religious but i say we all must pray the gov don't screw our country including the automotive industry.  

What would be cool is a Bugatti Veyron Killer! A huge V16 making over a 1000 streetable horsepower an 8 litre QUAD turbo 16 bangerat around 4200 lbs WHATS UP!!! AT 4.1 LBS per horse. And the parent company? Its a volkswagen, hmmm and all wheel drive DAAAANNNG!
Now that ive stirred up all the gm purists at Gm craft .com with a ls motor fixation, i think american cars can be better built and cheaper than the euros, if only the unions would quit wanting pay raises every year and driving up the price of production, or is it just me but is gm seeling their vehicles at 10k less now? i wonder how much gouging the dealer engaged in when i bought my tahoe?
Now befor your undies grow spottet from the stress, i dont have anything against GM or any american autos, ive had quit a number of Gm cars and 4x4s. ime not anti union either,its only id like to see an under hyped, over engineered american car. none of this andale mami eee iii eeeiii attitude.
my hemi , wait my dodge ram has had 0 defects 0 breakage compared to the gm's ive had, my first love was a 82 bronco 351 ci, my fave was my 79 T/A coz it was fast and had style. i remember when the different gm divisons had distinct and separate character, all gone, all look and act the same coz the name of efficiency was king.
Ide like to see a screaming twin turbo factory american rear drive car with a 6 speed etc. ide like to see a solid axle gm pickup 4x4 again, what would you like to see from the car makers?
Ide love a V12 hemi in my 4x4 ram...  

The Veyron is a million dollar car.  Have you not been paying attention to the economy???  Or auto sales in general??  Even Honda was down 24% over the past month.  Combine that with a trillion+ dollar loss on wall street in one day...and you've got to get out of this fantasy world and get back to the real world.  Even if the ridiculous bailout comes through, the economy is going to continue to tank until housing prices get in line with their ACTUAL value.

With GM, Ford, and Chrysler struggling to stay afloat...it'd be far better for them to build quality, fuel efficient cars that people can actually afford rather than devoting engineering and production to a car that might sell 1 a month.  Fortunately, these companies are doing this (Chrysler is even trying to sell off the Viper) rather than going after some fantasy market that doesn't exist...  

I've often thought it would be kinda cool to build my own "american V 12 " by mating a pair of V 6's front to back...like a couple of Buick 3.8's .Think about it ...two odd fire Buicks mated 180 degrees apart would make one even fire V 12 ... Or T/A performance could cast up an aluminium V12 block/heads based on the V6..How sweet would that be ? a 462 V12 !  

swissdog:
Maybe this is just a case of 'piston envy'. Mine has more than yours.  The Europeans have always been enamored of small displacement high revving motors.  The Dodge V-10 is 488 cubes, Ferraris often don't go above half to two thirds that number.  Yes, it would be interesting to see what American ingenuity could produce but since all three American companies are in financial difficulty and have the new CAFE regs and mega costly gas prices to contend with it would be ingenuity improperly placed.  How about a small displacement turbo charged hybrid (shudder) AWD with CVT that folds up into a briefcase and won't get shreded the first time it comes in contact with a 18 wheeler driven by a guy torqued about $10 a gallon Ultra low sulpher diesel.  Now that would be inqenuity in action.  I'll just keep my 440 powered '68 B-body under wraps for the day i have to make that cross country run to avoid the Prius driving Eco-Nazis that will be roaming the hinterlands once the lefties take over the country.  (hmm, i think i covered all the bases.)

Amen brother, Amen.