Yamaha building a hydrogen V8 engine for Toyota
The 5-litre engine is set to produce 444bhp
Yamaha and Toyota announced plans to jointly develop a hydrogen-powered 5.0-liter V8 engine as part of a previous agreement between Japan's automotive community to explore fuel options for internal combustion engines.
The motor is based on a Lexus V8, namely the one found in the RC F coupe. Yamaha made various changes to the injectors, cylinder heads, intake manifolds, and many more, resulting in an engine that runs purely on hydrogen and delivers 444 bhp and 398 lb-ft of torque.
Unlike silent hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, the hydrogen V8's eight-into-one manifold is said to give off a 'harmonic high-frequency exhaust note'.
According to Takeshi Yamada of Yamaha's R&D department, the company has been working on the engine for five years.
"I started to see that engines using only hydrogen for fuel actually had very fun, easy-to-use performance characteristics," said Yamada.
"Hydrogen engines have an innately friendly feel that makes them easy to use even without resorting to electronic driving aid," he added.
Yoshihiro Hidaka, president of Yamaha Motors, stated "We are working toward achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. At the same time, 'Motor' is in our company name and we accordingly have a strong passion for and level of commitment to the internal combustion engine."
It should be noted that Yamaha is no stranger to designing high-performance engines for Toyota. Yamaha, previously did the engine for Toyota's 2000GT, Celica and the Lexus LFA, whose V10 is considered by many to be one of the finest road car engines ever made.
