Sixteen Power’s 2,200-hp V16 marine engine ready for automotive use

When Michigan-based Sixteen Power unveiled a V16 crate engine for boats at the 2019 SEMA show, hot-rodders immediately wondered what it would take to stuff it in a car. The company took notice, made a few small tweaks to its 16-cylinder, and transformed it into a speed junkie’s dream.

The changes made to the V16 include deleting the water-cooled headers and heat exchangers, and converting the front accessory drive for automotive use, according to Muscle Car & Trucks. The core engine remains the same; it has a displacement of 14 liters, and it’s based on the LSx architecture. Its block is huge, so you’ll need a correspondingly spacious engine bay to drop it in. Alternatively, if you’re very good with a welder, you can remove the rear seats of whatever you’re working on, chop out the separation between the passenger compartment and the trunk, and go mid-engined.

Sixteen Power explained its V16 is capable of making an obscene amount of power without compromising reliability. Even 2,200 horsepower isn’t asking much from such a mammoth engine. If that’s too much, it’s also available with 2,000 horsepower and four turbos, 1,600 and a supercharger, or in naturally-aspirated form tuned to deliver 900, 1,200, or 1,400 horses. All variants are compatible with standard and aftermarket LS-style V8 cylinder heads, though plan on buying a set of four.

Real-world testing will begin in the spring of 2020 when Sixteen Power drops its V16 in a 42-foot catamaran. Muscle Car & Trucks warned the engine will cost about $100,000 in its marine configuration, and it’s not expected to get cheaper when it’s built to automotive specifications. That’s a lot of money to drop on an engine, but builders who want 16 cylinders don’t have many other options to choose from. The list of car companies that have made 16-cylinder engines includes Bugatti for its Chiron and Veyron, Cadillac for the majestic V-16 sold from the 1930 to the 1940 model years, and Marmon, who manufactured about 400 units of its Sixteen between 1931 and 1933.