It doesn't happen so often that a completely new marine engine is introduced at a Boat Show. Usually it's an uprated version of an established model, or a new marinization of a known automotive engine.


The Miami Boat Show in February, 2000, was the first opportunity the public had to marvel at Torque Engineering's beautiful new V-12 marine gasoline engine. It's been talked about in the industry for a few years now, and rumors began to emerge in 1998 of a 150 mph (240 km/h) "missile," reportedly skimming the surface of Mercury's secret Test Center at Lake X, Florida.


The original concept of the new engine came to life in 1992 with the acquisition of the offshore racing engine specialist company Performance Products Inc. Design studies pointed to a V-12 concept as being the most feasible, and by 1996 prototype testing commenced on water following successful completion of laboratory development. The following year manufacturing of pre-production units started and in 1998 an endurance testing program at Lake X was successfully completed.


In 1999 production facilities with latest machining centers were installed in the Indiana plant and Torque became a publicly listed company. Then in February, 2000, the new 14-liter (860 CID) engine, which claims to be the world's largest marine gasoline production engine, was launched at Miami.


The V-12 is available in three model variants: Torque 1000, 1100 and 1200, with the 1200 producing a formidable 1,150 horsepower (858 kW) at 5,500 rpm and 1,150 foot-pounds (1560 Nm) of torque at 4,800 rpm.


The engine has a very "clean" design with an absence of tubes and hoses; internal oil and water cooling passages are incorporated within the block. A new patented lubrication system similar in principle to "common rail" fuel injection systems, is designed to ensure equal pressure to all journals under the most severe conditions.


To eliminate internal corrosion and ensure that all parts of the engine run at the same with correct temperature, a freshwater cooling system with gear driven freshwater and raw water pumps is standard. A wet or dry oil sump system may be specified according to the application.


Despite the high-performance nature of this engine, reliability features including double starter motors and a gear driven power steering pump. These features make this engine a suitable candidate for specialized non-recreational applications such as pursuit craft and high-speed patrol boats. Quality control of the manufacturing process includes 100 percent validation of engine block casting compositions and 100 percent X-ray control of critical areas. Although the components are manufactured according to the latest manufacturing technology processes, each engine is hand built by experienced technicians.


The 90-degree cylinder block and heads, four in total, are aluminum alloy castings contributing to a very light total (dry) weight of 1,212 pounds (550 kg). All three models are naturally aspirated and feature multi-port EFI controlled by an advanced engine management system.


Prior to leaving the plant, each engine undergoes a thorough testing procedure including proving on a dynamometer


Also built by Torque Engineering, a two-speed reversing transmission with ratios of 1.76:1 and 1:1 is offered.


The remarkable power and torque of this compact and lightweight engine with naturally aspirated induction competes very favorably against rival products using supercharged automotive blocks. No doubt we will not have to wait very long until this engine will also offer a supercharged variant, bringing it into a class of its own.