One of the most daring technical challenges that Italtecnica has undertaken in the recent years of its activity is related to the design, development, testing and production of a revolutionary 6-cylinder engine.
The ITV6 is a 3.0L 6-cylinder engine with a V-architecture and a 90° angle between the banks.
Its timing system has a DOHC configuration with 4 valves per cylinder and rocker arms actuators.
The lubrication system is a dry sump with a 4-stage oil pump, 3 scavenge and 1 delivery, followed by an oil heat exchanger integrated on engine and an air/liquid cooling system with integrated intercooler and electronically controlled circulation pump.
An important note is in fact related to the positioning of all secondary engine components – lubrication, cooling, etc. – which sees all the elements integrated in the space between the cylinder banks.
This decision was made on the basis of the engine design philosophy, which has compactness and efficiency in operating conditions as its constructive pillars: in fact, the cooling system sees the intercooler mounted directly above the engine block to obtain a shorter piping system with which the supercharging – provided by a sequential twin-turbocharging system – can work with high performance even at conservative pressures.
The electronically managed sequential twin-turbocharging system includes two turbochargers that work in sequence to minimize the phenomenon of turbo-lag, taking advantage of the action of an electronically managed bypass valve and an external waste-gate.
On a practical level, up to 2000 rpm the engine operates as a single-turbo, going up to 4000 rpm, the external waste-gate opens, together with the bypass valve and the electromagnetic clutch that thus also allow the second turbocharger to operate and supply supercharging to the engine.
The injection system consists of a combination of direct and indirect injection electronically managed and regulated by a dedicated sensor integrated on the engine.
The direct and electronic port fuel injection combo allows the ITV6 to manage the combustion in a meticulous way, guaranteeing low emissions at low revs and a constant cleaning of the intake ducts in the head thanks to the indirect injection, which by increasing revolutions is flanked by the direct injection that allows the work with greater compression and the complete combustion of the entire air/fuel mixture in the combustion chamber.
Their joint work determines an elision of the limits linked to both systems and therefore provides an overall superior performance at all operating conditions.
The weight of this engine is a factor that the development team has focused on with in-depth research that has given rise to a finished product with a mass of less than 180kg, which makes this engine one of the lightest – and most compact – V6s on the market.
Versatility is a key component of this project, in fact ITV6 has been designed for a wide range of uses ranging from road-legal supercars to cars prepared for hillclimb competitions, going through a mid-tier specifically thought for endurance racing.
In Step 1 (Road) the ITV6 has 610 horsepower at 7200 rpm and 670 Nm of torque in a range between 3000 and 6000 rpm.
In Step 2 (Endurance) it counts 700 horsepower at 8000 rpm that reaches 750 in Step 3 (Hillclimb) with a turbocharging system pressure of 1.8 bar.
The versatility of use is completed by the two different interface possibilities with the chassis where the engine is mounted: “Road“, mounted on silent blocks or “Competition“, structurally integrated into the chassis through the numerous anchor points.
The integrated design, development and production approach of the ITV6 makes it in fact a product very close to the concept of plug & play, where the customer receives an engine complete with all the parts necessary for its operation, and must only provide for the connection of fuel and cooling pipes for engine cooling and intake system.
The Italtecnica R&D Team is available to the customer for the development of customized layouts of exhaust manifolds, oil tank and timing cover to effectively complete the adaptation of the engine to the car project.
The customization reaches a higher level through the possibility of adopting different types of transmission groups through a dedicated interface carter.
ITV6 Spec Sheet
