Traction control

[Paul M]

As for the McLaren F1 GT engine being a development of the 850 engine, thats a bit of a stretch...

It had a lot of development to become the McLaren F1 engine, but that's where it originated. Most of the work went into the heads, as the original 24 valve heads just couldn't flow enough to produce big power. So the McLaren engine got new 48 valve heads, dual VANOS and individual throttle bodies IIRC.

They even have almost the same engine designation, the 850CSi has the S70, the first version of the McLaren engine is the S70/2. The S70 is the BMW M-tech version of the M70 fitted to the 850Ci. The S70 was also used in the Alpina B12 5.7 coupe, producing 420 BHP still with 24 valve heads.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMW_M70

[TheBoy]

As for the McLaren F1 GT engine being a development of the 850 engine, thats a bit of a stretch...

It had a lot of development to become the McLaren F1 engine, but that's where it originated. Most of the work went into the heads, as the original 24 valve heads just couldn't flow enough to produce big power. So the McLaren engine got new 48 valve heads, dual VANOS and individual throttle bodies IIRC.

They even have almost the same engine designation, the 850CSi has the S70, the first version of the McLaren engine is the S70/2. The S70 is the BMW M-tech version of the M70 fitted to the 850Ci. The S70 was also used in the Alpina B12 5.7 coupe, producing 420 BHP still with 24 valve heads.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMW_M70

Trust me, the engines are hugely, hugely different.  They may have used the 850 as a starting point, but it may as well be considered a new design...