Porsche 3512

The Porsche 3512 was a motor racing engine designed by Porsche for use in Formula One in the early 1990s.

Porsche had left Formula One at the end of 1987 after four years supplying TAG-badged turbo engines to the McLaren team, but decided to return two years later with a view to creating a V12 engine for the newly introduced 3.5-litre normally-aspirated regulations (hence this engine's designation of 3512). After a partnership with the small Onyx team was suggested, in early 1990 the company signed a four-year deal with Footwork Arrows, to commence in 1991.

The 3512 was designed by Porsche veteran Hans Mezger, and had an 80-degree V-angle and a power take-off from the centre of the engine. The latter had been a feature of the flat-12 Type 912 engine (also designed by Mezger) in the Porsche 917 sports car of the early 1970s, but was unusual for Formula One.

Problems beset the 3512 almost immediately, as it was completed later than scheduled, and its layout meant that it was large and heavy. When ancillaries like the clutch and flywheel were installed, the engine weighed 418 lb - compared to the V12s of Honda and Ferrari at 352 lb and 308 lb respectively. All this meant that it could not be properly installed in Footwork's car for the 1991 season, the FA12, and so the team had to redesign this car while starting the season with a modified version of their 1990 car, designated the A11C which had actually started life in 1989 as the Ross Brawn designed Arrows A11.

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