Mercedes-Benz W25
Avusrennen | |
Drivers' Championships | 1 (1935, Rudolf Caracciola)[1] |
---|
The Mercedes-Benz W25 was a Grand Prix racing car designed by
History
For the 1934 season, Grand Prix racing's governing body
Despite reducing weight and engine size to roughly half, Daimler engineers soon managed to get more power from the supercharged
In
In
Development of the chassis and the car had allowed to increase capacity to more than 4 litre, and output of the new engine version M25C[11] was well over 400 hp. As the M25 engines became unreliable when enlarged to 4.7 litre and 490 hp, a V12 engine was tested, but it proved too heavy. To accommodate it, the chassis was lightened and shortened (thus K for kurz), but this worsened handling. Thus, in 1936, the W25K was often beaten by Auto Union's Bernd Rosemeyer. Only Caracciola could take two wins, one at the twisty circuit of the very wet 1936 Monaco Grand Prix. Mercedes decided to skip the rest of the season to concentrate on development. By driving the race car himself, young engineer Rudolf Uhlenhaut determined that the W25 had a too stiff suspension in a too soft chassis, which made handling difficult. Even though new rules would come in effect in 1938, he set out to develop a new car for 1937, the Mercedes-Benz W125, which was very successful in the season it was made for.
For the 1937 Avusrennen,[12] two Streamline V12-powered W25K[13] were entered, as weight and handling was of low importance at the AVUS which had been fitted with a banked north turn. Streamline variants[14][15] were also used for records attempts.[16]
As part of a partnership between Mercedes-Benz and
Specifications
Parameters | Data | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Release year | 1934 | 1935 | 1935 | 1936 | |
engine type | W25A | W25AB | W25B | W25C | W25K |
engine | Eight-cylinder four-stroke in-line engine, 5 crankshaft bearings, 2 Increasing Flow Carburetors (Mercedes-Benz),2 overhead camshafts with spur gear drive, 4-valve technology, 1 Roots compressor , water cooling | ||||
displacement | 3364 cm3 | 3718 cm3 | 3992 cm3 | 4309 cm3 | 4740 cm3 |
bore × stroke | 78 × 88 mm | 82 × 88 mm | 82 × 94.5mm | 82 × 102 mm | 86 x 102mm |
Power (Mean) | 314 hp at 5800 rpm | 348 hp at 5800 rpm | 370 hp at 5800 rpm | 402 hp at 5500 rpm | 453 hp at 5800 rpm |
gear | 4-speed gearbox (installed on the rear axle), gate shifter to the right of the driver's seat | ||||
Chassis | U-profile- ladder frame[18]
| ||||
Front suspension | double wishbones with coil springs | ||||
Rear suspension | Oscillating axle (pendulum axle) with quarter-elliptic leaf springs | De Dion axle, Quarter elliptic leaf springs | |||
shock absorber | Friction shock absorbers | hydraulic dampers | |||
Brakes | drum brakes (hydraulic operated) | ||||
Wheelbase | 2717 mm | 2464 mm | |||
Track front/rear | 1422/1473 | ||||
Tank capacity | 215 liters W25 |
Gallery
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1936 W25 Streamline for land speed record
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1937 W25 Streamline for Avusrennen
References
Notes
- ^ 1935 proved to be the best season ever for Mercedes with 9 major victories including a 1-2-3 at the Spanish GP and with Caracciola becoming the European Champion. Mercedes-Benz W25 (Grand Prix 750 kg)
- ^ a b "Rules Analysis". Kolumbus.fi. 2006-09-13. Retrieved 2012-04-08.
- ^ "Grand Prix Cars - Mercedes-Benz W 25". Ddavid.com. Archived from the original on 2008-03-04. Retrieved 2012-04-08.
- ^ "1934 Grand Prix". Teamdan.com. Archived from the original on 2012-02-24. Retrieved 2012-04-08.
- ^ "1934 GRAND PRIX SEASON - PART 2". Kolumbus.fi. Archived from the original on 2013-06-20. Retrieved 2012-04-08.
- ^ "1934 GRAND PRIX SEASON - PART 2". Kolumbus.fi. Archived from the original on 2013-06-20. Retrieved 2012-04-08.
- ^ "THE GOLDEN ERA OF GP RACING 1934-40 - DRIVERS (S)". Kolumbus.fi. Archived from the original on 2011-05-14. Retrieved 2012-04-08.
- ^ "Die Rennen der Auto Union & Mercedes-Benz 1934-1939". Motorsport-Magazin (in German). 19 November 2005. Retrieved 10 July 2016.
- ^ "1934 GRAND PRIX SEASON - PART 3". Kolumbus.fi. Retrieved 2012-04-08.
- ^ An expected exiting Belgian GP came to nothing when the Belgian customs asked the German teams to pay 180,000 francs duty for their alcohol based special fuel. 48 hours before the start the Mercedes-Benz and the Auto Union teams therefore withdrew their entries. V GRAND PRIX DE BELGIQUE
- ^ "Mercedes-Benz W25C". Supercars.net. 2004-03-01. Retrieved 2012-04-08.
- ^ "1937 GRAND PRIX SEASON - PART 2". Kolumbus.fi. Retrieved 2012-04-08.
- ^ "Mercedes-Benz W25 Avus Stromlinie". Supercars.net. 2004-03-01. Retrieved 2012-04-08.
- ^ "Mercedes-Benz W25 Record". Supercars.net. 2004-03-01. Retrieved 2012-04-08.
- ^ "Mercedes-Benz W25 Rekordwagen". Supercars.net. 2004-03-01. Retrieved 2012-04-08.
- ^ "Speed Record Attempts". Kolumbus.fi. Retrieved 2012-04-08.
- ^ Pitcher, Jenna (August 6, 2014). "Mario Kart 8 Mercedes Car DLC Hits This Month With Update". IGN. Retrieved August 6, 2014.
- ^ https://www.mercedesamgf1.com/de/heritage/silberpfeile/mercedes-w-25/ "The vehicle frame consists of two longitudinal members in a U-profile with cross braces, for reasons of weight as pierced many times at the SSKL.”
Bibliography
- Nixon, Chris (2003) [1986]. Racing the Silver Arrows: Mercedes-Benz versus Auto Union 1934-1939 (revised ed.). Isleworth, Middlesex, UK: Transport Bookman Publications. ISBN 0851840558.
- Sugahara, Louis (2004). Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Race Cars 1934–1955. Fredericksburg, TX, USA: Mercedes-Benz Classique Car Library. ISBN 1933123001.
External links
- Mercedes Benz W25 Silberpfeil (in German)
- http://www.kolumbus.fi/leif.snellman/c9.htm
- http://www.ddavid.com/formula1/merc25.htm Archived 2008-03-04 at the Wayback Machine
- 1934 Mercedes-Benz W25
- 1934 Mercedes-Benz W25 Record 317.5 km/h
- 1935 Mercedes-Benz W25C M25C 4310 cc / 462 bhp @ 5800 rpm
- 1936 Mercedes-Benz W25E shortened wheelbase
- 1936 Mercedes-Benz W25 Record
- 1937 Mercedes-Benz W25 Avus Streamline