I don't think I have much to contribute to the discussion as to what the new car achieves as a marketable product (I don't really like the name), but I'm certainly behind Cosworth's view that the world is a better place for having this new V16 engine in it!
I too thought it sounded exactly like the BRM V16, so I surmised that unlike the Valkyrie and T50 etc. Cosworth had refrained from reinventing the (fly)wheel in this engine. I was bolstered in this opinion by seeing "sensible" 4-into-1 exhaust groupings. But the comment about it not being two straight eights stuck together, nor two V8s put end-to-end, had me second guessing - especially with the 90° V angle.
Then you see the pistons moving in the bare block and, well, it's not so clear-cut.
Luckily the cylinder numbering gives it away: cylinders are numbered up one bank, then the next.
We can see cylinders 9 to 14 in the shot - this is the second bank, numbered 9 to 16 (15 and 16 obviously not in shot). Cylinder 12 reaches top dead centre first, then it's cylinder 13, followed by cylinder 11 and 14 seems sure to follow (with 9 well into its ascent).
This puts cylinders 11 and 12 two intervals apart, 13 and 14 also. Whilst the middle pair, 12 and 13 are separated by a single interval
I would immediately guess the intervals are 45° and 90°, the obvious choice in the absence of cylinder pairs reaching TDC together in the same bank (necessary for even-firing four stroke engines with an even number of cylinders).
The crankshaft shot confirms this, although it can be hard to tell due to the focus / depth-of-field. The first shot shows one end, the "up-left-right-down" crossplane layout is clear to see. Then the very next throw is set at some smaller angle, again presumably 45° for even firing given the 90° bank angle. The second half (second crank pic) is otherwise configured "down-right-left-up" (mirrored, if not for the offset).
So the crankshaft is, in fact, configured as two crossplane V8s placed end-to-end and offset by 45°.
This is similar to some one-off V16s made previously, which must be incredibly vindicating for their creators! But it is not quite like the BRM engine, whose 135° bank angle provides the 45° interval needed for a four-stroke 16. That has a simple mirrored crossplane crankshaft, no offset between halves, just like an Italian straight eight.
Thankfully, the way the exhausts are grouped allows for sufficient separation of the 45° intervals in each bank, so aurally it retains more of its crossplane character, unlike the outgoing W16 (which was more like two V8s interleaved anyway). In fact the exhaust groupings are very similar to the BRM's if you ignore the left / right separation, as you might when stood exactly behind it.
Just like the Valkyrie and GMA engines, the induction note will be unique, but hopefully less lumpy than either of those engines - the crossplane V8 character should come out in spades, still, if it isn't overly silenced.
EDIT: I'm referring to the Top Gear video, screenshots taken from there:
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