Toyota Racing Development (TRD) of Costa Mesa, California maintains a long-term relationship with pushrod manufacturer Trend Performance of Warren, Michigan. "We've worked with them on many other projects as well as the NASCAR Sprint Cup developments," notes David Currier, vice president of engine engineering at TRD. Although the service life of intake and exhaust pushrods is, conceivably, longer than the 700 miles that make up each Sprint Cup race weekend, TRD elects to...
As the newest player in NASCAR's Sprint Cup arena, Toyota Racing Development (TRD) in Costa Mesa, California is playing catch-up to manufacturers that have been in the sport for many, many years. According to David Currier, vice president of engine engineering for TRD, his company prefers to use multiple sources for its double-spring valve springs. "Our biggest challenge with valve springs is making them survive with more lift and extra cam work, trying to make them survive. We...
In a previous RET Monitor articles, we have looked at a couple of valve materials, namely titanium and titanium aluminide. The chief advantage of these materials is their low density which has obvious appeal when trying to keep control of valves at increasing engine speeds. Titanium aluminide, besides being possessed of even lower density than titanium has the additional advantage of increased stiffness, making it an excellent choice for poppet valves.In this article we shall begin to look...