While single-seater racing hogs most of the limelight in Europe, at least as far as TV time is concerned, there are some very popular national racing series based on touring cars that are a real hit with fans of live motorsport. The World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) is starting to attain the same level of popularity, and deservedly so – the quality of the entries in terms of the machinery and drivers is very high. Many of the national championships and the World Touring Car series...
In last month’s article on this subject, the main topic of discussion was chemical threadlocking methods, but there is a little more to be said on this before looking at mechanical methods. The anaerobic liquid threadlocking compounds, while being easy to use, have their own problems. As suggested in the previous article, they have an inconsistent effect on the torque-angle relationship, so while we might be reassured that the bolt won’t unwind, we can’t be entirely sure...
When it comes to carburettors there are essentially two types each working on differing principles –the constant depression device or that of the fixed venturi, sometimes referred to as fixed jet. Because of their simplicity and ease of setting up, many vehicles in the past have been fitted with constant depression-type units, but where ultimate performance is required and although difficult to ‘tune’ – or as we now say, calibrate precisely – the choice is...
At a time when many if not most high-performance road vehicles have some kind of variable geometry intake manifold, it seems absurd to ban such systems for the latest breed of Formula One machines. Originally outlawed in the mid-2000s on the grounds of spiralling development costs, but rumoured to be reinstated again in 2015, this will add yet another layer of complexity to the modern Formula One powertrain. Although rare back in 2005, variable geometry intake manifold systems for Formula...
In last month’s article we looked at the work by the Honda Formula One team in developing the pressure feed pump for its V8 engine. However, this was only half the challenge when it came to developing a reliable oil supply system for its car, so it is worth examining the development of the scavenge side of the system as well. As its name suggests, the primary role of the scavenge system is to scavenge oil from the engine and pump it to the oil tank, ready to be pumped back into the...