Crankshafts are at the heart of the vast majority of race engines; only the occasional rotary engine doesn’t have one, and even then it has something that plays a very similar role. The cranktrain, comprising the piston assembly, con rod and crankshaft, converts the reciprocating motion of the piston into a rotary motion that we can use to drive a gearbox or, as we might find in future, an electric generator. The crankshaft itself rotates in bearings in the crankcases, and at very...
The use of electrical or electronic systems in vehicles has never been greater. Like it or not, with the increasing sophistication of control brought about by more prescriptive regulatory demands or demands for even greater fuel savings, the role of electronics or electrical componentry in the racecar can only increase in years to come. And since every electrical component, sensor or actuator has at least one electrical connection to the loom, the quality and reliability of these...
Engines that use so-called wet liners/sleeves have advantages over those that use dry liners (press-in liners in machined block material) or a parent bore (cylinder bore directly in the block’s base material). For engines with wet liners, various types of installation are possible, each of them offering their own specific advantages, such as higher coolant jacket, shorter engine length and fewer gaskets (number of possible leak paths). When considering coolant jacket height, the mid-...
Many of us are probably familiar with the fact that for many years there has been an event called the Paris-Dakar rally. It is often highlighted by the fact that it has been well supported by motor manufacturers as well as star drivers in the cars and buggies – famous names from rallying such as Ari Vatanen, Juha Kankunnen and Carlos Sainz, as well as circuit-racing specialists such as Henri Pescarolo, Jacky Ickx and Jean-Louis Schlesser. During the winter, when motorsport on TV is...
Threaded fasteners are an unavoidable part of building any engine. When we want to harness the energy contained in fuels, liberating this energy via a rapid series of small explosions, we need to be sure our engine assembly stays in one piece. The forces involved, and the rapid accumulation of damaging stress cycles, means we place great demands on bolted joints, and we need to know they are not going to come loose, as the consequences can be financially costly. The best way to ensure that...